- If a basketball coach pulled their team
aside at halftime and said
in the next half, everybody
run down the court and score more,
they wouldn't be a very good coach.
Instead, a great basketball coach
would break the team's performance up into pieces
and show them where they can improve.
Similarly, sales teams can divide their sales processes
into different stages to be better positioned
to perfect each step,
which ultimately leads to more closed deals.
Here's how you divide your sales process
into seven simple steps.
The process starts with prospecting.
More than 40% of sales people
say that this is the most challenging step.
I've always liked the phrase show me you know me.
Do your research and know in advance
how your product will help the prospect.
If you work this hard to understand them
before they even know you,
they'll know that you'll work even harder
once the deal is closed.
The second step is qualification.
Is your prospect the decision maker?
Is there a problem that your product is solving
that is important enough to fix now?
Do they have the money to purchase the product?
What's unique about your product
that makes it the best fit for them?
Keep these questions at your fingertips
and try to uncover the answers with every prospect.
The next step, prepare for your sales meeting.
It takes an average of five to six people
to make a buying decision,
so do a pre call with your sponsor or champion
before the group meeting.
Find out what their team hopes to get out of the meeting.
Find out what they believe the team needs
to learn from you during the meeting
to take the next steps.
And find out what objections you're likely to face
from the people who'll be in the room.
Then, give a persuasive sales presentation.
Most reps are really good at describing the product features
but sometimes fail to connect the product features
to the benefits the prospect will get
from owning the product,
and therefore, ultimately, the business value
that the prospect will get.
Here's the formula for how I do it.
Our product does X, that's the feature,
which allows you to do Y, that's the benefit,
and that means Z in terms of real business value.
Helping your prospects see your product this way
makes you more persuasive.
Onto the next stage and my personal favorite,
overcoming objections.
The best way to overcome sales objections
is to not overcome them, and that seems contradictory right?
But the key here is anticipation.
Don't wait for your prospects to raise objections,
raise them first and deal with them,
that way you own the objection,
which makes it way easier to overcome.
For example, if you frequently get price objections,
during your sales pitch, say something like,
Mr. Prospect, a lot of people ask about price,
and that's always an important thing to talk about,
once you're using our product, the value's really clear,
but like a lot of things in life,
until it's up and running,
there are always a lot of questions.
And then, you demonstrate why
the value they'll gain from your product
will be much higher than the price that they pay.
Next step is the follow-up.
Follow up immediately after the first meeting
and also, schedule out future follow ups
in your calendar or CRM.
Use these opportunities to reinforce your product's value,
never just call to touch base or to check in.
Provide real value with each interaction
and always end the conversation
with a clearly defined next step.
Another step is negotiation.
While negotiating, never offer a discount,
instead offer an adjustment, meaning
you aren't just lowering the price,
but if you adjust the price down,
it's an exchange for something else.
For example, you can give a discount
if a customer commits to an annual subscription
or a contractual amount of product purchase
over the course of a year.
This creates a win win situation.
Now, as a first step to improve your sales process,
draft your own version of this pitch
to be used in your next sales presentation.
Our product does X, which allows you to do Y,
and that means Z in terms of real business value for you.
When you use this framework,
your prospect can instantly see the value
they stand to gain from their decision,
which brings you that much closer to closing the deal.