THE WAY TO SELL

S A L E S N AV I G AT O R

POWERED BY
 The Way To Sell Powered By Sales Navigator and Miller Heiman Group // Page No.2
We want to help you spend more time performing and building relationships with
your audience and customers. Yet you can easily see through illusions and complex

INTRO
“smoke and mirrors” type distractions.

That’s why LinkedIn and Miller Heiman Group created this ebook based entirely on
our research and experience. This means there’s a lot of substance and absolutely

duction
no bluffing or gimmicky tricks within these pages.

The current state of sales is in disruption. There are ballooning buyer expectations,
more people involved in the buying process and fundamental shifts in workforces
and technology. Selling as a profession is evolving, and we need to bring more science
“Selling to people who work to the art of selling.

in sales is a bit like selling The Way To Sell, powered by Miller Heiman Group and Sales Navigator explores how

magic to a magician.”
to use repeatable, scalable and proven sales methodology with a modern selling tool.
Follow these steps, and you’ll soon be spending more time adding sparkle and value
to your sales relationships.

Kate Mallord Dana Hamerschlag

Content Marketing Manager APAC Chief Product Officer
Sales Navigator Miller Heiman Group
 01

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p.05 //
WHO’S INVOLVED IN

CONTENTS
THE BUYING CIRCLE?

02 p.09 //
HOW TO FIND THE
INFLUENCES?

03 p.12 //
WHAT TO DO BEFORE
YOU REACH OUT?

04 p.16 //
HOW TO FIND A VALID BUSINESS
REASON TO START THE CONVERSATION?

05 p.18 //
WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO REACH OUT
TO A PROSPECT FOR THE FIRST TIME?
 UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN LIVING
UNDER A ROCK FOR THE PAST
COUPLE OF YEARS

you’ll know that there are more people involved

in the buying decision

THAN EVER
BEFORE
In fact, CSO Insights revealed there are now Ideally, you want to establish connections This is true for both new customer
6.4 decision makers involved in an average with all the key Buying Influences in the acquisitions as well as renewals. If you only
B2B sales cycle. Yet many of us are still relying buying team. LinkedIn’s own sales teams
have one lead and this person leaves the
on one or two people inside a company to have found that the more right people you’re
close the deal. This is an increasingly risky connected with in the decision process, the organisation, you may have to start the
strategy as the sizes of your deals grow. higher your chances of success. entire sale process from the beginning.
 01

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WHO’S INVOLVED
IN THE BUYING
CIRCLE?
No matter how many people are involved in a buying decision and no matter
what official functions they play in their organisation, the same four buying
roles are present in every complex sale.

It’s more useful to focus on roles rather than comfort

level, past contacts or job titles because any given
Miller Heiman Group’s four
player in an account can shift roles quickly and
buying influencer terms
unpredictably, even though their title and official
(TBI, UBI, EBI, C) listed on the NEXT PAGES
function on the buying team remain the same.
will be familiar to those sales professionals
with prior experience in Strategic Selling® If you can identify who’s playing which role in your
(and Blue Sheets). deal, you’ll be able to tailor your proposal early on
and increase the odds of winning the deal.
one
TECHNICAL BUYING
INFLUENCE (TBI)

The Way To Sell Powered By Sales Navigator and Miller Heiman Group // Page No.6
ROLE
BY MILLER HEIMAN GROUP
EXAMPLE JOB
• To identify a need for your TITLES
product/service by their company For Miller Heiman Group and Sales
• To judge whether your product/ Navigator, our UBIs are front-line Sales
ROLE

To act as Gatekeepers service will perform as the Reps, Sales Managers and LinkedIn.
• Screen proposals business needs it to

Asks:
• Judge measurable, quantifiable
aspects of your proposal
• Can’t give final approval

NUMBER
• Can say no based on specs or “Does this meet the buying

Asks:
There are often many UBIs
technicalities criteria/specifications?”
as they are the end user
– the people who will live
and breathe your solution. “How will this product work for

FO-
me in my job or department?”

