You can use the online calendar to post your organization's events.  We will even allow the posting of events which compete with NetSuds and MedSuds events.  The calendars are free to use for both tracking events and for posting your own events.

Non-Minnesota companies conducting events in Minnesota will not be allowed to post events for free, even if they are teaming up with a Minnesota company.  Non-Minnesota companies or organizations should contact matt@netsuds.com to discuss the fees associated with posting such events. 

6.0   NetSuds CEO Roundtable - Next Roundtables starting in June 2005

NetSuds is opening up another group of CEO Roundtables in June 2005.  If you are tech or medtech CEO and want to join us, (the first session is free), contact matt@netsuds.com.  A synopsis of the CEO Roundtable can be found at www.netsuds.com/ceo/  It is repeated here as well.

NetSuds CEO Roundtable

Membership  Only CEOs of tech and medtech companies are allowed to join the NetSuds CEO Roundtable.  If you are a VP, CxO or President, you are not welcome unless you also hold the CEO title.  Perhaps we will start a CFO, CTO or COO Roundtable but until then, we are only interested in the top dog, the CEO.  If you are interested in becoming a member, contact matt@netsuds.com.  Membership is not automatic.  There must be an available spot open in the roundtable.  You must have employees.  Your company must be incorporated.  Your company must be a tech (communications, IT, software, Internet) or medtech (medtech, biotech, life sciences) company.  You must pay a yearly fee of $1800 in advance.  You may not send substitutes to the Roundtable. 

Roles  Unlike the days of knights, kings and Camelot, there is no king of the NetSuds CEO Roundtable; only a facilitator; Matt Noah, CEO of NetSuds.com, Inc.  Knights are replaced by CEOs and the table won't be quite round.

Schedule  The Roundtable will meet 10 times per calendar year on the last Tuesday of every month.  Each meeting lasts 2.0 hours starting at 7 am.  A facility convenient to the majority of Roundtable members is used.  A continental breakfast is served.

7.0    How To Prevent "Unpaid Consulting":  Timely Advice For Today's Sales Professionals

by NetSudser Jeff Thull, CEO, Prime Resource Group, support@primeresource.com 

If you’re in sales, you have probably encountered this scenario. You’re trying to convince a potential customer that your great products or services will solve their most pressing problems. To prove the point, you explain precisely how your solution will work. Mr. Potential Customer listens carefully, asks many questions and takes copious notes. Everything seems to be running smoothly. The customer nods and says all the right things and you leave convinced that the sale is in the bag. The problem is, when you call to close the sale, Mr. PC is nowhere to be found. Later, you hear that he has decided to buy from your top (and less expensive) competitor. Frustrated, you find yourself asking, “Where did I go wrong? Why didn’t I see it coming?”   You realize, you’ve fallen prey to an all-too-common trap: unpaid consulting.

Unpaid consulting starts when we cross the line between diagnosing the problem and explaining the solution. When we start designing solutions, we start acting as unpaid consultants. In past decades, this was not a monumental issue. Generally, there was limited competition in complex sales. If you figured out the problem and designed a unique and valuable solution for a customer, the sale was almost guaranteed and the salesperson was rewarded for his consulting effort. Today, there is an ever-increasing proliferation of competitors in complex sales, and once a solution is designed, the customer can easily shop it to the competition.

Why the change? It is the outcome of the technology explosion our world has experienced in the past decade or so. Simply put, no matter how sophisticated your products and services are, chances are there are numerous competitors offering the same thing. And because geographic location is no longer a critical factor—due in large part to the advent of the Internet—a manufacturer in New York can easily access a supplier in Los Angeles (or in China for that matter) just as easily as it can the one across the street.

So, what’s a sales professional to do? In today’s complex business arena there are no simple “band-aid” solutions. What is required is a systemic approach to an environment characterized by long sales cycles, multiple decision-makers, and numerous perspectives that may cross national and cultural borders.

A system called Diagnostic Business Development provides a navigable path from the first step of identifying potential customers through the sale itself and onto expanding and retaining profitable customer relationships. These are the four phases in this system:

üDiscover: The sales professional researches, prepares and sets the stage for a compelling engagement and a continuing relationship based on trust and respect.

üDiagnose: An in-depth determination of the existence, extent and financial impact of the customer’s current situation is pursued. Diagnosis is meant to maximize the customer’s objective awareness of their dissatisfaction and determine whether or not that dissatisfaction supports the salesperson’s offerings.

üDesign: The goal is to get the sales professional and customer working together to identify the optimal solution to the problems that were uncovered and quantified in the Diagnose phase—even if it involves alternative solutions offered by competitors. This phase is the “dress rehearsal” before the final presentation is made. It is here that many salespeople make the mistake of giving away valuable information and becoming an unpaid consultant.

üDeliver: This phase begins with the presentation of a formal proposal and the customer’s subsequent formal acceptance of the solution. Implementation and support of the solution are next, followed by maintaining and growing the relationship with the customer.

