Do you work with salespeople or sales leaders?

Image by Cassandra Jowett – Flickr

1- Sales pitch or value proposition

In the last 10 years the business world has changed considerably, and the working life of a sales professional has changed right along with it. Customers have become more cautious and consequently their buying decisions have become more complex.Customers don’t want to be sold anymore; they want to be advised to quantify the value of their purchase. Cold calling is likely not working anymore nor the sales pitch.  There is no point in trying to sell without understanding the customers wants first.  Customers need to receive specific compelling information that drives them towards an informed decision.  Our customer wants to hear information directed to the problem they want to solve.  Poor listening skills result in not understanding the problem at hand.  Mastering the sales process is important to shorten the sales cycle and listening carefully is essential to understand the impact of the pain on the organization’s front and back offices.
What does the sales leaders need to achieve before they even call the prospect?

2- Pre-approach preparation

Do your research and prepare a target list, segment your potential clients per size, personae… and build a list of 100 companies to start with.  Make sure the selection of companies is in line with your organization’s strategy and offering. Companies selections might be diverse; Small to midsize or only companies in the IT sector etc. It will be beneficial to look into companies’ figures; Are they growing? Have they had flat sales for the last 12 months? Identifying such information will increase sales leaders’ chances to hit hot leads.  Be strategic about your list, be passionate about your list.  Give yourself a sense of direction.
Prepare a script and frequent asked questions: what challenges are targeted companies having? Build a list of questions that will qualify your prospects and identify the pain. Make sure your can build your competitive edge and stand out from the competition. Selling to Business to Business will involve identifying your decisions making unit that will be involved in the decision of buying. Identify their personality and communicate accordingly to facilitate your selling process.
What does the customer hope to achieve by the time they finished their call with you?

3- Connecting and empathizing consistently

Social selling is now an integral part of sales leaders’ daily activities. Prospecting, checking companies and people’s social profile to take a good decision. Master the skill of connecting on social medias to network before any conversation.
Connecting with prospects or hot leads should always start with a humble, genuine, honest approach and a happy tonality. Simple rules to start a conversation and build the relationship even over the phone.

4- Answering questions and challenges

Ask relevant questions when you pick up the phone and connect with prospects. Ask tough, difficult questions like: what are the challenges your company is facing in today’s market? Why you are failing from hitting your numbers?
You need to love the process of developing relationships with clients and prospects. Create a daily schedule, business habits, build a network, follow your numbers to be sure that your target is achieved.

5- Take put offs positively

Keep the conversation going, stay on your client’s mind. This is the most important step, even if you get a ‘no’. It all comes down to how much the sales leader wants to close that account.
Nurturing prospects – even after a ‘no’ – is important. Sales leaders should keep reaching out on a monthly basis with an article, podcast, etc… Step out of the comfort zone and find different ways to connect with someone you want to do business with.  Keep the relationships alive and be always on the top of their mind.  When prospects are ready, they will contact you.  Don’t go and try hit and then split.

Sales leaders, should ask themselves daily what were the failures in the last 2 weeks?  What were the successes?

Discover a 12 weeks program to build your sales team capabilities and make sure they hit their numbers.