Rules of Engagement — it’s not just for the military

Rules of engagement can lead to disaster or, and this is why they are put in place, yield a successful outcome that is beneficial to all participants.

Engagement with a prospect goes down the same path as those seen when “Rules of Engagement” are put in place by the military (how many times do we hear that “sales is war”?).

One of my favorite business descriptions of ROE (Rules of Engagement) is: Practices followed or behavior displayed by participants in situations of opposing interests — such as in negotiations. Unwritten rules of engagement determine what information is given, at what time, to whom, and in what manner; and what concession is granted and what is demanded in return.

Of course the above is written about ROE in business — and that’s what we’re here for, right? To increase the business, through growth — either in sales, revenue, size, market penetration, and so on and so forth.

But, I digress — back to ROE and how I defined it above. Engaging with a prospect is exactly that — you, the sales professional want to be perceived (your behavior) as trustworthy, knowledgeable, and empathetic to your prospect. The prospect, on the other hands, wants to have their problem solved, but, with as little “work” as possible on their part besides it a) solving the problem and b) being affordable (the opposing interests). Unfortunately, we live in a world where there is more than one vendor (another side of opposing interests — it’s not just the prospect) who can help the prospect and in some cases may have a cheaper product than you. But we all know that the cost of a product/service doesn’t always answer the problem that they are having.

Let’s break down the second sentence in what I wrote above as a definition for ROE.

1. The unwritten rules of engagement determine what information is given — and there’s the crux of the matter, right? If you don’t give the the correct information, you are either out of the running in your sales effort or have taken a distant last place in getting a prospects business.
2. At what time — wow! In today’s world, it’s always immediate — and again, if you aren’t first with the correct information, you will really be behind everyone else.
3. To whom — no, I won’t say anything on this — if you aren’t speaking with the decision maker or makers (or aren’t aware of them), then maybe sales isn’t your calling.
4. And in what manner. And here is where the ball meets the bat or, in the analogy I’ve been using, you win the race. You can be like everyone else who’s answering the prospects call and send an email with attachments, paragraphs of copy as you try to explain it, documents that may or may not answer exactly what the prospect needs, video’s and links found in 3 different locations, and so many other examples — all of which make it ripe for you to finish last.

So why not use a tool out there that can help you make engagement with the prospect not only painless to you, but also to your prospect! Using sales tools that cause your prospect to engage with you eliminates many of the “rules” that a prospect expects to be followed — because you will be able to show empathy, trust, and knowledge — and isn’t that what every buyer wants? Showcasing those elements immediately and the first time go a long way in winning the business.

Yes, I work for Illumineto and our product Spark does all of these things — but, there are other tools out there that do some of these (but not all) as well — and if you aren’t at least using something (anything!) to engage with your prospect, again I have to ask, why are you in sales? Make life easy and get bigger commission checks and get a tool that is built for you, the sales professional — not a tool built for a company (like a CRM system — yuck!), but one that helps you engage with your prospect and measures success.