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January 3 - January 7, 2024
they think we are here today and what are they expecting? What is a win for us?”
When you’re talking you aren’t learning. Two ears, one mouth. Remember that for next time.”
1. Build rapport and identify the buyer’s style. 2. Share the agenda (get buy-in, seek input). 3. Clean up their issues (only with existing customers). 4. Deliver the power statement (three minutes maximum). 5. Ask probing questions (also known as discovery). 6. Sell.
7. Determine the fit and seek out objections. 8. Define and schedule the next steps.
This first important phase of the call is to help us connect
1. It is a big differentiator. Almost no one in sales does this. Certainly not well. Letting your prospect in on your plan communicates
“That is what I was looking to do in our time together. What would you like to get from this meeting; what were you hoping to accomplish today?”
It informs the buyer where you are headed. No one wants to be taken on a ride. I can’t stand not
It lets the buyer know you expect a dialogue. Your prospect fully expects you to pull
the usual “show up and throw up” act that he has become accustomed to. He’s thinking, “I don’t need to play close attention because you are about to verbally puke on me for the next hour.”
Here’s what I would like to do. Let me kick us off and take just two or three minutes to share a bit about ABC Spellbinders, the issues we solve for HR professionals, and why they tend to bring us in for help. I will also touch briefly on how we are different and why we have been so successful in this space. Then I’d like to turn the tables
and ask you questions to understand more
about your situation and what you are doing in regards to QRS, or how you are approaching the XYZ opportunity. Depending on what I hear from you, I can share a few relevant case studies or show you options for how we provide Spellbinding for clients. After that, we can discuss if it looks like we mi...
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makes sense to have a follow-up meeting or get our teams together]. That is what I was hoping to do, Ron. Tell me what you were hoping for and wha...
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Personal questions 2. Strategic and directional questions 3. Specific issue-seeking and opportunity-seeking questions 4. Sales process questions
The easiest way to formulate effective questions is to review the client issues section of your power statement (problems solved, pains removed, opportunities captured, results
achieved). Work through the entire list, taking each of the stated reasons that clients look to your company and converting it into a probing question. It’s helpful to keep the questions open-ended because this encourages the prospect to provide descriptive responses as opposed to yes or no answers. As examples:
How are you approaching Pain No. 1? What has your experience been pursuing Opportunity No. 2? Could you share your thoughts on capturing Opportunity No. 3? What’s wor...
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No. 4 raises its ugly head? And if t...
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not addressed, what’s the impact? Tell me about your current initiative t...
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And most important, when you hit on a topic where it’s clear an issue exists, dig deeper. Don’t just move on to your next question. Ask follow-up questions. Remember, we’re in search of the customer’s pains, problems, needs, and desires. If you discover some of these issues, camp out for a while.
resist the temptation to launch into sales-mode. When you find
Find out the consequences of not solving the issue or achieving the desired result. Everything learned at this stage is useful later, especially when the time comes to propose a solution.
More often than not, deals go dark when you’re blindsided by some factor you didn’t discover earlier in the process. Maybe your contact, the person you’ve been meeting with, truly didn’t
buy. Or was there no money to fund a solution. Possibly our definition of “soon” didn’t align with your prospect’s. Whatever the case, it
especially when you already booked the revenue (and spent the comm...
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Decision authority and decision influencers Timelines Available dollars or budget Willingness to make a change Stage
in the buying process
Decision criteria (how the decision will be made, not who makes it) Alternative options Competition
Along with yourself, who else really cares about
Where are you in the process of evaluating options? Where will the money come from to fund this initiative? This is a significant decision. How committed are you to making a change? What is the likelihood that you will leave your current supplier (or solution) or change direction?
Tell me the criteria you’ll use to make your decision. How will you decide? What other alternatives are on the
Deals go dark when you get lazy and shoot from the dark. Practice asking these types of questions at every prospect meeting.
DISCOVERY PRECEDES PRESENTATION.
“Based on our conversation and what we’ve shared with each other, it looks like we might be a fit to help you.”
I follow with, “What do you think?”
phase of the call. First, we’re seeking confirmation that we indeed have a potential solution for this prospect. Plain and simple: Do we have a fit? Can we help this prospect?
“I get the feeling you have concerns or see obstacles about going forward. Tell me what you’re thinking. I’d rather hear your concerns now than pretend they don’t exist.”
your prospect is the one with the pain, problem, or desired result. You have the potential solution. If you’ve done your job by correctly structuring
and conducting the sales call, your prospects should be just as appreciative of you as you are
Buyers resist salespeople. Everyone does it, even
Representing ourselves as problem solvers who exist to bring value sets us apart from the throng of other salespeople vying
Here’s one more reminder that buyers couldn’t care less about how smart we are or how wonderful we think our company is. Understandably, they are only concerned with what’s in it for them.
the first few sentences emanating from our lips, the buyer is determining
we “get it.” The conversation is supposed to be abou...
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No matter how senior or entrenched my selling partners, managers, or coworkers, I will never again cede control of the selling process to someone else. I am responsible for executing a solid sales process, regardless of who owns the account relationship.
When something doesn’t feel right that’s because it’s
not right. Don’t go along for the ride, even in the name of education or training. Speak up. Ask hard questions. I have a good sales gut and need to
By sales law, a first meeting cannot be a presentation. Ever.
Even when asked to do a presentation, turn it into a dialogue by asking questions
