Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Focus your time and efforts on improving these areas of your sales strategy to achieve amazing
sales success:
1) Prospecting Power: Finding more and better qualified people to talk about your product or
service. The best salespeople have the most complete strategies and plans to develop the highest
quality prospects who can, and will buy from them.
2) Relationship Selling: Building high levels of trust, rapport and credibility with each prospect. A
person will not buy from you until he or she is convinced you are their friend and acting in their best
interests.
3) Identifying Needs Accurately: Asking good questions to learn exactly how and why your product
or service is the ideal choice for this customer. The most important thing you can do as a
salesperson is uncover the true needs or problems of the prospect that your product can solve.
4) Making Persuasive Presentations: Showing the customer clearly why he should buy your
product or service now. Delivering an effective presentation can increase your sales by several times
over an uncoordinated presentation.
5) Overcoming Objections: Dealing effectively with the questions and concerns of the prospect that
holds him or her back from buying. In order to increase sales you must be prepared to hear a “no”
and continue selling. Objections mean the prospect is interested.
6) Closing the Sale: Confidently asking the prospect to make a buying decision and take action.
7) Getting Re-sales and Referrals: Taking such good care of your customers that they buy, buy
again, and tell their friends to buy from you. By continually building and maintaining a “customers for
life” relationship, your sales success will be assured.
Be genuine. Be yourself. Don’t try to be anything you are not, create a new persona, or adopt a “sales-
like” tone. Relax, smile, and go in with a positive attitude. Good things will follow. As Oscar Wilde
said, "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
2. Be warm and friendly. Chilly people get chilly reactions from other people. Approach
rapport building with the intent to be warm and friendly. Smile, give a firm handshake, make
eye contact, and engage.
3. Show interest. No surprise to anyone, people are self-focused. This is quite helpful to those of us in
selling because we need to learn about our prospects before we can provide the best solutions. People
want to feel like they have an opening to share what they’re thinking, including their desires, fears,
and problems. The more genuinely interested you appear the more relaxed and willing to share they’re
likely to be.
4. Don’t seem too needy. Most of us know someone who wanted to be liked, so he “tried hard,” but it
didn’t work. In trying to be liked, he appeared needy and conspicuous. You cannot force rapport.
Show interest, but don’t act subservient, overly friendly, or too pushy or you will only turn the other
person off. Don’t come on like gangbusters.
5. Give genuine compliments. Sycophants get nowhere, but genuine compliments are endearing. If you
like the office, someone’s web site, or are impressed with their book, say so. If your prospect had a
recent accomplishment, relay your authentic congratulations. This can go a long way towards building
rapport and they’ll appreciate it.
6. Calibrate the rapport to “just right.” New salespeople are often overly sensitive to the time
of a potential buyer. They often think, “I have an hour for this meeting and she’s a CEO of a
mid-size company. I need to use the whole time to get my points across. No time for
chitchat.” So he dives right in with no ice breaking conversation and it doesn’t go well.
Others can spend too much time chatting, and the prospect might get antsy to get down to
business. Do your best to read the other person and find the right amount of rapport-focused
conversation.
7. Read the culture. Always be yourself but, at the same time, you can adjust your approach to
the other person and company. Don’t change who you are to fit the culture, but be aware of
how the culture works and how it best responds.
For example, if they’re a suit and tie joint, showing up with your Grateful Dead ’95 tour tie-
dyed shirt won’t fly so well. (Unless you're meeting with me, then I’d be impressed.) And if
there’s a jeans and sneakers place with a 'Never Lose Your Whimsy!' sign on the wall…you
get the idea.
If you’re curious to know where to start with rapport building, the following questions will help.
It was good to hear the short version of your background at the meeting, but since we’re out for lunch,
I’d love to get the long version. What’s your story?
I have to say, I really like your (insert something about them…their lobby, the artwork on their walls,
how friendly their staff is, or anything else you actually liked, then ask an open-ended question about
that particular thing).
Are you from this area? Oh, interesting. I know people in…do you know (this person)? Oh, I’ve never
been there, but I heard it’s got…the most amazing restaurants…the most amazing scenery…the most
amazing fly fishing.
Welcome to the town. Have you been to Scottsdale before? Where are you staying? What’s that like?
A lot different from Vancouver, wouldn’t you say?
1) Research prospects on LinkedIn
Before every call, I review my prospect’s LinkedIn profile. Here are the things I look
for:
Are they smiling in their profile picture?
