Search Results for: pain

A good relationship with the prospect is very helpful to getting the sale. However, a good relationship by itself will not win the day. A good relationship is a good start, but it is only one step in an effective sales process. We also need to know whether the prospect has a compelling reason to buy what we are selling. In addition, we need to be able to solve the prospect’s pain better than our competition can. Assuming we have that competitive advantage, the prospect has to have the money to spend on our product and they have to be willing to spend it. Then, of course, there is the decision process and the timing of the project, etc. Admittedly, a great relationship with the prospect will facilitate the other steps. For instance, they may be willing to tell you information they may not tell other competitors. You may be able to get background and context that competitors don’t get because of your relationship. But never forget that the relationship, important as it is, is only one step in the sales process.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

Your product or service has value to the prospect to the extent that it solves a problem or pain that the prospect is currently experiencing. That pain will vary over time so the length of the sales cycle of your product’s perceived value will also vary. Here are two simple examples, one for a short sales cycle and one for a long sales cycle. If I am in my auto mechanics shop and he tells me he is having a special sale this week of half off on transmission repair, I will not care very much about that if my car has been running smoothly over the last few months. Since I am not in pain I will say something like “Thanks, Fred but I am good for now.” However, if a month later my car gets stuck in park and I need to have it towed to Fred’s shop to get the transmission fixed, his service has much more value to me and I won’t be worrying about the price he will charge. At the beginning of longer cycle projects, the prospect has certain issues and questions. Your expertise will have a certain value. But over the course of 18-month sales cycle the prospect becomes more knowledgeable, the economy will change, the industry might change, and the project requirements will change. Hence the pain at the end of the cycle will be different than it was at the beginning. The optimal salesperson will stay in touch with the changes in the pain over the length of the sales cycle. This is especially true at the end of the cycle when they may change rapidly.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

The best way to break the ice with a new contact at a networking meeting is to ask a question. But what question should you ask? It becomes obvious when you understand two facts. The first is that most people go to networking meetings to meet new people and they struggle with how to break the ice. The second fact you have to know is that most people are me-centered in their approach. That is, they come to the meeting hoping to tell their story to someone in hopes of attracting some interest. Knowing those two facts makes it is obvious that the best question to ask is “So George, what do you do?” When you ask them that gives your new contact a chance to talk about themselves, their favorite subject. You will have earned some gratitude from them and the new relationship is off to a good start. As you listen to them talk you can be listening for some pain that they might have and that will lead you to more questions and you will either quickly determine that they are worthwhile pursuing or not. And when it is your turn to talk, you can focus on the areas of need that they have exposed.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

The context the problem exists in may change your perspective both on the true pain that the prospect is experiencing and on your approach to the solution. If my prospect is having issues with production and throughput in the factory, that is one level of problem. But consider the same problem in the context of the owner of the company getting ready to retire and it shines a different light on the problem and whether there might or might not be an incentive to address the problem. Or imagine that the company has just been bought by a much larger firm. Will they shut this plant down or invest in upgrading? Why did they buy the firm? Was it for the customer list or the manufacturing capacity? Each would have different implications on the approach to dealing with the throughput problem. So, you can see that knowing the problem and what you think is the pain is not enough. Unless you understand the context the problem exists in, you will never truly understand either what the compelling reason to buy is or what the approach to the solution should be.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

Are you waiting for a response for proposals you have sent? Does it feel like they are in a black hole? Most of the time the problem is that the salesperson does not know what will happen to the proposal after they submit it. This is especially true if the approval must come from someone you did not get a chance to meet and qualify. If you do not know the steps that your contact has to take to get approval, how long each step will take and what the concerns of the people involved in the final approval are, then your proposal has a great chance to end up in a “black hole” sometimes never to emerge into the light of day again. The solution to this problem is simple just ask you contact what steps she has to take and how long each step will take. Ask about the concerns (pain) of each of the decision makers you did not meet with. Get a commitment from your contact for when she thinks you should follow up. If you do these things you will accomplish two things. You will be able to give an accurate forecast when a decision will be made. And, more importantly, you will know when to follow up which will give you some peace of mind and keep you from being a pest to your prospect.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

You know how to lead a conversation, but do you do it on a sales call? Most people don’t. They come to the meeting concentrating on what they want to say and how to say it. What they should be concentrating on is the prospect’s situation, their pain their budget and other steps in the sales process. So, for example, they should “lead” the conversation to a discussion of the prospect’s pain. If we know that pain is typically found in the shipping department, then they should lead the conversation there. You lead the conversation by asking questions. You can get the prospect moving in the right direction by answering their questions in a way that inserts another topic into the conversation. We have all done it. So we all have the skill. However, all too often, salespeople forget to use this skill. They focus instead on themselves and their product or service. So, use the skill you already have. When you do, the prospect will more easily accept what you eventually have to say, and they will never feel like they were sold to, because it felt to them like they were in control the whole time.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

Great sales questions make the prospect think. Good questions merely get you a lot of information. Getting information is important and must be done to make a sale. However, just understanding the situation and the pain the prospect is in, is many times not enough. You must differentiate yourself from the competition. Asking questions that make the prospect think is a great way to do that. Some examples might be “Why did you not go down this alternate path?” or “Why does that keep happening when clearly you have directed otherwise?”. The first question shows that you may have some knowledge of the situation. Maybe the prospect has an answer. But maybe the question stops him in his tracks as he stops to consider that alternative that maybe he hadn’t thought of. Having the prospect think can never hurt you. It starts the conversation down a different path than they may have had with a competitor. They see you differently and hopefully they see you as someone who can help them. The second question can have a similar effect, or it can shine a light on the real pain and really cause the prospect to get emotional. Good questions get you information and are important. Great questions make the prospect think and can be a game changer.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

Most salespeople focus first on what the prospect needs. But a quicker way to pain after you understand the current situation is to ask what outcome the prospect is looking for. They may not know how to get to the outcome, but they certainly know what outcome they would like to have or hope that they could have. The obvious next question is “why is that important” or “Why did you choose that instead of this” or something like that. The answer will inevitably lead you down a path to the pain the prospect is having. The advantage of this approach is also that it prevents you from focusing on your product or service too soon. It is as simple as that.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

Pain is not enough to get a sale. The prospect must also have some urgency to fix the pain. If you don’t know when the prospect needs the problem fixed, you have not really gotten the prospect to share a compelling reason to buy. You have just identified a problem. As any homeowner knows, there are many things that are annoying around a house and “need” to be fixed. But the average homeowner does not fix everything as soon as it becomes known that it is not exactly as it should be. You can tolerate a leaky faucet even though it is annoying, and it is costing you money. There is no urgency to fix that especially if you are not skilled with certain tools. However, if a pipe bursts and water is spewing everywhere, there is urgency to do something about it immediately. So, when you are on a sales call do not be satisfied with uncovering the problem or pain. Make sure you determine whether the prospect has enough urgency to solve the problem before you count it as qualified.

If you have a sales question you would like to discuss follow the link to schedule a call:
https://calendly.com/dancaramanico/callwithdan

Old clients can be hidden nuggets of gold in your database. Or they can become like ghosts … hidden and unseen. Be a ghost-buster. Call those old clients just to catch up. You don’t have to ask if they need to buy anything. Just catch-up on what is going on at the company. There will be personnel changes, changes processes, new products, etc. gathering information may yield some new pain that has arisen that you might be able to help with. This sales tip is not any more complicated than that. Call them. Talk to them. Stuff will happen. It is better than making cold calls and it is a great way to bust out of a slump and get the ball rolling again.