Most
people's sales conversations could be better. Not a little better,
significantly better. I see too many sellers fall into the same traps:
You talk too much, leaving the buyer with the impression that you
don't understand their business, their industry, or their needs.
You grill the buyer with questions, making them feel like they are a part of an interrogation.
You talk too little, letting the buyer control the conversation.
You are over eager, and the buyer can smell your desperation a mile away.
You talk about your products and services as if they are commodities, leading the buyer to buy based on price.
You are unprepared, and the buyer wonders why they are wasting their time with you.
You are uncomfortable talking about money, and the second a price objection comes up you cave and start discounting.
The fact is there are endless ways to goof up a sales conversation,
and most sellers make major mistakes each and every time they talk with a
prospect.
Improve Your Sales Conversations
If you want to improve your sales conversations, pay attention to these 7 keys: 1. Build rapport:
Before you ask questions to get the buyer to open up or talk about how
you can help, you have to build rapport. All else being equal, people
buy from people they like. Be likable and focus on relationship building, and you'll find your sales conversations will go much more smoothly. 2. Uncover aspirations and afflictions. If you've
ever read any piece of sales advice, you know you need to ask questions
to uncover the prospect's pain. That's a given. What most advice doesn't
include is how to harness the power of aspirations. Your job is not
only to uncover the prospect's needs and pains, but it's to also uncover
their aspirations and goals. Get your prospect to open up and share
their hopes, dreams, and desires and then show how you can help them
achieve their goals. 3. Make the impact clear. If you don't make the
business case, you won't make the sale. You can do everything else
right, but if the prospect doesn't see the value of your solution (and
you've got to be very clear with what that value is), they will not buy
it. 4. Paint a picture of the new reality. This goes
hand in hand with points 2 and 3. Once you know the prospect's needs and
goals and the tangible impact of alleviating these pains or attaining
their goals, you must paint a picture of what their new world will look
like. How will it be better? In your sales conversations, help them
visualize the other side and build excitement around it. 5. Balance advocacy and inquiry. Sales conversations
require give and take. You have to get the prospect talking so you can
fully understand their situation. You also need to take what the
prospect says and communicate recommendations based on your expertise to
help them see how you can help. In each and every sales conversation
(yes, this includes capabilities presentations and demos) you have to
balance how much you talk and how much you listen. 6. Build on the foundation of trust. Trust is the
foundation of sales success. A buyer will not open up and share their
needs if they don't trust you. A buyer will not believe in your solution
and that you can do what you say you can do if they don't trust you. A
buyer will never see the full value of what you propose if they don't
trust you. You will not win the sale if they don't trust you.
7. Plan to succeed. Set the table for success by
going into each sales conversation with a plan. Do your homework and
know what you want to get out of the conversation. If you go into each
conversation well prepared and planning to succeed, you will be much
more likely to make the sale.
If you follow these seven keys in your sales conversations, will you
still make mistakes? Absolutely. Will you win every sale? Absolutely
not. After all, we're only human and no one is perfect.
But they will help you avoid the common mistakes many sellers make
and help you lead more successful and productive sales conversations.
PART B
1. Pinpoint your unique-EST-ness
Every business offers something unique to its customers. You may be providing the same kinds of products and services, but how
you provide them differentiates you from the competition. First figure
out what makes your business unique, then make sure your customers know
what makes it unique too! 2. Get to know your target audience intimately
Do you know who your customers are--I mean do you really know
who your customers are? Intimately knowing the target audience for your
marketing messages is the first step in crafting effective advertising,
social media campaigns, and more. Don't waste your time and dollars
hitting the wrong target. 3. Build word of mouth into your product or service
Every business wants to build buzz
about its products and services. Why? Because when your company's fans
talk, people listen. You can build word of mouth into your product or
service by catering to brand ambassadors, creating an aura of
exclusivity using added perks through loyalty and reward programs, and
cultivating an "under the radar" vibe. 4. Gather assets, including testimonials
When
you consider the assets you have in your business, you probably
automatically think of such things as money, people, office furniture,
and such. However, you have other important, but less obvious assets at
your disposal, including marketing assets, social assets, customer
testimonials, and more. Make a point of gathering and organizing these
less obvious assets and using them to your advantage. 5. Make metrics meaningful
You can measure the performance of your business
in a variety of different ways, including such things as sales per
visitor, average order value, revenue (and profit) per product, and much
more. Amazon constantly tracks more than 500 different performance
measures. Figure out the key performance indicators for your business,
then measure and analyze the results. 6. Create brand ambassadors
Brand
ambassadors are everyday customers who love your products or services
so much that they just can't help but tell everyone they meet about you.
They're the ones who say, "I've got the greatest CPA--you should have
her do your taxes!" To start connecting with your own brand ambassadors, think about what it would take to make someone fall in love with your company--and then do it. 7. Track sales systematically to success
There
are a variety of great customer relationship management (CRM) tools
available today that can help you track your sales in ways that will
help you better understand who your best customers are, which products
they like best, and where you should focus your selling efforts. Use
them! 8. Respond to your reviews
If your business attracts reviews in review sites such as
Yelp, Angie's List, and TripAdvisor, then be sure that you take the
time to respond to those reviews. Doing so presents you with a great
opportunity to reinforce your good reviews, and to manage your bad ones.
The key is to be authentic and professional, and avoid being defensive
or antagonistic. 9. Eavesdrop to find the social butterflies
Use
Twitter to gauge the pulse of the local conversation. Make a point of
following socially active local restaurants, event organizers,
promoters, DJs, Chamber, Rotary, and other local networking
organizations, and bloggers. When you follow them, they'll likely follow
you--and help you get your own messages out to a wider audience. 10. Forget location, location, location
With
the advent of social media, your physical location is not as important
as your online visibility. Work hard to develop a strong social media
presence, and people will seek out your business. 11. Tap into the best of Generation Z
Generation
Z includes people born after 1995, and they are the future for your
business. Keep an eye on them and understand their needs and
perspectives as they grow into your next generation of customers.
