Sales Prospecting: Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Main Points

• Misalignment between buying and selling cycles is a significant issue, especially in the early prospecting stage.
• Awareness building involves getting to know the prospect and their business situation, typically taking 3-5+ meetings.
• Preparation includes framing questions about players, timeline, and decision criteria.
• Identifying issues, power dynamics, and roles is crucial when dealing with people.

Chapter 8 Video 2 Highlights

• Directing the meeting and having a clear objective is important and avoiding wasting the prospect's time
• Being prepared to discuss the prospect's issues is essential.
• Asking questions helps fill in any missing information.
• Addressing budget cuts and competitors is vital.
• Stalling should be challenged to clarify where you stand.
• Progress to the next person and engage the decision-maker.
• Document SMART objectives.

Key Considerations

• Customer commitment and time are important.
• Professional introductions, building rapport, engaging prospects, and setting agendas are important steps.
• Developing rapport involves defining purpose, considering cultural differences, and using conversation starters.
• Maintaining perspective and apologizing are important when things go wrong.
• Rapport in selling is a harmonious relationship founded on mutual trust.
• Your objectives should be primary, optimistic (getting a sale), or at minimum, acknowledge the worst-case scenario.
• State the agenda, take charge while seeking input, define accomplishments, and set an endpoint.
• Secure commitment to continue to facilitate a smooth transition, allow for questions, and get confirmation.

Chapter 9 Video 1 Notes

• Skip the first 1.5 minutes and begin the meeting.
• Set the tone, establish control, and make a good first impression within the first 5-10 minutes.
• Aim to make a professional impression, spark interest, and present an agenda.

Minute 3.5 Focus

• Drivers should use clear benefit statements to open the meeting and state how long it will last.
• Expressive individuals like recognition of their achievements, referencing their company's performance and expressing interest in contributing to their future success.
• Amiable individuals prioritize trust and relationships, using referral statements.
• Analytical types are open to new ways of thinking and like to consider the impact of achieving goals faster.

Chapter 9 Video 2 Notes

• Start by focusing on what you can do for the prospect and avoid discussing your company or products initially
• Being brief, stating purpose, and focusing on the prospect is important.
• Don't read from a script.

Chapter 10 Video 1 Notes

• Selling slowly means fully understanding customer needs before presenting solutions, uncovering multiple needs, and highlighting pain points.

SPIN Selling

• SPIN is defined in videos 2 & 3

Chapter 11 Slides: Diagnosing Customer Needs

• Needs identification involves understanding the decision process, confirming facts, uncovering needs, addressing consequences, and securing pre-commitment.
• The Decision process involves knowing who's involved, key criteria, timelines, and relevant information like current payroll practices.
• Curiosity enhances interaction.
• Salespeople often default to "telling" because it seems faster, easier, and safer, but it is less effective.
• Neither open nor closed questions are as effective as SPIN questions.

Effective Communication

• It's important to learn and not dominate the conversation
• Customers may disagree.
• You may misplace the focus and not think ahead and fail to guide or persuade.
• Understanding is tied with more asking and persuasion.
• Knowing how to understand helps persuade by showing genuine interest, fostering curiosity, and guiding customers to their own conclusions.

Understanding the Customer

• When a salesperson understands needs resulting in the customer being more receptive, more likely to buy, willing to pay more, and the salesperson doesn't "leave any money on the table".

Need-Discovery Process

• Situation Questions (S): Help you understand your prospective customer's situation using facts.
  • Example Questions: "Tell me about your current provider?", "Who is involved in this type of decision?", "How are you currently handling XYZ?".
• Problem Questions (P): Identify and tap into problems or needs (subjective).
  • Example Questions: "What challenges do you face with your current product/service?", "What issues keep you from meeting your goals?", "Can you tell me about any concerns you have with XYZ?".
• Implication Questions (I): Get a detailed picture of customer problems/needs by focusing on consequences (building pain).
  • Example Questions: "How many customers have you lost due to that problem?", "How much time are you wasting because of that difficulty?", "If this issue is not fixed, how much revenue might you lose?".
• Need-Payoff Questions (N): Helps the prospect see the value in solving the problem (positive).
  • Example Questions: "What could you and your team accomplish if that problem is eliminated?", "How much would you save using our solution?", "What kind of revenue could you generate by taking this new approach?".

Transition and Pre-Commitment

• Gaining pre-commitment involves asking closed-ended questions to ensure the customer is ready to move forward with a solution.
  • Example Prompts: "Now that we have talked about your issues with X, Y, and Z, if I can show you how my product can help you meet your goals, would you be interested?" or "If we can solve these issues and get you more revenue in the process, would that be a solution you would consider?".

Chapter 11 Video 1: Meaning of Consultative Selling

• Consultative selling means positioning yourself as a consultant or therapist to help the customer.

Chapter 11 Video 3: Matching: Features, Advantages, and Benefits

• Features: Attributes of the product/service and how it functions.
• Advantages: What the features allow the customer to do; the general value that anyone can get.
• Benefits: What it means to the customer specifically.
• When you say "so what that means to you..." you are telling them a benefit.
• Value = Benefits - Cost and offering value on the value side so they see the value.

Good sales people can:

• Identify direct and indirect issues.
• Convey direct/indirect benefits

Presentation Strategies

• Testimonials are customer's own writing.
• Case studies outline how a product solved a similar issue for another customer.
• Don't hand out materials too early.
• Adapt your presentation.
• Use features by referring to them in their language, not yours.
• Use advantages that offer a general "good thing". For example: "Paycom helps with errors"
• Use benefits that are specific to the customer
• Prescription involves steps to presenting a solution.

Roadmap to Success

• These are all steps to presenting your solution:
• Establish credibility.
• Review the needs.
• Link the features.
• Explain the specific benefits.
• May require proof.
• Involve the buyer to confirm that the feature/benefit is a viable solution.
• Characteristics of a strong presentation: value, attention, proof, understanding, and recall.
• Implement effective communication skills through posture and stance, including arm and shoulder positioning, foot placement, and weight distribution.
• Maintain eye contact for 3-5 seconds, look randomly, complete thoughts, and engage those who want it.
• Use appropriate facial expressions and seize opportunities.
• Assess reactions through nonverbal and verbal cues and audience participation.
• Visuals help to engage the customer and tell the story.

Demonstrate the Value of your Product

• Proof devices substantiate value, validate the benefit, and verify claims.
• Visual tools tips include using the main point, current information, not too much information, bullets, clear labels, graphs, consistency, error checking, and obeying copyright laws.
• Ensure proof devices include magazine/trade articles, testimonials, case studies, product demos, 3rd party study/test results, customer survey results, and customer/3rd party reviews.
• Tips for proof devices include the following:
  • Leverage credible third-party test results.
  • Use happy testimonials.
  • Leave professional copies behind.
  • Have a folder ready.
• For product demos, be prepared, engage them, features to benefits, clear and simple, deal with "dead time," any prior competitor demos, have they used it before, and probing during and after the demo.

Chapter 3 Approach

• Your objective should be to build rapport and establish a customer focus.
• Use a professional introduction with eye contact that correctly identifies buyer by name.
• Your goal is to raise comfort and build trust.
• Engage prospect with WIFM, which means what's in it for me.
• With appropriate discretion to the situation set and follow an agenda positioned to ask questions and uncover needs.
• You must uncover needs with each prospect.