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How to Create a Winning Sales Presentation

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It happened last week and I cringed.  A new client wanted to know how to create a winning sales presentation and he asked me, “Hey, could you take a look at my slide deck?  I teach my salespeople to present from it, and they just aren’t doing it well.  That should be one of our areas of focus.”  With great fear, I asked, “How many slides are in it?”  “41,” he replied proudly, telling me that he’d paid a lot of money to a marketing firm to develop it.

Oh, God.  When I looked at the deck, it was just as I feared.  Some great graphics, lots of one-size-fits-all puffery, and precious little that any customer would care about.  I called my client and told him to never use it again.  I know I burst a big bubble, but the truth is that “slide decks” don’t do anything for you in the Solution phase of the Buyer’s Journey (or really, any other phase), UNLESS you are presenting to a large buying committee and need the visuals to keep everyone interested.  And even then, it shouldn’t be one size fits all.  Our job in the Solution phase is to persuade.  Customers aren’t persuaded by slide-deck babble.  I’m going to show you a simple three-step process for building a presentation that will persuade.

First of all, we need to understand how people are persuaded.  Pardon me while I get a bit nerdy, but I first learned how people were persuaded in competitive debate in high school and college (yeah – I was a real babe magnet).  In debate, we constructed our cases in three parts, in a tight, logical flow that would set the stage for a debate and give the judge reasons to give the win to us.  Of course, there were many speeches yet to go before we won!  When I started selling, I found that this same three-part presentation could create a winning sales presentation that engages customers and guides them towards a purchasing decision.

In my experience, the most persuasive sales presentations follow a simple three-part structure – Observations, Plan, and Advantages. If you can master this format, it will focus your customer calls, guide the buyer on their journey, demonstrate that you have expertise in solving their issues, and highlight the payoff of buying your stuff.  With that said, the three parts look like this:

Observations: Start with Observations (you don’t have to use this terminology if you don’t want to – but think of it this way).  The Observations are called that because it’s what you have observed.  In this section, you should concisely and clearly detail the customer’s situation based on your questioning and research – and confirm with the customers that you’re right. Demonstrating an understanding of their challenges, needs, and goals shows that you care and sets the stage for your proposed solutions.

For example, “As we discussed earlier, your current issues include a lack of insight into sales rep activity, over 20% quarterly customer churn, and the inability to segment customers for targeted marketing campaigns. I understand how frustrating these problems are, especially for recurring revenue growth.  Do I have that right?”

I’m not a big word guy – but after you have confirmed that your Observations are right, there’s a three word phrase that you should use, because it lets the customer know that he or she is in good hands.

“Here’s my plan.”  Yep, this time, use the word “Plan.”  You’re giving the customer confidence and communicating authority.

Plan: After reflecting the customer’s observed needs, transition into the Plan – your recommendations based on expertise. Provide an overview of the proposed solutions, how they address the discovered Observations, and what actions the client should take.

For example, “Based on your situation, I recommend acquiring our CRM platform with built-in AI and analytics. This will provide real-time visibility into all sales interactions, help you spot vulnerable customers so you can stop churn before it starts, and let you segment your customers for precisely-targeted email, social media and ad campaigns.”

Frame the parts of your plan (in debate, we called the “plan planks,” but you don’t need to) around the issues called out in the Observations so the “win” is clear. Where it’s appropriate, include calls to action such as scheduling demos, signing contracts, or next steps.  In fact, if your solution isn’t simple, a proposed implementation timeline is another element that can give your Buyer confidence to move forward in their journey.

Advantages:  Now let’s win this thing, and show your Buyer the reason why you’re the only solution. The final Advantages section should vividly illustrate how your solutions positively impact the customer. Focus on clear “before and after” scenarios – contrast the current frustrations from the Observations against the vision of success enabled by adopting your Plan.

