 When we’re given an opportunity, we typically only have access to 10% of the picture. Just like with an iceberg, the majority of the information lies beneath the surface. And, just like when steering a ship, that 90% matters. That 90% tells you what your customer values, how you can build a relationship with them, and what you are uniquely positioned to offer that competitors can’t.
But you can’t dive into the deep end before you know how to swim, which is why Iceberg Selling starts with getting a full grasp of what’s going on above the surface and using that information to intentionally learn more. Assume Your Customer Has Done Their Homework. The potential customer has reached out to you or your organization for a reason. Whether they found an ad online, received a referral from a trusted contact, or simply heard good things through word of mouth, something prompted them to contact you. Which likely means that they already like something that you’re putting out into the world. They already have baseline information about your organization and the services you offer, but there is a lot they still need to learn in order to make the decision to work with you. Try to see your company, and yourself, through your customer’s eyes. What do they likely already know about you, your services, and your offerings? What information could they have found online or through social platforms? By figuring out what your customer likely already knows about you, you’ll have a better idea of what they still need to learn in order to move forward. Do Some Preliminary Research. Before you try to explore what’s beneath the surface, you need to have a full grasp of all the surface-level information. In other words, don’t forget to do your homework. While you won’t be able to gather all the necessary information about a prospective customer from their website or an email, digging for clues does give you information on what direction to dig in. The lucky part is that doing this research is easier right now than ever before, for the simple reason that so much information is available at our finger tips. This is true for the organization you may be working with, but it’s also true for the person who contacted you. Research the company What does the company do? Is it a private business or a public company? What can you gather about their performance over the past year? What sector are they in? What would they likely be using your services for? A large pharmaceutical company that’s had a tough few years is going to have vastly different needs than a locally owned diner that’s a popular staple in town. By understanding who you are working with, you’ll have a better idea of how to approach a discovery conversation. Next, think about how your organization and how you personally offer value specific to their industry, market, or company. Perhaps you have specialized knowledge in their industry, which will allow you to make more tailored recommendations. Maybe you have relevant customers who you can share as a reference or as a success story. Finally, try to figure out how the company identifies themselves. Most organizations, even small ones, have their vision, mission, core values, and culture defined. Many will even have it listed directly on their website or social platforms. They may even list who their core customers are. All of these things will give you important context as you consider what kind of person or company they want to work with. A company with a strong growth mission will want to align with like minded people, where a small family business may be more comfortable working with somebody they’ve built a personal connection with. Think about the ways in which your company or your personal values align with theirs so you can figure out how you fit in, not just to serve their needs, but with their culture. In addition to the website, take a look at their LinkedIn page or any other social media platforms they may use. This will give you a good idea of how they want to be seen, both in strictly professional environments, as well as through more casual mediums. Research your contact Let’s say a teacher has a classroom of twenty students. Half of them are average students, about a third of them are high-scoring You want to be a good fit for the organization, but ultimately, the entire company isn’t making the decision to work with or buy from you. There’s likely a small team or even one singular individual making that call. And there’s a good chance it’s the person who contacted you in the first place. Before you start diving deeper, you want to know everything you can about them. Check out their personal LinkedIn profile to learn how long they’ve been with the organization, what their title is, if they’ve had any recent promotions, what experience they have, and where else they’ve worked. If they’ve reposted any articles, check them out to see what interests them. If they’ve written any posts, take note of what their communication style is. You won’t be able to gain everything you need to know from this, but it will give you an idea of what it may be like to work with the individual, not just the company, and help you adapt your process to fit theirs. Adjust Your Focus. There’s a big difference between entering a meeting or dialing into a call with somebody who’s gathered preliminary information and somebody who hasn’t. Those who haven’t can only ask surface level questions. They don’t have enough background to start diving into the details, so instead, they spend the limited time they have with the customer gathering general information. There’s often very little opportunity to ask follow up questions, probe for more information, or pick up on subtle nuances that may give them a lot of useful information. Even worse, they look unprepared and unprofessional when they only ask questions that, realistically, they could have and should have already known the answers to. Meanwhile, those who spend 20-minutes intentionally researching the customer and the organization approach the meeting with a different focus. They may confirm details they discovered, but the majority of the time will be spent gathering information that can’t be found in the RFP, on the internet, or in an email - giving them a significant advantage over their competitors. Learn More Iceberg Selling is a technique grounded in the understanding that for every person, organization, and situation, you can only see 10% of what’s really going on. By adopting the right mindsets, prioritizing building relationships, and approaching customers with genuine curiosity, you can start to explore the other 90% and improve your sales performance. Get the book to learn more about Iceberg Selling.  You nailed the first four steps of the meeting. You did your research, you meticulously scheduled a meeting, you built rapport, you co-created a solution with your customer. You’re almost at the finish line, but you haven’t fully crossed it yet.
