Selling is not for everyone but for elite salespeople, it is a most rewarding career. These top producers have mastered many skills, including positioning their value to prospects and clients as well as following a stage-based sales process. However, we know that all salespeople, including the cream of the crop, struggle with these three sales challenges:
- Differentiating Themselves
- Selling Consultatively
- Knowing When It’s Over
Sales Challenge #1: Differentiating: How to be unique
Everyone in selling has been taught the elevator speech, the 15-second commercial, the value proposition, the positioning statement, etc. You know it’s supposed to describe what you do:
- “I help companies like yours manage their insurance risk.”
- “I sell customized clothing to busy executives.”
- “I own a CPA and tax consulting practice specializing in the needs of companies that generate between 5 and 10 million dollars in revenue.”
Sound familiar? That’s the problem. There is nothing unique about the approach from any one of these statements. That is why being unique is one of the biggest sales challenges. Here’s the rule about the concept: What you say should cause the person with whom you are talking to respond either verbally or mentally in one of three ways. When you deliver your unique positioning statement, they should respond with “That’s me” or “How do you do that?” or “Tell me more.” You have to give the prospect a compelling reason to keep listening.
Think about what people or companies have chosen to do business with you or why they buy your products and services. What problem was it that they wanted to solve? What benefit were they looking for? Take that information and create your unique sales approach.
Examples:
- Insurance: “I provide people buckets of money in the right amount, at the right cost, and at the right time.” (How do you do that?)
- Banking: “My clients are companies that discovered that working with a bank should be more than just a place to get money or leave money.” (Tell me more.)
- Accounting: “I’m in the business of helping small businesses that are sick and tired of sending the government more money and keeping less.” (That’s me!)
Sales Challenge #2: Selling Consultatively
Consultative selling is a vague term and that is a reason it is one of the biggest sales challenges. But in fact, there are 9 specific attributes for consultative selling defined within the Objective Management Group’s sales evaluation:
- Asks Great Questions. They must be questions that help uncover a problem or opportunity. These questions should not cause you to go into presentation mode.
- Asks Enough questions. Do you dig down beneath the surface to understand the impact of the problem on their personal or business situation or stop when you think you have enough to put together a proposal?
- Develops strong relationships. This goes beyond the chit-chat to a place where real trust develops. It is a process, not an event.
- Presents at the appropriate times. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to present, and at other times, we get ahead of the prospect.
- Uncovers issues. Skilled salespeople uncover real problems that exist or might come about if the situation is neglected. It is understanding your prospects’ business challenges beyond the product you might offer.
- Understands how prospects will buy. Remember, it’s their process; however, your questions can help drive self-discovery and urgency.
- Takes nothing for granted. Elite salespeople understand that at any time, things can go south; they always have a bit of skepticism. It is a process to build a relationship-based solution.
- Asks tough questions. Anyone can ask the layups; prepare to ask questions even when it is uncomfortable. That is really the best way to establish yourself as a trusted adviser but it takes courage.
- Listens and asks questions with ease. Listening does not mean waiting for your turn to talk. Listen to understand what the prospect is really trying to tell you and then ask your question to clarify what you heard. Don’t assume you know.
Sales Challenge #3: Knowing When It’s Over
What do all salespeople struggle with the most? They have a difficult time recognizing that their pursuit of a prospect is over (even when the prospect hasn’t told them in those exact words). Many salespeople can’t even begin to think that it’s over. But, in order to become a better salesperson, you need to recognize two fundamental truths:
- You are going to lose more often than you win.
- When you are going to lose, you want to lose early.
Have you ever stopped to consider what your “pull-through rate” looks like? We use that term to explain a simple equation: Number of new clients / Number of initial sales conversations = pull-through rate. If you have 100 initial sales conversations (or go on 100 prospect calls) in a year, and you wind up with 15 new clients, then your pull-through rate is 15 percent. At that pace, don’t you think you should go on your calls with a bias for disqualification? Statistically, there is a far greater chance of you not doing business with a prospect than there is a chance that you will do business with them.
Stop dreaming and start asking questions. Ask questions that allow you to confirm that your prospect has a problem they have to fix and that now is the time to fix it. Operate with a bias for disqualification so you are not so surprised when the conclusion is that now is the time for you to move on. “No” is ok provided you hear it at the right time in your sales process.
Jeni Wehrmeyer is COO/CMO of Anthony Cole Training Group. Contact her at [email protected]