The process described in this book is a 180⁰ turn from conventional selling. To avoid the pitfalls of using outdated methods—pitfalls that include but are not limited to the unpaid consulting trap—consider the following suggestions:

• Prevent Premature Presentations. How can you present a solution to the customer’s problems before you clearly understand what those problems are—and more to the point, before the customer fully comprehends the problem and recognizes that you do too? While most salespeople devote the majority of their face-to-face time presenting and handling objections, the most successful salespeople spend the majority of their time collaborating with customers, diagnosing their situation, designing or creating a desired solution, and building their resolve to actively solve the problem.

• Don’t Lead The Witness. The traditional salesperson draws conclusions for the customer—often prematurely—and presents them to the customer before the customer is prepared to hear them. It is important that the customer discovers and takes ownership of the problem before deciding to seek a solution. If you move ahead of the customer, he or she is likely to interpret your actions as pushy or manipulative. This leads to a lack of trust, and creates a confrontational rather than cooperative atmosphere. 

• No Pain, No Change, No Sale. Dissatisfaction is the most basic human motivator for change. It is the natural defense mechanism that tells people that if they don’t change and deal with a problem, they will face consequences. Change itself is painful. As a result, change will not occur until an individual or company recognizes that it would be more painful not to change. This is why it’s so critical to do a thorough diagnosis that uncovers the pain of the current situation, and the lack of the future outcome. As you know, nothing less will motivate the customer to change.

• Go For The “No.” One advantage of a thorough diagnosis is that it allows the salesperson to quickly identify the 20-30% of their prospects who have the immediate reason and resources to make a change. It is the difference between an intellectual conversation about a desirable future and an objective observation and measurement of real indicators of an unacceptable present. The traditional salesperson wastes time arm-wrestling with a prospect that has no pain and hopes to win the sale by sheer tenacity. This has its roots in the theory that the good salesperson never takes “no” for an answer and the salesperson’s view that “no” equates to personal failure. You should always be asking yourself, “Is there someplace better I could be?”

Clearly, the role of the salesperson has changed dramatically. The often-ignored reality is that customers need outside expertise to help them understand the problems they face, design optimal solutions to those problems, and implement the solutions. It is up to you to provide the help your customers need. See yourself as a project manager for your customer’s decision. That is the secret behind succeeding at the complex sale.

# # #

About The Author:

Jeff Thull is a leading-edge strategist and valued advisor for executive teams of major companies worldwide.  As President and CEO of Prime Resource Group, he has designed and implemented business transformation and professional development programs for companies like Shell Global Solutions, 3M, Microsoft, Citicorp, IBM, and Georgia-Pacific, as well as many fast-track, start-up companies.  He has gained the reputation for being a thought-leader in the arena of sales and marketing strategies for companies involved in complex sales.

Jeff is a compelling, entertaining and thought-provoking keynote speaker with a track record of over 2,500 speeches and seminars delivered to corporations and professional associations.  Jeff Thull’s work is published in hundreds of business and trade publications.  He is also the author of the best selling book Mastering the Complex Sale – How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High and newly released, The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale

For more information contact: Prime Resource Group, support@primeresource.com, http://www.primeresource.com, 1.800.876.0378 or 763.473.7529, 3655 Plymouth Boulevard, Suite110,  Minneapolis, MN 55446

New Book Released January 2005:

“The Prime Solution: Close the Value Gap, Increase Margins, and Win the Complex Sale” (Dearborn Trade Publishing; January 2005; ISBN 0793195225; $24.95 hardcover).

Current Book:

“Mastering the Complex Sale: How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High!” (John Wiley & Sons; 2003; ISBN 047143516; $24.95).

8.0   Congress and Telecom - Senator Ted Stevens

From the February 22 edition of the Money in Politics Alert, Center for Response Politics, Vol. 8, No. 4; tel: 202-857-0044, fax: 202-857-7809, email: info@crp.org, web: www.opensecrets.org; www.capitaleye.org; www.fecwatch.org

This story is available online at http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=156

9.0   Guest Writers for This Report

I have opened up the Monthly NetSuds Report to guest writers. If you have a passion for a topic, and you can write (at least no worse than me), send an email to me matt@netsuds.com.  You can even send copies of your work.  It needs to be on "com and .com" topics and can include entrepreneur/investor activities.  Good information from our service providers and vendors is also welcome so long as it is not a "commercial" for any one company or individual.

If you are aware of others who would like to receive the NetSuds Report, ask them to visit http://www.netsuds.net/mail.htm to subscribe or unsubscribe.

Please send your comments and feedback regarding this issue of the NetSuds Report to matt@netsuds.com.

Matt Noah

980 Lake Susan Hills Drive
Chanhassen, MN  55317

612.605.5252
fax:  612.677.3934
matt@netsuds.com

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