Hi everyone! Have you been counting down to turkey day? I have been and let me tell you, I’m looking forward to spending time with my family and setting up camp in my chair for some game day football. I’ve been eyeing my favorite chair and I swear she’s been winking back. Shhh, don’t tell Shannon 😉! Speaking of talking out of turn, today I want to address something I frequently observe when I give sales workshops or sales-related keynotes. Too often sales professionals focus on telling clients about their products/services instead of putting the effort in to find out their actual needs and then working to meet them. These days especially, we’ve got to go the extra mile to maintain and attract our clientele. There is no room for inefficiencies, so let’s chat about the right sales strategies to employ, shall we?
Here’s Why Your Sales Strategy of Solely Telling Clients About Your Offerings is Ineffective
Recently, I had the honor of being a keynote speaker at an international Salesforce conference. My goal was pretty simple, use my handy-dandy, bestselling sales manual, The Sales Professional Playbook, to inspire sales professionals to adapt better sales strategies. You see, too many organizations erroneously build their sales strategy around telling current or potential clients about their products or services. No, that wasn’t a typo, simply telling your clients about your offerings is seriously not a solid sales tactic.
There are a multitude of similar businesses in your industry that offer products or services on par with your own. I know nobody likes to hear that, but it’s the truth. For sales professionals to differentiate in this post pandemic, high tech, low touch environment, we’ve got to connect with our clients on a deeper level. How do we do this? By taking the time to serve and understand our clients’ needs.
This should be your approach:
Let me be clear, of course you need to know your product’s features and benefits. It’s important to be competent in your field, but that is merely table stakes.
Your Sales Professional’s Cheat Sheet for Building Sustainable Sales Relationships
Below are four simple steps, that when followed, will significantly elevate your presentations and pitches. I guarantee you; they’ll be 100% more effective because your solutions will truly be based serving your clients’ business needs.
Tip One- Focus on your questions.
Ask probing questions like, “How many XX would make your business function more effectively?”. Trust me, if they are purposeful, a business is never going to turn down the opportunity to fill a gap. Go beyond the typical sales strategy of asking one or three basic questions then going to a generic pitch. That approach is useless and a time waster for everyone involved.
Tip Two: Ask personal questions (within reason).
Converse with your clients and ask personal questions to find out more about them as a person, their job and how they prefer to do business. Don’t worry about selling your product just yet. Only ask to understand, not to sell.
Tip Three: Bring a Notebook, Jot Down Notes to Reference Later
The name of the game is sales; the goal is to win it. To win you need a game plan. To build a functional game plan you need to understand the best strategic maneuvers to undertake. So bring along a note book and write down your clients’ needs as they speak. If you’re a good sales professional, you’ll have too many clients to remember all the minute details that’ll make a difference. Write it all down or even video it if possible. It’s too much work to get the opportunity to be in front of a client; you cannot afford to wing it!
Tip Four: Scrimmage the meeting with a peer or boss.
Practice, practice then practice that pitch some more. Do it with your boss or a peer but make sure it’s someone who’s not afraid to critique you for good purpose. Remember, use this opportunity to focus on asking questions and not pitching your product or service. By the time you get in front of your client, you’ll be ready for whatever they throw at you. Who doesn’t like a sales professional who is knowledge, engaging, friendly and well-prepared? No one and that’s the winning point.
Final Thoughts On Successful Sales Professionals’ Etiquette
As a sales professional, I always strive to be the best employee my client has on their roster that they never actually have to pay. I want them to see me as a person instead of just another sales rep giving a dry, cold, and generic pitch.
I want them to call me for advice, bounce ideas off me, be a resource for people or things. Shoot, I want them to want me to be that friend they want to hang out with even though I may not have a suite at the local NFL arena to offer them. In short, I want to be a great asset for their business.
How’s that holiday gift list chugging along? Are your stumped about what to gift the leader in your life that’s seemingly got everything? There’s one thing you can never consume enough, knowledge! Give the gift that keeps on giving by purchasing one (or all!) of my leadership books. They’ve available on Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible. You’re welcome! *wink*