For example, “With our CRM, your sales manager can coach reps based real metrics instead of flying blind. When we set up customer risk alerts, we trigger automatic retention offers or actions customized for each segment. And marketing campaigns will resonate 10x more powerfully thanks to hyper-personalization.”

Want to take it to the next level? Add in case studies or testimonials to offer proof that your Advantages really happen.

The Advantages close the loop opened by the Observations, creating an elegant cause-and-effect circle. The Buyer can clearly see how your solution leads to the resolution of their pains. This spurs action – signing contracts, scheduling follow-ups, or purchasing – all of which move the Buyer’s Journey forward.

Here’s a bonus tip.  I’ve written this article as if the Solution phase is a separate activity from the Investigation phase – in other words, you ask questions, you go back to the batcave to develop your presentation, and then you come back.  The real challenge is to know your stuff well enough that you don’t have to do that.  Create what I call a Mental Slide Deck of presentation points for your main products and how you solve the most common needs that you face – and then quickly organize the three-part presentation in your mind and give it.  No, it’s not easy.  Yes, it requires an agile mind – but that’s what your Buyer expects.

The key thing to remember is that, in the Buyer’s Journey, you are guiding them through the journey.  You are digging to define their needs and Desired Future State, you are using your expertise to solve their problems, and you are persuading them that yours is the solution to adopt. If you use this 3-part framework to create a winning sales presentation,  you will be more convincing and you will consistently close more deals.

How to Update Your Hiring Techniques to Attract Younger Sales Talent

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The sales profession is changing, and unfortunately, it’s graying.  Statistics show that the average age of a professional salesperson now is 47.1 years old.  Fifteen years ago, that number was 42.  That means that our profession has aged five years in the last fifteen – and that’s unsustainable.  The sales profession needs new blood.

With millennials now making up the majority of the workforce and Gen Z close behind, you might need to evolve your hiring practices to continue attracting top young sales talent. The old way of hiring salespeople – putting out a basic job description and waiting for resumes to trickle in – just won’t cut it anymore for recruiting younger generations. I’ve seen this in working with my clients – and I’ve seen some new methods generate great results.  Sales managers need to take a more proactive and strategic approach to stand out and connect with qualified candidates. Here are five updated hiring techniques that have been shown to be successful in reaching younger sales professionals.

Showcase Your Company Culture:  “Culture” isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Today’s younger workforce values culture, flexibility, and purpose when job seeking. Showcase what makes your company culture, and your job opportunity, unique when recruiting. Highlight your culture on your careers page, company website, and job posts. Let candidates know if you offer benefits like remote work options (sales is well positioned for this in my opinion) and professional development programs– these attract young talent. Use images, videos, and employee spotlights so candidates can get a feel for your work environment. Culture can make or break whether you connect with younger applicants.  One key – whatever you do, it must be authentic.  Understand – even if you fake your culture, sites like Greendoor will very quickly let candidates know the truth.

Leverage Social Sourcing:  Younger generations live their lives online and on social media. You should incorporate social sourcing strategies into your hiring process to connect with talent where they already spend time. Strategically post job openings in relevant Facebook and LinkedIn groups in your industry. Share and engage with content from top performers and rising sales stars you’d like to recruit and connect with them. You can also identify passive candidates by searching profiles with relevant backgrounds or skills. Social recruiting allows you to grab the attention of talented individuals who aren’t actively job seeking.  This also means being innovative with respect to your recruiting message.  Don’t be afraid to step out of your lane and try things like a video job ad (keep it to 60 seconds or less) or memes (funny or serious).  Post not only to the “normal” mediums like LinkedIn and Facebook, but consider TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram.  Remember – you can’t hire them if they don’t know you are hiring.  Don’t be snobbish about the way you get your candidates.  Just get them.

Highlight Development Opportunities: Younger sales talent care about career growth and acquiring new skills. If your company lacks structured development programs, highlight other growth opportunities in your job posts and outreach.  Better yet, BUILD some structured development programs, starting with your 90 Day Onboarding program (you have one of those, right?). Mention if top performers have a chance to take on mentees, have access to skill-building resources, or can participate in stretch assignments. You want candidates to see that your company supports professional advancement so they envision future opportunities. Having one-on-one meetings with candidates to discuss career path trajectory is also powerful.

