Test your sales approach — then change it

We’ve been exploring about how to deal with change, and in that context I want to ask you this: What does your approach look like? Specifically, what questions are you asking in your sales process?

Are the questions you ask getting you the desired answers? Are you getting information, or are you actually getting an understanding of where the customer is coming from?

Because that’s the difference between just getting data, and actually knowing the motivations they have.

What do those questions sound like? How do you ask them? Because you might need to enhance them slightly. Because we don’t want to ask a question without a purpose.

If you’re getting a bunch of information, but it’s irrelevant, then re-evaluate. Reassess your approach.

If I challenged you and said you cannot go out on a sales call unless you’ve got 20 solid, impact questions, the answers to which you are going to use to build your case, could you do it?

This is not just a good idea, it’s an absolute strategy you need to pursue.

Questions for your sales call, part 3

Continuing our series on the questions you must consider on every sales call, we come to where:
•    Where should I focus my efforts?
•    Should there be any dialing?
•    Might it be networking?
•    Might it be in generating referrals from my existing clients?
•    Where should I focus these prospects that I’m trying to get to give me a call back?
•    Where should I focus their efforts?
•    Where am I going to focus mine?
•    Where am I going to focus my customer’s attention?

It’s all about prospecting: How visible are you to your marketplace? Where do they know your name from? Where do they know your face? Are you visible to them?

Asking the right questions, part 2

Continuing our mini-series on your six best friends – the five W’s and H:

When you’re going to make a sales call, you must be clear on the purpose of your call. What is the main message?

You may have about 4,000 words teed up, but they’re going to hear about five. So what’s that main message? What do you want them to remember when they hang up?

If you can’t identify it, chances of you communicating it are weak. So then you ask yourself another what: What will grab their attention?

Let’s think A I D A, the old marketing formula.

“A”, attention, what will grab their attention?
“I”, what will create the interest? The interest in our company the interest in me, so that …
“D”, the desire is there to potentially do the…
“A”, to create the action that I am looking for.

What will grab their attention? Do you think it will be something about you or something about them?

What will pique their interest? Do you think it’s something about you and your company, or something about them and theirs?

Planning your sales call – and asking the right questions

If you’re a true sales professional, you take six of your best friends with you on all of your prospecting efforts.  They go with you before, during, and after, and they live with you. They are:
•    Mr. Who
•    Mr. Why
•    Mr. What
•    Mr. When
•    Mr. How
•    Mr. Where.

Let’s start with who.
•    Who are you calling?
•    Who are they?
•    Who are they in the decision-making process?
•    Who are you going to reference when you call to make that person somewhat interested in taking your call?
•    Who’s important to your success?
•    Who’s an influencer on your success?
•    Who are the decision makers?
•    Who are you going to engage with?