How are they dressed?
What’s the background of their photo?
What kind of hairstyle do they have?
Do they have an advanced degree?
Have I been to a place they’re from, or went to school in?
The answers to these questions won’t tell you everything you need to know, of course,
but they’ll give you clues to how your prospect perceives themselves and will behave.
A 50-year-old man in a tie will behave differently than a millennial in a T-shirt and will
quite naturally respond differently to the questions you ask.
For example, in my role, I speak with individual contributors in Marketing and Sales, as
well as senior executives. Marketers might be protective of their marketing efforts but
are typically eager to learn and willing to collaborate with me to strengthen their long-
term marketing strategy.
Salespeople are all about their numbers and very interested in specific and fast ways
they can hit or exceed their numbers. Executives are all about strategic advantage,
growing the business, and are interested in understanding competitive landscapes, the
advantages your product will give them over other business, and other blockers to
growth.
Each of these personas cares about different things, has a different personality, and
needs to be communicated with differently. Rapport-building is all about meeting
people on their turf and treating them how they want to be treated, so understanding
your prospects’ personas is crucial.
These questions are fun and lighthearted, and are an easy way to start getting to know
your prospect without jumping right into qualification questions. Your objective is just
to get your prospect talking as much as possible early on in the conversation so you can
learn more about them as a person.
Avoid generic questions about the weather or sports -- “How’s the weather in
Scottsdale?” or “How about the Celtics this season?” might seem like easy places to
start, but they’re pedestrian questions that your prospect has probably heard dozens of
times.
Open-Ended Conversation Starters
Use these questions to gauge your prospect’s mood and state of mind:
"How are you doing?"
"Are you having any fun today?"
"Wow, I can’t believe it’s Friday already. What’s your favorite day of the week?"
Lighthearted Universal Preferences
These questions can start a fun, playful discussion that helps you relate to your prospect
on a personal level:
"Are you a cat or a dog person?"
"What’s your favorite drink?"
"How long have you lived in [city]? What’s your favorite restaurant? Your favorite time of year?"
Employment-Based Questions
These questions help you form a picture of your prospect on a professional level:
"How long have you worked at your company?"
"What is it like to work in X industry?"
"How did you land in your current role?"
I usually spend three to six minutes on rapport-building, but with some people and in
some markets, I spend double that. It’s all about reading your prospect -- some will be
happy to talk your ear off, while others want to get straight to business.
Too much rapport-building can also make you seem like a glad-handing relationship
seller. Just last week, I was shooting the breeze on a closing call with my prospect and
referenced "The Wolf" in Pulp Fiction. It was just a little too much -- my prospect
politely laughed but immediately steered the conversation back to the product.
After you ask a question, hit the mute button. Let the prospect talk and listen. You’ll
hear the point where your prospect is thinking, “Enough chitchat -- let’s talk business.”
Once you hit that point, move to the agenda and the reason for your call today.
If you're sending them an email, add a sentence or two letting them know you watched
that movie they mentioned during your last conversation.
At the beginning of your next call, inquire how their ski trip went last weekend. And as
you're leaving a voicemail, throw in a question about how their daughter's dance recital
went.
If you ask great questions but never build on them, your relationships will be less
substantive and more shallow. Ask prospects genuine questions, and care what their
answers are and what happens next.
Sales Objections
4 Steps to Overcoming Sales Objections
To do this, you must ask permission from the buyer to understand and explore the issue. Once
explored, restate the concern as you understand it. Sometimes when you restate the objection,
the buyer sees the issue more fully, and you get closer to the true source of the objection as a
result. Even after the buyer confirms you understand perfectly, ask "What else?" and "Why"
questions for clarification. Often it is the answer to that last "What else?" that contains the
biggest barrier to moving the sale forward.
3. Respond Properly
After you're confident you've uncovered all objections, address the most important objection
first. Once you work through the greatest barrier to moving forward, other concerns may no
longer matter or feel as important to the buyer.
You should do your best to resolve their issue right away. The more you can resolve issues in
real time, the greater chance you have of moving the sale forward. If you need more
information to resolve a specific concern, you may have to look something up. Don't wing
it—buyers can sense that and it creates distrust. Long-winded responses can seem insincere,
so keep your responses clear and to the point.
4. Confirm You've Satisfied the Objection
Once you've responded to the buyer's objections, check if you've satisfied all of their
concerns. Just because they nodded during your response doesn't mean they agreed with
everything you said. Ask if the buyer is happy with your solution and explain your solution
further if necessary. Some objections require a process to overcome, not just a quick answer.