Showcase Tech Stack: Millennials and Gen-Z candidates expect companies to harness modern technologies and encourage innovation from employees. When recruiting, thoroughly describe your tech stack – like sales engagement platforms, LinkedIn integration, data analytics, and automation tools you leverage (and if you aren’t already, get comfortable with phrases like “tech stack”). Discuss how your sales team utilizes technology to enhance productivity. Today, you’d better be comfortable discussing AI as a sales tool. You want tech-savvy candidates to see you provide cutting-edge resources to drive results.  By the way – if you aren’t using tech to drive sales results, start doing it.  The sales profession isn’t going to be backtracking to a low-tech environment anytime soon.

Convey Company Mission & Impact: Younger people increasingly seek out purpose-driven work. When recruiting new team members, sales managers should communicate how their company mission makes a difference and highlight recent company impact metrics. For example, explain how your product or service tangibly helps customers.  If you have community involvement programs, those should be part of your messaging.  One fear I’ve heard is that sales managers are reluctant to get into politics with candidates.  That’s fine; you don’t need to.  Companies can be seen as positive without being seen as taking a particular political stance.

Respond Quickly:  Younger generations have been conditioned by social media to expect quick likes, comments, and attention.  If you want to succeed in hiring, get used to doing the same.  I used to recommend that managers collect resume’s for a week, then sort through, pick ones to call, and call.  Now the best practice is to receive a resume’, do a quick scan on it, and then call right then.  If your candidate doesn’t answer, you should also email and text.  You want the candidate to get that quick dopamine hit that comes with a quick response, and then give multiple ways to get back with you.

Never mistake this:  You are competing for talent in a highly competitive environment.  If some of the tactics above resemble ways that you’d compete for customers, that’s not an accident.  Compete for sales talent with the same intensity as you compete for customers, and you’ll have a great sales team.  And you’ll leave many of your competitors behind.

Four Ways to Improve Your Sales Communications

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My friend and speaking coach, Patricia Fripp, has a phrase that I love.  She likes to say, “Specificity brings memorability.”  She’s right – and she’s getting more and more right every day.  What she means is that, when you are speaking (or selling), what sets you apart are the specific details that you bring to the table.  For instance, she coaches that you should quote statistics, specific facts, and other details that are “sticky” with the audience, even if they forget most of what you said.

Today, there’s another level to that – to sell successfully in 2023 (almost 2024), not only to you have to be specific, you have to be specific to the individual customer.  Your customer doesn’t care what you’ve done for your other 99 customers, they care about what you will do for them and their individual situation.  That expectation definitely raises the bar for your messaging, but it also creates big opportunities to win business.

If you’re still using generic sales pitches (most of us have at one time or another), you’re probably finding that they just don’t cut it anymore. Your customers have come to expect personalized interactions and recommendations tailored specifically to their needs; after all, when Facebook can detect a post you made and then immediately start throwing up ads for related products, we’re in a world where people expect sales and marketing to center around THEM. To effectively sell in this environment, you must improve your sales communications by moving beyond blanket messaging to authentic, one-to-one communication that demonstrates a deep understanding of each customer.

Once upon a time, we could send out generic email messaging and boilerplate product brochures, and still get a decent response rate. Nowadays, customers see those tactics as insincere (which, let’s be honest, they are), and often it turns customers off rather than capturing their interest. What grabs your buyer’s attention? Truly customized interactions that indicate you comprehend their unique situation.