If you end the call or leave the building with nothing more than vague promises to chat soon, there’s a good chance you’ll fall off the radar and end up in the place you’ve worked hard to avoid: the check-in zone. But pulling out your calendar and asking to schedule a follow-up feels too forceful or sales-y when you’ve put so much effort into being a guide. Believe it or not, the opposite is true. Trust the work you’ve put in so far. If you’ve truly committed to being a partner to the customer, they already see the value of what you have to offer. They know what you’re working towards. More importantly, they know what they’re working towards with you. You’ve been their guide this entire time. Why would you stop leading them through the process now? Don't lose the sale at the finish line. Let me tell you a little bit about Tim. Tim was (and is) a tech entrepreneur who I met at a workshop. As Tim explained it, he was having a lot of trouble closing deals. He met with several potential customers, had great conversations with naturally flowing dialogue, he answered questions without entering debates to overcome objectives. He’d leave each meeting thinking it went great, but nothing would ever happen. The reason why was obvious to me. Tim was so worried about being seen as a pushy salesman that he never even broached next steps. He forgot what he was trying to do was help his customers with the solutions he was giving them. Remember: you're there to solve somebody's problem. Sales is about learning and understanding people. It’s also about being of service. Once you understand what’s going on in their world and the full scope of the challenges they need a solution for, you can work with them to create a roadmap that solves them. They ultimately will be the one to decide whether or not they want to follow the plan you create together - but you need to give them an invitation to take the next steps. It was the day before Karl had a Zoom meeting scheduled with a salesman who wanted some individual coaching. Karl opened his inbox to find that the man had sent him a detailed PDF as well as a video of himself speaking. Both shared what Karl would consider a “value statement.” It shared information about the salesman, the company he worked for, what problems they aimed to solve, and how they approached solving them.
It was an incredibly professional video and PDF, but it was also incredibly curated. It felt like the salesman was reading from a script, and Karl finished watching the video not feeling like he knew anything more about who the man was or how he (and the company he worked for) would provide value. In their meeting the next day, the first thing Karl told the salesman to do was to pretend they were just two old friends grabbing a beer. “Let’s pretend I’m your college roommate who you haven’t spoken to in a while. We’re catching up at the bar and I ask what you’re up to now. How would you respond to that?” Thank goodness the session was recorded, because the result was the salesman nailing it. He didn’t even pause to think before diving into his answer. “You know, sometimes businesses have challenges, and the CEO isn’t totally in tune with what they are. As companies get bigger, they’re pretty far removed from the day-to-day. But the problems that are going on still need to be solved.” He went on to explain that he sells technology and services that can free up a lot of time, giving bandwidth back to the employees so they can focus more on their jobs. “It benefits the employees most,” he said with a little shrug. “The goal is really to give them a resource that helps them focus on what matters the most to the company.” Many salespeople, especially younger salespeople without a lot of experience under their belt, rely too heavily on the beautifully curated elevator pitches that marketing creates, and while they have their purposes, it’s not necessarily what works best in a casual conversation. In fact, as Karl shared with the young man, anytime you feel like you’re memorizing a script instead of improvising an interaction, you have a problem. In the Building a Strong Foundation for Sales Success on the Trailblazing for Success: Inspiring Leaders podcast, Karl shares what is most regularly missing in sales teams today, why being a lifelong learner is crucial to sales success, and how to show up with confidence and authenticity. Listen now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts  Most salespeople probably have a list of sentences or phrases they use again and again (and again and again) when they’re communicating with customers.