If the client isn't ready, don't try to force a commitment. Be sure not to accept a lukewarm
"yes" for an answer though, either. Many buyers will accept a solution in the moment, but
once you're out of sight or off the phone, the objection still remains.
When faced with sales objections, don't lose sight of your goal. Use the steps above to Listen,
Understand, Respond and Confirm, and you will strengthen your relationships with buyers,
overcome obstacles in the buying process, and move closer to the sale.
2. “There’s no money.”
It could be that your prospect’s business simply isn’t big enough or generating
enough cash right now to afford a product like yours. Track their growth and see
how you can help your prospect get to a place where your offering would fit into
their business.
Of course, your prospect could have simply chosen an overly negative turn of
phrase. Ask them point-blank how the relationship is going to determine
whether they’re actually happy or are itching for a vendor switch.
8. “I can get a cheaper version of your product
somewhere else.”
Find out what you’re dealing with here. Are you in a competitive situation, and
the prospect is playing you against a competitor to drive up discounts? Or is
your prospect under the impression that a similar, cheaper product can do
everything they need?
If it’s the former, lay out your deepest discount and emphasize the features that
make your product superior. Walk away if they ask you to go lower. In the
second scenario, take advantage of the comparison. What are the points of
differentiation that provide your prospect the most value? Play them up and
emphasize overall worth, not cost.
Hoffman says 90% of the time this reply will satisfy the buyer and they’ll move
on. You’ll seem confident and collected, whereas your competitor will seem
desperate and insecure.
If your prospect is still unsure, they’ll ask another question. At that point, you
can provide more background, like so:
“We manufacture our products in Canada, not Thailand. I have a map of our factories
and distribution routes if you’d like to see it.”
Sales Objections About Authority or
Ability to Buy
11. “I’m not authorized to sign off on this purchase.”
No problem. Ask your prospect who for the name of the right person to speak
to, and then redirect your call to them.
If your company isn’t on their list of approved suppliers, however, your prospect
probably won’t be interested. After all, you can’t offer them the same discount
for purchasing in bulk.
Respond to this objection by delving into the details of their membership. Are
there limits on who they can buy from? What price are they currently getting?
Which companies belong to their buying coalition?
When you’ve learned more, you can decide whether it makes economic sense
for this prospect to work with you -- and if there’s an opportunity to become one
of their buying group’s vendors.
For example:
“We’re a company that sells ad space on behalf of publishers like yourself. I’d love to
speak with you about your revenue model and see if we can help.”
18. “We're doing great in X area.”
If you hear this objection, do a little more qualification. What are your prospect’s
goals? How much progress has been made?
19. "We don't have that business pain."
This objection is often raised as a brush-off, or because prospects haven't
realized they're experiencing a certain problem yet. And while ultimately you
might discover they really don't need your product, don't take this objection at face
value.
20. “X problem isn’t important right now.”
Sometimes, a simple “Oh?” will be enough for your prospect to start talking.
Listen closely for real reasons the need has low priority versus platitudes. Keep
in mind that excuses can be a sign that your prospect understands they have a
problem and is trying to rationalize their inaction. Capitalize on this and instill a
sense of urgency.
21. “I don’t see what your product could do for me.”
Another request for information packaged as an objection. Reconfirm the goals
or challenges you’ve discussed and explain how your product can solve specific
problems.
Don’t give up immediately, though. Ask your prospect what aspects of your
product they’re unclear on, then try explaining it in a different way. Alternatively,
bring in a technician or product engineer to answer questions out of your depth.
This gives you an opportunity to establish credibility and trust with your
prospect. Once you’ve given them a positive experience, they’ll naturally form a
high opinion of you.
Another tactic is to assess your prospect’s current duties and day-to-day to see
what job responsibilities could potentially be eliminated or made easier by your
product.
To empathize with them, prove that you’re trustworthy, and ensure they do have
the bandwidth, say, “I understand. It typically takes our customers [X days/weeks] to
get fully up and running with [your product].”
Next, combat their reluctance to change by digging into the costs or pains of
their current situation.
To give you an idea, you might ask, “How many minutes do you spend every day
[on X task]?”
Then calculate what they stand to gain -- in time, efficiency, money, or all of the
above.
The Close
Asking for the Sale
Use these non-aggressive closing questions to make the buyer feel comfortable
-- without completely taking off the pressure.