EXAMPLE JOB TITLES

CUS: Job titles can vary widely. They are people
who are deeply focused on the details of
your solution. Procurement managers and IT
FOCUS: The job to be done

Matching specifications to
specialists fall into this category.
their area of expertise
BY MILLER HEIMAN GROUP

NUMBER USER BUYING

INFLUENCE (UBI)
1 person to a committee
three
ECONOMIC BUYING
INFLUENCE (EBI)

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FO-
BY MILLER HEIMAN GROUP

ROLE
To act as a guide for the sale; to
provide and interpret information

CUS:
about the:
• Validity of your sales proposal
• Buying influences you need to

ROLE NUMBER
uncover/work with to increase the Your success with
probability of closing the sale this proposal
In any situation, there is one EBI, but there • Elements of your strategic analysis

To give final approval to buy may be a set of people involved such as a

team, board or buying committee.

EXAMPLE JOB
EXAMPLE
Asks: TITLES:
For Miller Heiman Group and Sales Navigator, our
EBIs are Head of Sales, Chief Sales Officer, GM of
JOB TITLES: Sales, President/VP of Sales, CFO or Sales Director. Who’s playing Luigi to Mario? Robin to
“How can we ensure
Batman? Or Mini-me to Dr. Evil? Any
this deal closes?”
“sidekick” (good or bad) is a great example
of a Coach, as long as the person:

Asks: FOCUS
1) Believes you to be credible and offering a

NUMBER good business solution

2) Has credibility with the Buying Influences
“What return on investment can I
Bottom line and impact As a seller, you need to
3) Wants your solution
expect on this purchase?” “How will
on organisation develop at least one Coach.
this impact our organisation?”

BY MILLER HEIMAN GROUP

COACH (C)
CONNECTION
DENSITY
MEASURES THE DEPTH
OF CONNECTIONS AMONG
CERTAIN GROUPS OF
PROFESSIONALS

Research by LinkedIn has found that the volume

of “connections” at a target company is a good
predicator of revenue — more connections create
a higher close rate for the salesperson.
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HOW TO FIND
THE BUYING
INFLUENCES?
The easiest way to find out who influences the buying decision is to
ask your connections directly. The trouble is they don’t always know
who else is part of the process, and if they do, they can be reluctant to
offer introductions. Sometimes your relationship hasn’t progressed
to a stage where either of you will feel comfortable having that
conversation. And, you don’t want to risk giving the impression that the
person isn’t worth your time by asking about others at the company.
You could use more traditional approaches like company directories,
trade publications or word of mouth to find other influencers. But
these options have diminishing returns.
Perhaps you are already using your normal LinkedIn membership to
try to find out who else works at the company. But what if you want to
find out if you’re already connected to someone at the organisation?
Or more importantly, what if you’re missing out on a referral through
someone on your own team?
 OPTIMISE YOUR
01

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APPROACH
PROFILE FILTERS Take advantage of the
allow you to find people by seniority, Advanced Search features on
Sales Navigator. There are two

02
geography, function and more.
filters that can help you find
key Buying Influences.

ROLE AND
TENURE FILTERS OTHER FILTERS
(unique to Sales If Sales Navigator is synced with your Customer Relationship Management
Navigator) allow you (CRM), then you can also find other CRM contacts from that company.
to search for people by If you’ve already saved a company (or contacts from that company) in
seniority level, years Sales Navigator, you can look for Lead Recommendations. These are
in current position, automatically-generated recommendations based on preferences and
years at current leads you’ve saved in the past. You can also see similar decision makers
company and years of and influencers at the same company when you view a profile and
experience. receive new leads via email or desktop or mobile notifications.
Once you’ve identified all the possible Buying Influences, you can then
connect or save them as leads in Sales Navigator to ensure you stay
up-to-date with their news.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