The “bad” news is that, now, you have to put in the work to research prospects and customers as individuals before reaching out. Take the time to thoroughly understand your target’s business, challenges, goals and buying criteria. The good news (no scare quotes this time) is that it’s incredibly easy to do so. LinkedIn (in particular) gives you a window into what your prospect is thinking and doing – if you are on LinkedIn and if you are using it.  Yesterday, I talked to a new client who explained to me that most of his salespeople don’t have LinkedIn profiles and aren’t using it.  In 2023, that’s unacceptable – you’re leaving a lot of your opportunity to sell on the table.

When you are armed with a solid understanding of a prospect’s or customer’s world, you can then tailor every piece of communication to resonate. Customize emails, social messages and collateral to showcase your grasp of their priorities and needs – and how you can create Advantages over their current situation.  That can launch them into their own Buyer’s Journey – one that hopefully includes you. Send relevant content that ties directly to current initiatives within their company. The more precise and one-to-one your outreach, the better it will be received.

Don’t be afraid to send non-sales content.  For instance, let’s say that you see an article that ties back to something one of your customers is experiencing, or a post that you might have seen on LinkedIn.  Shoot them a message with a link to the article, indicating why you sent it.

Nailing this level of personalization at scale takes work.  After all, most of us have more than one customer or prospect at a time! But it pays off handsomely by boosting response rates and forging stronger customer connections. Research by The Relevancy Ring found personalized emails generate six times higher transaction rates and individualized web experiences provide a 20 percent lift in sales. Customers that feel understood and valued through tailored communication build lasting loyalty with brands over those taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

While personalized messaging certainly demands more upfront effort from you, that’s precisely what sets you apart. In competitive industries, buyers have multiple options with comparable solutions. You’ve probably already figured THAT part out.  Taking time to understand your customers shows you genuinely care about their success beyond making a quick sale. Strong one-to-one connections drive more productive conversations that uncover true needs and align your solutions. When your buyers feel understood as more than transactions, you build trust that wins business.

Here are four quick steps to individualizing your communication:

  1. Research. Note that when I say “research,” I’m not suggesting that you spend all day on one customer.  You can learn more in five minutes now than you used to be able to in hours – so spend that five minutes doing quality research.  Company web pages are good.  Company social media is better (because it’s more current and more reflective of where they are at the moment).  Your contact’s professional social media is best.  Looking them up on LinkedIn?  Good professional research.  Looking them up on Facebook?  Stalkery.
  2. Find a “hinge.” A “hinge” is a point upon which to base sales communication.  For instance, if your target says that they are about to open a new location and you sell something that helps with that, that’s a hinge.  If your target expresses frustration that you can solve, that’s a hinge.  But remember – hinges are “specific.”
  3. Craft a message including the hinge. Now it’s time to reach out.  You can use email, social media messaging, or you can even craft a short voice mail (because so few people answer the phone anymore).  “Hi, John, this is Troy with ABC Company.  I see that you’re opening a new location at 46th and Main, and we already help several of your neighbors solve this problem that you’ve referenced in a LinkedIn post.  Maybe we could help you, too – could we talk?”  Remember – specificity brings memorability.  Keep it short and punchy, but include enough detail so that you’re talking to your target, not just anyone who might be in the area.
  4. Be patient. We might not love it, but the reality is that prospecting is much more of a slow play now.  The level of information and control that your buyers have means that they can enter their own Buyer’s Journey on their timetable – not yours.  Understand this, keep dripping specific messages, and you’ll get on their radar screen.

The bottom line is that generic communication doesn’t work anymore. Want to win more business today? Then you have to become a student of your prospects and clients. Put in the work to comprehend needs, goals and pain points at an individual level. Then demonstrate that understanding through authentic conversations and recommendations matching each customer’s unique priorities. This approach to selling is going to move your customers beyond the “occasional buyer” status and create the “loyal customer relationship” that we are all looking for. Set yourself apart and improve your sales communications by speaking to customers like the individuals they are.

How to Build a Sales Culture in Your Organization

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In my years of experience in working with (and for) companies large and small, I have discovered that there is a common element to the most successful businesses.  The most successful companies have a sales culture.  A “sales culture” is a philosophy that permeates the company, from the corner office to the loading dock, that says, essentially, “We are a sales organization, and everything else we are able to do is a product of our ability to sell our products or services to our customers.”