We’re not referring to a fully fleshed out script that they launch into during meetings with customers (in fact, we’re pretty sure we’ve extensively warned against this in previous blogs). This list is much less formal. It may involve words or phrases they use to introduce themselves or the company they work for. It could be how they explain specific products, services, or differentiators that their team offers. Maybe it includes phrases they use when transitioning from one part of the meeting to the next or what they say when the meeting is coming to a close and they’re trying to schedule a follow up call. These phrases are likely short and sweet. After all, they aren’t pulling out a notebook and reading them verbatim during a meeting. It’s more of a reference - something they can quickly review before a meeting as a refresher so they can communicate as clearly as possible. Some old school sales folks might have it jotted down in their notebooks, but for most people, it will exist in a note on their phone, saved as an email draft, or on their clipboard. Really, it could exist on any device that is easily accessible and can be pulled out at a moment's notice. If you’re a salesperson without one of these personal banks, make one! It’s easier than you might think. Go through past communications, think of frequent questions customers have and the best ways you’ve answered them, and jot down some phrases you felt represented you or your company well or that you got a positive response from. But here’s the best practice: instead of each salesperson having their own individual list that nobody else in the company has access to, create a shared resource that the entire team can use. Creating this resource won’t take a long time, especially if you don’t overcomplicate it. Prior to your next sales meeting, ask everyone to come prepared with a list of phrases in their personal library. Then, go around the room and have each person share some of their favorite or most used phrases and add them to a master list that the whole team can access and use as a resource. The idea isn’t that each person will start using each other’s talk track verbatim. Instead, it gives them a resource that they can draw inspiration from, but can be easily adjusted to sound more authentic to their own voice and selling style. Another great resource to share is how individual salespeople are finding prospective new customers that fit their ideal profile, are likely to be in need of the team’s services, and that come with a higher chance of conversion. One of the AV companies Karl worked with was able develop a great strategy with this method of idea sharing. Somebody on the team had started doing venue based research. Essentially, they’d look into events being held at one of their favorite venues, as they knew those events were typically the ideal size and scope for their team based on the space they were using. After learning this, the team developed a process where they would look into upcoming events at their top venues, Google the organization hosting the event, find contact information for the event organizer or somebody else working at the company. They’d reach out to them as quickly as possible. As they talked about outreach techniques (and, yes, used shared resources, like introductory email templates), somebody mentioned what a disappointment it was that they couldn’t find any contact information online for an upcoming event they’d be a really great fit for. Karl thought for a moment. “Do they have a contact form on their website?” “Probably,” the salesperson answered. “But I’m not sure that’s what it’s really for.” “So what?” Karl said with a shrug. “The worst they can do is not respond.” The very first form they filled out resulted in a response. Within a few days, the president of the AV company was on the phone with the organization’s CEO to talk about the event. The best part? No AV partner had been contracted yet. Suddenly, the AV team, which had done nothing more than fill out a contact form, was first in line. When sales teams share resources and build processes together, we often find that all the pieces of the puzzle are already there - they just need a little intentional collaboration to see the whole picture.  .At first glance, we only know about 10% of what’s going on in any given situation.
A toddler is crying because they don’t want to put on their pajamas, your spouse is annoyed that you didn’t load the dishwasher correctly, your boss is in a bad mood because there was traffic on the way to work. And while all those things may be technically true, they don’t give you the full picture. Odds are, the toddler has put on their pajamas without argument 100s of times before, you’ve incorrectly loaded the dishwasher in the past with no reaction from your spouse, and your boss is probably no stranger to traffic, but usually shakes it off when they get out of the car. It’s when we dig beneath the surface that we start to see that there is more going on. The toddler is getting molars, making them uncomfortable. Your spouse had an argument with a friend, which put them in a bad mood. Your boss is dealing with a family health emergency, and the traffic was the last straw. The same is true of your customers. A good salesperson is aware that every customer is a bit different. They have different communication styles, different inter-office politics to navigate, different stressors that require them to need your services, and different goals. They may be at wildly different places in their careers, which comes with different experiences and connections. The list goes on and on. Why does this matter to you? Because each of these factors affect what they’re looking for from the salespeople they partner with. That’s why it’s important to look beneath the surface - and the first step of doing that is using the four Iceberg Selling Mindsets. Mindset 1: Lifetime Value. It’s easy to get tunnel vision about closing a sale (or every sale). As we get closer to the end of the month, salespeople get more obsessive about hitting their sales targets and start seeing each customer as a deal that needs to be closed. But that doesn’t set you up for a long-term relationship with the customer. Imagine you meet your ideal customer on paper. They’re the right demographic, have