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YOUR LINKEDIN
ACCOUNT AND
SALES NAVIGATOR FREE SALES
LINKEDIN NAVIGATOR*
People Filters ✓ ✓
TARGET Find the right people faster and more easily
Lead Builder/Advanced Search - ✓
the right buyers
and companies Lead Recommendations - ✓
Qualify new people at your account
CRM Sync - ✓
Saved Accounts & Account ✓
Stay up-to-date with contacts and accounts
UNDER- page view
STAND CRM Widgets & CRM Write-Back - ✓
what buyers value Research prospects wherever you work Sales Navigator Application
Platform (SNAP)
PointDrive presentations - ✓ 10
Reach your prospects directly with the
ENGAGE (unlimited in
right context
buyers with Enterprise)
personalized TeamLink - ✓ (Team &
outreach Engage with prospects and customers
through your network Enterprise)

*Sales Navigator has more than 20 other features that will streamline and empower your sales process.
 03

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“HI! I’M THOMAS
AND I’M CALLING
YOU TODAY WITH
AN EXCLUSIVE,
FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND, WHAT TO DO
EXTRA SPECIAL BEFORE YOU
OFFER…” REACH OUT?
No one enjoys making a cold call! And the truth is,
most of the time there is a better way to start the
conversation. Nearly 15 years of extensive research
across geographies and industries has shown that
sellers who adhere to a specific sales process are
more likely to be successful.2

2
 ellers who consistently use a sales methodology have
S
a 24% higher win rate than those who don’t, CSO Insights,
The Research Division of Miller Heiman Group.
 BEFORE YOU WALK INTO A

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SALES CALL OR MEETING,
YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF:
“WHAT IS THE
REASON THAT
THIS PERSON
IS MEETING
WITH ME?” This isn’t your reason; it’s your customer’s reason for agreeing to
see you. It may sound obvious yet most sellers don’t ask this simple
question. Instead of giving their customers sound business reasons
for spending time with them, sellers focus on their own comfort areas,
the product pitch or nonproductive social calls and lunch dates.
Thus, the sales process falters or stalls.

According to Miller Heiman Group, a Valid Business Reason (VBR) is

something that gives your potential buyer a reason to spend their
valuable time with you. It is important to think about your meeting
Valid Business Reason from the customer’s perspective.

A VBR accomplishes two major goals:

This term will be familiar to 1) It gives the potential customer information he needs in order to
those sales professionals understand exactly who you are and why you want to meet.
with prior experience in 2) It establishes a common foundation, so that when you do meet you
Conceptual Selling® (and can concentrate on understanding the customer’s Win-Result Concept.
Green Sheets).
TO UNCOVER A VBR, YOU

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MUST FIRST UNDERSTAND THE
WIN-RESULT CONCEPT
According to Miller Heiman Group, a Win is the
fulfillment of your buyer’s own personal goals.
Wins are always subjective, and they are different
INCREASE PERSONAL
PRODUCTIVITY
for every buyer. Samples of Wins are:
PUT IN A Be seen
BE AN
QUALITY PERFORMANCE as a leader
INSTRUMENT REMAIN
Increase responsibility
and authority OF CHANGE IN POWER
BE MORE CONTRIBUTE TO Be viewed as a
FLEXIBLE THE ORGANISATION problem solver
Increase GAIN INCREASE SKILL
self-esteem RECOG- DEVELOPMENT
NITION
 A Result is the measurable impact that a product or
IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY POSSIBLE
service has on your customer’s business, according to
Miller Heiman Group. Results are objective, and they PERSONAL WINS AND BUSINESS
tell you what is important to each buying influence. RESULTS BEFORE YOU REACH OUT...