This flows from the top because it must.  Despite the protestations of those who advocate bottom-up leadership, the reality is that any corporate culture is set not by the employees at ground and field level, but by the overriding philosophy of management.  So, let’s assume for the moment that you have decided that your company needs to accept and embrace a sales culture.  How do we go about that?

Set the mission:  First of all, whatever your mission statement, throw it away.  I know, it’s something that you’ve put a lot of thought into and probably has some great phrasing.  It’s probably also something that your employees couldn’t remember if a gun were put to their heads.  Let’s replace it with something simple like this:  “We are a sales organization, and we grow profitably by Recruiting new customers, Re-selling current customers to greater profitability, and Retaining profitable business.”  Use the Three R’s of Business Growth as the mantra that guides your company’s decision making.

Communicate:  All good things in sales (and business) come from good communication, and most bad things happen because of insufficient communication.  Knowing this, the next step is to communicate the message to your people, and to do so consistently.  This is where a lot of companies fail, because the communication happens like this:  The Big Guy (or Gal) at the Top will have a staff meeting where he/she communicates the ‘new mission’ forcefully to his key managers, and then expects the managers to communicate it downstream.  They do, but with varying degrees of emphasis and enthusiasm.  The Sales Manager obviously embraces the mission, while the Production Manager may be less enthusiastic, and so forth.  If you really want to effect change, it has to be up to you.

Have all-company meetings, or all-department meetings, or all-branch meetings; however you need to do it in order to have the opportunity to have every employee hear the message directly from your lips.  If your people know the goals, they will act in accordance with them – if they believe that the goal is real and permanent.

Align Goals:  To accomplish your goal of profitable growth through Recruiting, Re-Selling, and Retaining customers, you must align all your departments and goals. For instance, instead of budgeting in dollar terms, budget in percentages from the top line.  This way, when departments need more resources for equipment and personnel, they know how to get it – help grow the company.  Even with the best goal setting, however, you’re going to see some internal conflict.

Remove Internal Conflict:  Good sales forces, by their nature, create internal conflict.  This isn’t because salespeople are bad people, obnoxious, or difficult to work with (although they can be, and that is a separate issue), but because good salespeople push the frontiers.  Because sales is all about growth, good sales forces are always creating extra work and pressure for the other departments which must then function at a higher level to support the sales growth created.  This creates conflict and push-back.

It’s your job to mediate and handle these conflicts and push-backs.  It’s a delicate issue because no department, or department manager, wants to feel subordinate or less important than sales.  The reality is that, if you’re truly embracing a sales culture, the other departments are exactly that – subordinate to sales.  When conflicts arise, you should go back to your mission statement; what helps your company grow profitably through Recruiting, Re-Selling, and Retaining customers?  This doesn’t mean that “sales is always right;” there are times when the sales department is actually acting against profitable growth through mistaken reasoning.  That’s why you have to be the arbiter.

Have a High Performance Sales Force:  Now it’s time to turn up the intensity with the sales department.  You have the right to demand excellence from your salespeople once you have molded the culture of the company around them.

You need a strong sales manager who actively works to strengthen and enhance the abilities of his/her salespeople.  Your sales manager must be a good coach and developer of people.  He should be willing to advocate for the needs of the sales force while simultaneously demanding the highest effort and achievement from them.  He must be capable of surrounding himself with top talent and then making that talent even better.

The sales manager must understand the basic equation of sales achievement:  Quantity of activity x Quality of activity = Results.  To this end, the sales manager should have performance metrics in place to assess both quantity and quality of sales activity, and be equipped to hold salespeople accountable for those metrics and for the results.  Struggling personnel must be either coached or changed; top performers should be rewarded and coached to even higher levels.

