Sales Skills 101 Preview

Buyers are no longer satisfied with product or service pitches.They know about your products and services because they’ve already looked at your website. They’ve most likely read some information or reports on available options, that is, if they are even open to change. According to Gartner research, customers are awash in high-quality, credible information. Improvements in data analytics, content thought leadership, and sales messaging have resulted in high-quality information that informs most business-to-business purchases.

In selling today, a new dynamic is ahead that we can’t ignore. Let’s not pretend that the marketplace is going to revert to the way it was. This is the new reality, and it requires a different set of sales skills to succeed. Persistence and assertiveness are the table stakes. Leaning into the chaos requires persistence and assertiveness plus the ability to discern, move quickly, and not rest on the success of past actions.

The next shift is coming quicker than we think.

Salespeople need to have options and different sales tactics for different situations. They do not need an analog map that becomes outdated almost as soon as it is finished. Actually, they don’t need a map at all. They need a digital real-time GPS. While maps detail what the landscape looked like at the time they were drawn, a GPS is updated to the current conditions. Maps are outdated tools for today’s sales world. Sellers need to be able to adeptly navigate the noisy and evolving buying landscape and determine the most effective path to take to succeed.

It is worth noting that if we don’t close a deal, it’s often because we gave up at the first “no.” On this sales training course, you will learn that with some brainstorming, persistence, and the three Rs—retreat, reevaluate, and reapproach—you can often turn an initial “no” into an eventual “yes,” all the while creating a win-win-win relationship that benefits everyone involved. When people reject our request, it’s often because we didn’t make our offer sufficiently compelling (what’s in it for me? ), we ignored their needs, or we simply failed to clearly define the value or long- and short-term benefits of what we are selling.

The win-win factor means that we need to approach sales not just as “What’s in it for you and me?” We need to approach sales as “What’s in it for three?” There is always a third-party beneficiary in every sales transaction (think buying group members). By preparing and troubleshooting ahead of time, you can often nip a “no” in the bud. If you package and pitch your deals with that in mind, you can usually turn an initial “no” into a “yes.” 

Here’s the Real Deal

• There is always a third-party beneficiary of every sale. Create the win-win-win.

• Increase your success by understanding the motivations of the people you’re selling to.

• Prepare people to expect your sales proposal or request.

• Retreat, reevaluate, and reapproach if you are turned down.

CHANGING YOUR SALES MINDSET

Even though we all have goals to meet, the quickest way to fail is to take the human element out of the sales equation. Our prospects shouldn’t represent dollar signs or data. Sure, it’s an easy error to make. When we’re facing the chaos of uncertain situations, there’s something tangible (and even comforting) about slicing and dicing the data. Analyzing the numbers is in our comfort zone. But even though the quantitative side is critical, we can’t lose sight of the big picture–behind every data point is a story. Each bit of data represents a customer trying to solve a problem or drive an initiative. By accepting and embracing that concept, you approach the sales process with a more productive mindset. In other words, your objective shifts from an internal focus on “winning the deal” to an external focus on “helping the customer be successful.” You are less driven by your own goals in favor of helping customers meet theirs. And  although this might sound like counterintuitive thinking, that attitude can catapult you into top-tier salesperson status.

Here’s a challenge for you. As you review the data related to a possible sale, stop to look at the human part of the equation and take an outside-in perspective. You’ll quickly find that this shift prompts you to expand the questions you ask and the strategy you follow. 

For instance, you might initially hope to find answers to questions like these:

•   What’s the budget?

•   How can I make sure I’m not leaving money on the table?

•   What’s the timeline?

•   How soon can I get an appointment with the decision maker?

•   How much effort will I have to invest to close the deal?

•   How do I avoid red tape in the approval process?

•   Will this sale hit the books in time to count toward my quarterly goal?

If you adjust your mindset to incorporate the human component of the sale, you’ll dig deeper and answer some additional questions:

•   Who is the customer, professionally and personally?

•   What role do they play in the organization?

•   What initiatives are they personally working on?

•   How can I partner with them to help reach their goals?

•   What problems do they need to solve?

•   How can I help them be successful–now and in the future?

The insights you gain from those human-focused questions will give you a real edge in the sales process.