FIVE QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT YOUR

VBR BEFORE CONTACTING A CUSTOMER:

01 02 03 04 05
DOES IT IMPACT THE DOES IT EXPLAIN WHY DOES IT EXPLAIN CAN A CUSTOMER IS YOUR MESSAGE CONCISE
CUSTOMER’S WIN- YOUR CALL SHOULD WHAT’S IN IT FOR EASILY RELATE AND CLEAR ENOUGH TO BE
RESULT CONCEPT? BE A HIGH PRIORITY THE CUSTOMER? TO YOU? LEFT AS A VOICEMAIL OR
FOR THE CUSTOMER? WITH AN ASSISTANT?
Will the customer accept As a seller, you need to know whether Is it obvious how you can Use natural language that you’d In good selling, both the buyer and the seller
the reason you want to see your VBR helps customers with their help ease the customer’s normally use in person. Don’t have a responsibility to participate and move
her as having an impact pain point. The closer your VBR is to pain point? try and sound more academic the selling process forward. If your VBR is
on her personal goals and their pain point, the more inclined or formal than you are. compelling, it allows you to be concise and
business objectives? they are to make time for you. trigger a response from your customer.
 04

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HOW TO FIND A
VALID BUSINESS
REASON TO
START THE
CONVERSATION?
If you’ve used the search tools and saved your
leads in Sales Navigator, you’ll automatically be
notified about your leads’ activities, giving you a
reminder and sharing information that could arm
you with a good reason to reach out.
YOU CAN STAY

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UP-TO-DATE
with the people and companies you’re interested
in through five types of alerts offered on your
Sales Navigator homepage and via email:

01
Lead Updates:
Be one of the first to know when
02
Shares:
Understand what your leads
03
Company Updates:
Receive key information about
Example VBR:
“We’ve had a lot of success
your leads change roles, have a care about by seeing their your accounts that is posted to in helping businesses like
work anniversary or connect with professional shares on LinkedIn. their LinkedIn Company Page. yours improve revenue (by
someone in your network. up to 20% in some cases)
by giving salespeople more

04 05
time to sell. I’d love to meet
you next week to see if we
In the News: Potential By reading through your Sales Navigator can do the same for you.”
See when people Leads: news feed you’ll be able to quickly identify
or companies get Identify new potential the topics and issues that matter most to
mentioned in the contacts or decision your buyer. Use the Miller Heiman Group
news or sourced from makers when accounts VBR criteria to test that you’ve built a
sites across the web. make new key hires. compelling reason for the buyer to respond.
WHAT’S THE
BEST WAY TO
REACH OUT TO
A PROSPECT FOR
THE FIRST TIME?
05

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 LETTER EMAIL PHONE CALL
Outside the box; can be creative and Can be more professional than other Quick and effective if the salesperson has
more personal; less likely to be screened channels; easy to share value with team the right skills

No tracking; easy to ignore Spam filters; easy to ignore; Gatekeeper Inefficient; under 1% response rate; can be
may manage inbox; easy to delegate seen as pushy; may encounter Gatekeepers

RATING 3/10 RATING 4/10 RATING 5/10

SOCIAL MEDIA INMAIL PERSONAL INTRODUCTION

Builds social relationship in advance of High positive response rate (13% in 5x more likely to respond; increases credibility; ability to get
sales dialogue; builds professional brand APAC); received across all devices; personal insights based on existing relationships; removes
more personalized cold outreach; chance that contact will later become a Coach
Requires time; messaging must be consistent
Easy to ignore Can be turned down

RATING 7/10 RATING 8/10 RATING 9/10

HOW SALES NAVIGATOR CAN

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HELP YOU IDENTIFY AND GET A
PERSONAL
INTRODUCTION
SELLERS WHO REACH OUT TO BUYING
INFLUENCES THROUGH MUTUAL
CONNECTIONS ARE MORE SUCCESSFUL
THAN THOSE WHO REACH OUT COLD.

With Sales Navigator, you can use your sales team’s network to
uncover the best way to get introduced. The TeamLink feature in Sales
Navigator makes it possible to tap into the networks of all your sales
colleagues, even those you’re not directly connected to on LinkedIn. This
automatically expands your LinkedIn network and identifies your sales
colleagues that can help connect you with prospects and accounts.