Reinforce the culture:  As you’ve probably guessed, it’s not enough to have some meetings, say “we are a sales organization,” and call it good.  Cultures happen because they are reinforced, directly or indirectly.  For this to work, key decisions must be made based on the new mission statement:  “Does this decision help us to Recruit, Re-Sell, or Retain customers?”  That doesn’t mean that non-sales departments starve; that new machine for the plant may be completely justified by its benefits in product quality.  The raises for the production staff may be appropriate to reward them for their part in acquiring, developing, and retaining customers.  It does mean that your company has one universal criteria for spending, personnel allocations, and any other key decision making.

The Benefits:  There are numerous benefits to aligning your company around a sales culture.  The biggest is this:  Sales focused companies tend to produce excellence in every department.  The reason is simple:  Companies with a strong sales department cannot stay bad or mediocre in other areas; if they do, those sales gains will quickly be lost through customer dissatisfaction and attrition.  As noted earlier, good sales departments tend to lift other departments through necessity.  On the whole, organizations that center their culture around the process of profitable growth tend to achieve that growth, year after year.  It’s not easy, but the results are worth it.

How to Easily Spot AI Blog Posts – And How to Use AI Properly

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Hey there, savvy sales champs! Ever thought about having a secret weapon that boosts your sales game? Enter ChatGPT, your new best buddy in the sales world. It’s like having a Jedi master of conversation on your side, helping you charm clients, answer tricky questions, and close deals faster than you can say “commission.” Whether you’re a seasoned sales pro or just dipping your toes, this AI wizard is about to revolutionize how you hustle. Buckle up and get ready to unlock the magic of ChatGPT for your sales hustle!

Now, did that sound like me, Troy Harrison, the Sales Navigator?  Hell, no, it didn’t!  And if you use AI applications (whether ChatGPT or others) without any editing, it won’t sound like YOU either.  I purposely asked ChatGPT to write an intro for this article knowing that it would come up with something that was so transparently NOT me as to (hopefully) get your attention.  What we’re going to be talking about today is how to easily spot AI in blog posts, articles, and other written documentation – which, hopefully, will show you how to use AI correctly.

At current count, there are over 5,000 Generative AI applications competing for a growing AI user base.  “Generative AI” is the proper term for applications that accept a prompt from you and then generate some sort of written document as an output.  AI can write blog posts, articles, books, and even movie scripts (which is a big reason that the screen writers have been on strike – seems self-defeating to me, but I digress), and it’s easy to get started.  It can do this well or it can do it badly.  I hope we can agree that the opening paragraph of this article was “doing it badly,” but I bet you’ve seen a ton of posts on social media that looked pretty much like that.  AI is in its infancy, but at the moment, it has a number of verbal “tics” that are dead giveaways.  Let’s look at three of those now.

