Lean Communication for Sales: Top-Down Communication

The purpose of this third article in the Lean Communication for Sales series is to show you a way to make your sales conversations much more effective, pleasant and efficient, and my hope is that after reading this, you will adopt a top-down approach in all your sales communications. I will first explain what it sounds like in a sales call, and then discuss why a top down approach provides more value with less waste in all your sales meetings.

How to use top-down communication in sales calls and presentations

Lean communicators get to the point immediately. They don’t begin with a lot of background to provide “context” or set the stage. They answer the question on every listener’s mind: what do you want me to do and why do you want me to do it? What this means to you is that you deliver your message from the top-down: state your main point and then support it as necessary. In lean communication, we call it Bottom Line Up Front, or BLUF.

In a sales call, here’s what top-down organization goes in this order: why, what, how. Tell them why you’re there (value proposition), what you hope to gain from the meeting (action statement), and how you hope to proceed (agenda). It might sound like this:

“I’m here to explore an idea that can take costs out of your design process while improving product performance; (pause) my expectation is that if it makes sense, you will recommend a presentation to your Product Council (pause) To make sure I’ve covered everything, I’ve put together an agenda that will keep us on track, but please let me know if there is anything you would like to add.”

There are a few important considerations and caveats to keep in mind. First, your action statement is a statement, not a question. In other words, you don’t say, “if it makes sense, will you recommend a presentation to…” Why? Because you haven’t earned the right to ask yet. They don’t have enough information so their default answer will be no. Plus, it makes you sound like you’re selling a used car.

Second, be flexible; realize that despite your best preparation, you can be off track. Maybe your value proposition is not what’s important to the buyer, or your action is the wrong one, or your agenda does not address some issues they consider important. After you’ve delivered your BLUF, pay close attention to what the buyer says and does, and be prepared to ask questions and/or offer to modify your approach. But that’s the beauty of making your intentions plain: your buyer is much more likely to make their own intentions plain, so you can get things out on the table and then work together to produce more value, more pleasantly, and with less time and effort.

How top-down helps

BLUF works for three reasons:

• It produces more value,
• In a more pleasant atmosphere,
• With less time and effort

It produces more value

A top-down approach works because it gets both parties working toward a common goal. In complex sales, two heads are always better than one because neither you nor the buyer has all the answers, but together you have the highest chance of producing the best solution. It’s like each side has a half of a treasure map; when you’re open about what your destination is, both halves of the map can come together, smoothing the path to the payoff.

It makes a more pleasant atmosphere

Top-down organization improves the atmosphere in two ways: it dispels suspicion and puts you on an equal footing. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes for a minute. When someone comes into your office and starts telling you how much value they can bring you or how great they are, what’s going through your mind? You know they’re going to ask for something, but every minute they don’t get to the point, the more your suspicions grow, and the less likely you are to listen to what they have to say. On the other hand, when someone is completely transparent about their motives, you relax. You may not necessarily agree with them, but when their intentions are out in the open, it’s easier to have a real conversation about the issues.

It also puts you on an equal footing with the buyer. You are telling them confidently that you bring value to the conversation, and you expect value in return. If you truly have something of value to bring to them (and if you don’t why are you there?), then you have the right to expect something from them in return. In the very rare case that someone would take offense to that, that’s probably a losing cause anyway, and it’s best to find that out early in the call.

It shortens the conversation

Top-down can significantly shorten the conversation as well. If the buyer agrees with your intentions, it becomes a pretty smooth path to the goal. If they don’t agree, they will let you know and you can probe to understand their reasoning and if necessary, pivot and change your goal for the call, or you might decide to lose early, but either way, you won’t be charging blindly into a dead end.

Your agenda also helps to identify what does not need to be covered. When they see how you plan to proceed, they may be able to tell you what parts they already know or agree with. They can ask questions to fill in their own gaps or to tell you what they consider important.

What I’ve described in this post is just one way to use top-down communication to deliver more of what customers want, without wasting their time or yours. There are several other ways to use the concept in sales, including the structure of your presentations, the design of your slides, how you answer questions, which you can figure out on your own. In this age of shrinking attention spans, it may soon be the only way to communicate!

Previous posts in this series:

Lean Communication for Sales: Talk Less, Sell More?

Lean Communication for Sales: Value