the right budget, can bring you referrals, may bring in new business, and are in the industry your organization is targeting. They’re in need of services right now, but there is potential to use a variety of your services or products on a long-term, regular basis. You have, what you think, is a great conversation with them. You send them a proposal and then… crickets. Your emails go unanswered. Your follow up calls go to voicemail. You worry that you’re irritating the customer with the constant check-ins, but there isn’t much else you can do. Right? Well, with a transactional mindset, that may be true. But when you reframe your mindset and start thinking less about the deal in front of you and more about creating an ongoing partnership, your approach may start to shift. Instead of thinking about one deal, start focusing on providing value. Perhaps during your initial discovery call, the customer mentioned wanting to meet other people in the industry. Are there any introductions you can help facilitate? If so, send an email offering to connect them. Maybe the conversation dug even deeper beneath the surface and they mentioned being new to the area. Is there a favorite restaurant or activity you can recommend to them? It may not boost your numbers for the month or increase your commission. It may be too late to earn the business you originally bid on. However, your professionalism, kindness, and willingness to go above and beyond to provide value will make a lasting impression. Next time they’re in need of a service your team provides, they’ll remember that. In this way, your focus isn’t on closing one deal, but on creating the potential to gain a lifelong client with more business, revenue, and impact over time. Mindset 2: Being of Service. This mindset can be summed up with the phrase “go above and beyond.” Really, it’s about being a true resource for your customer, outside of what will make you money or boost your sales. Most sales professionals aren’t in the business just because they like to compete (well, that may be part of it, but not the whole reason). It’s because they like building relationships and genuinely enjoy making a difference for their customers. They’re wired to give. If you want to create value in the relationships you build, it’s important to recognize that sometimes that value doesn’t strictly fall within the boundaries of your contract or your pay. This doesn’t mean that you should throw in free products or services, but rather to dig beneath the surface and figure out what they might need that they aren’t vocalizing. Is there something they want to accomplish? Are they going through something personally and professionally? Is there something you can do to make a difference in their life right now? Even if you’re simply offering to share industry knowledge with newcomers to their team, you’re making an effort to give them something that will benefit them, provide them value, and build more trust in the relationship. Mindset 3: Ownership. Oftentimes, we ask for permission that we don’t really need. Permission to attend a networking event, permission to take a client out to dinner, permission to reach out to stale leads… the list goes on. Most of the time, what we’re asking permission to do are things that a sales manager would easily approve of, but instead of trusting our instincts, we ask for permission to take action. So many salespeople get into the profession because they want to be in control of their destiny. And, as a salesperson, it’s quite literally your job to take charge of situations. And yet, when push comes to shove, we hesitate to take ownership. An ownership mindset simply means that you’re taking responsibility for your actions and whatever outcomes they lead to. You decide how you show up for your customers, whether they be new or existing. You choose how to manage your accounts. You design an experience and you bring it to life. Perhaps most importantly, once you’ve built a relationship with somebody, you trust your instincts on how to close the deal or grow their account. This applies to more than making sales, but in how you approach your goals. Are you defining your goals, or following milestones set by somebody else. Are you taking ownership of your journey to get there? Be proactive. Nobody can take you from a good salesperson to a great salesperson except for you. Mindset 4: Drivership. Are you a driver or a passenger? Do you let things happen to you… or do you make them happen? When a new customer (let’s say that it’s that ideal customer on paper, in fact), comes into your sales pipeline at 5:05pm as you’re getting ready to sign off for the day, what do you do about it? Do you immediately reach out and start building a connection, or do you wait until the next morning? Great salespeople are in constant motion. They move from one activity to the next, quickly adapt to the circumstances in front of them, and approach challenges calmly but boldly. Yes, they take time to think through their course of action and come up with a plan, but they don’t get paralyzed in day-to-day details. Their focus is moving forward. When a new opportunity comes in, they grab it. When a customer reaches out, they respond right away, even if it’s just to say they’re working on finding an answer. They come up with ideas to generate more sales. They share those ideas. They put them into action. They don’t forfeit responsibility for gaining a deeper understanding of their customers. They claim it. They take charge. They make things happen. Learn More Iceberg Selling is a technique grounded in the understanding that for every person, organization, and situation, you can only see 10% of what’s really going on. By adopting the right mindsets, prioritizing building relationships, and approaching customers with genuine curiosity, you can start to explore the other 90% and improve your sales performance. Get the book to learn more about Iceberg Selling. |
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We are headquartered in Colorado with domestic and international teammates and clients. Please use the contact form on this page to inquire about any of our books, podcasts appearances, speaking engagements and workshops, any of our offerings, or simply to connect.
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