Kensei launches The Lexicon Sales Method
What's in a name?
Over the past 14 years and 9 months I have learned a lot.
I have had the good fortune and honor of engaging over 70 clients, ~20,000 Sales (AE’s, Pre-sales, Value Engineers, BDRs/SDRs, leaders, etc.), Sales Enablement and Marketing professionals and their executive teams across 33 countries, which has fueled this learning.
More on this in a moment…
When we started Kensei we were singularly focus on improving sales execution and results by mastering selling technique.
In feudal Japan, a Kensei or “sword saint” was renowned for their exceptional skill and mastery in the art of swordsmanship. They were highly respected for their combat abilities and discipline (and their strong code of honor).
The brand felt like a natural fit, as we were striving to create B2B sales “Kensei’s”.
We got pretty good at it. Focus and discipline will do that.
What evolved with every engagement, however, was the realization that far more than sales technique mastery was required to access revenue that was not already “in the market” (read: budgeted).
With so much market focus on S2B (sales to business) skills, there was very little practical focus on B2B selling execution, either at the line level or contextually with the supply chain that supported the line.
With a very busy practice area focused on Net New Name business skills for several multi billion dollar clients, it become clear that engaging the Named Executive Officers (NEOs), specifically the CEO, CFO, COO was essential in order to hit and exceed revenue targets by accessing un-budgeted funds.
This is a different type of selling. This requires that we not only engage NEOs and their direct reports, but also that we guide their thinking and decision making, not in terms of software and technology, but in terms of multi-year net cash flows and the key financial value drivers that they are responsible for optimizing.
This type of selling requires business skills and narratives delivered in the C-level dialect.
Add to this that Sales is fundamentally a linguistic profession. Language is the coin of the realm as this is the control path for influencing and guiding revenue to our assets vs. alternatives.
Enter “Lexicon” or the Lexicon Sales Method in full form.
A lexicon is a term used in linguistics to refer to the complete set of words or vocabulary that exists within a particular language or within the language of a specific group of people. It encompasses all the words, phrases, and terms that are recognized and used by speakers of that language or group.
If we are to influence and guide executives in terms of how they allocate strategic capital we must speak their language. The language of business.
To be fully actualized professionals, we must master the executive and B2B lexicons…and this is what we do.