YOU SIMPLY • Search your TeamLink network to

find the most promising prospects.

• Tap your newly extended network

for introductions and insights.
 The Way To Sell Powered By Sales Navigator and Miller Heiman Group // Page No.21
IDENTIFYING
THE
CUSTOMER
MODES “PEOPLE BUY WHEN, AND
ONLY WHEN, THEY PERCEIVE A
DISCREPANCY BETWEEN REALITY
AND THEIR DESIRED RESULT.”

Predicting the best time to call or meet a Buying Influence is one of the
greatest unknowns in the world of selling. By understanding the Miller
Heiman Group’s concept of “The Four Response Modes” of Buying
Influences, it can help you gauge the best time and manner to approach.
A BUYER IN A BUYER IN

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GROWTH MODE (G) TROUBLE MODE (T)
is always ready to say yes to is begging for immediate change as a way of
somebody’s proposal – though not preventing a defeat. The buyer wants to fix
necessarily yours. whatever is wrong and get back to normal.

INDICATORS: INDICATORS:
Buyer recently joined the company, there are lots of job openings Negative press, high turnover of staff
in sales roles, company is in the news for spectacular growth

PROBABILITY OF PROBABILITY OF
TAKING ACTION IS HIGH TAKING ACTION IS HIGH

RESULTS needed RESULTS needed

lity CAUSE X
Qua
- B etter
an tity
o re Qu
M
DISCREPANCY DISCREPANCY

REALITY today
REALITY today

DOES YOUR PROPOSAL REDUCE

As taken from Miller Heiman Group’s Strategic Selling. OR ELIMINATE THE DISCREPANCY?
A BUYER IN A BUYER IN

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EVEN KEEL MODE (EK) OVER CONFIDENT
has a “why rock the boat now” mindset, MODE (OC)
and your chance of making a sale is low.
is the most difficult of the four
Response Modes to sell to.

INDICATORS:
Buyer in role more than a year, the business is INDICATORS:
currently focused on other areas of growth
Buyer in role for a couple of years, company is
PROBABILITY OF successful, small number of job openings
TAKING ACTION IS LOW
PROBABILITY OF
RESULTS needed
TAKING ACTION IS NIL
Perception of REALITY
REALITY today
today caused by:
• False reading of
situation
WHY ROCK THE • Sights set too low

BOAT NOW? Your proposal is seen as a • Strong resistance to

change
negative impact on REALITY
RESULTS needed

“WHO NEEDS YOUR PROPOSAL?

As taken from Miller Heiman Group’s Strategic Selling. I’VE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD.”
THE MILLER HAVE YOU IDENTIFIED ALL THE
BUYING INFLUENCES IN YOUR
HEIMAN GROUP SALES OPPORTUNITY?

AND SALES
Use Sales Navigator’s Advanced Search. Try filters like
function and years at the company and save them as leads.

NAVIGATOR DO YOU HAVE A VALID

PROSPECTING BUSINESS REASON TO MEET?
Use your Sales Navigator feed to stay on top of news about

CHECK- your leads and their businesses.

LIST:
WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO
REACH OUT?
Use Sales Navigator’s TeamLink to see if you have any
connections in common.

WHAT BUYING MODE ARE

THEY LIKELY TO BE IN?
Use Advanced Search and your Sales Navigator feed to
check for job changes, promotions or news that suggest the
organization and the individual is in growth or trouble mode.
 YOU CAN HAVE A
FRIENDLY WALK-
THROUGH OF SALES
NAVIGATOR BY
SUCCESSFUL CLICKING HERE.
SELLING: IT IS
A MATTER OF Take me to sales navigator >

PERSPECTIVE We promise no magic tricks!

Perspective is a seller bringing a point of view into the sales process.

Perspective is data, insights and information that helps buyers see their
situation in a new light. Perspective is a case study or alternative solution.

Learn how to add perspective to your Sales >

S A L E S N AV I G AT O R