  1. Over-the-top language: Don’t get me wrong, I like enthusiasm. I once had a client describe me as a “human exclamation point!”  But too much AI output can sound like the person is on the biggest sugar high ever. My opening paragraph is an example.  “Hey there, savvy sales warriors” is a phrase unlikely to ever be typed by human fingers.  When you see a post that is virtually screaming at you, it’s probably AI.Your Hack:  I asked ChatGPT to use “casual language” in my prompt for the intro, and that was the result.  If you don’t specify your wording, you’ll get an abundance of business buzzwords and language that sounds like a term paper for an MBA program.  If neither one of those extremes mirrors how you speak and write – and they probably don’t – you need to be specific in the language you want for an output.  “Don’t use buzzwords” is one of my favorite prompts, and sometimes I’ll paste in a couple of paragraphs of my own work as a writing sample and tell ChatGPT to mirror my verbal cadence.  Until you get really good at your initial prompts, don’t accept the first result you get.
  2. Giveaway words and phrases: There are certain phrases that are dead giveaways.  “Say goodbye to X and say hello to Y” is a frequent one.  Or, “I hope this email finds you well.”  (That one sticks in my craw a bit, because I used to open a lot of emails with, “I hope you are doing well.”  AI took that one away from me.)  Words like “unleash,” “revolutionize,” and “unlock” are also common tics that give away a written product as AI-generated.Your Hack:  Sometimes, it’s enough to just accept a result with some buzzwords in it, and then rephrase it yourself into more direct and plain lingo.  Watch LinkedIn and Facebook ads, and you’ll see a ton of AI generated ads.  Read them and analyze them, and you’ll see other common verbal tics.  Then avoid them.
  3. Intros and closes: ChatGPT uses very familiar patterns of introductions and closes to its output.  Again – you probably already know what they are.  Avoid these, especially the intro.  The first paragraph or even sentence tells the reader if they want to continue, and if your first paragraph sounds AI, many readers will bail out.  Hmmmm….I’m hoping that most of you knew what I was doing and made it past that crappy first paragraph!Your Hack:  Always write your own opening and closing to a written document.  ChatGPT is actually pretty good at writing the body of an article with bullet points and analysis, but is weaker at getting into the article.  Your solution is to use your own ideas and thoughts to open your posts, blogs, etc., and then allow ChatGPT to do some of the heavy lifting in the middle.  Remember – make sure that the language flows and sounds like you.  If you come off as inauthentic, people won’t read you, and they won’t buy from you.

The bottom line is this:  Anytime you want to use a Generative AI tool to make your communications more efficient – and you should – don’t look at it as the complete solution.  As my friend Chase Aucoin likes to say, “ChatGPT is the best intern you ever had.  It’s smart, it has 20 PhD’s, and it has no street smarts whatsoever.”  The first paragraph of this article was an example of the lack of street smarts of ChatGPT.  It’s also the only piece of this article written with ChatGPT – but when I asked ChatGPT to write an article explaining how to easily spot AI in written documents, something happened that has not happened to me before.

I got a blank response. Zilch.  Zip. Nada.  Seriously – I learned that ChatGPT cannot explain to you what the dead giveaways of ChatGPT are and how to easily spot AI! After I stopped laughing, I wrote this article.

Generative AI is a great tool and will make you more efficient – but it won’t replace you.  So don’t ask it to, and you’ll be fine.

How to Navigate the Non-Buyer’s Journey

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I’ve been writing about how to Navigate the Buyer’s Journey for months now (and if you don’t know what the Buyer’s Journey is, read this article now before moving on, or watch my Webinar on this topic).  I truly believe that this is the foundation for sales as we move into the future – but I’ve neglected the flip side.  My work on the Buyer’s Journey is optimistic (as I am as a person).  It begins with the assumption that the Buyer enters the Buyer’s Journey with a true intent to buy from YOU, if the Buyer’s definition of Success is met.

But we all know that it isn’t always that way.  Spotting the difference between a real potential buyer and someone just kicking the tires is tricky. Genuine buyers show real interest—they ask relevant questions and want to know more about what you’re selling. The time-wasters, on the other hand, might be more interested in getting information or a better deal without any real intention to buy. So, let’s take a little dive into how to qualify buyers for seriousness – or, as I say, Navigating the Non-Buyer’s Journey.

You need to understand that qualifying the buyer is an area where your questioning skills come to the fore.  You can ask these questions in such a way as to turn a real buyer into a non-buyer if you’re careful.  Too many sales training “systems” have as their foundation a hefty skepticism – and I’ve seen those types of tactics send a genuine buyer right into the arms of a competitor.  My first sales job had a training system that said – repeatedly – “buyers are liars.”  I disagree.

It’s important to remember that when a Buyer enters into a Buyer’s Journey, they are probably going to buy SOMETHING from SOMEONE. Whether they buy your stuff from you is the open question.  Having a customer that is using you to “keep their supplier honest” is a pain in the ass and a huge time waster.  On two different occasions, I’ve had prospects say that exact phrase to me – “I want to keep my supplier honest.”  My response was, “If you’re worried about them being honest, why in the world would you keep buying from them?”  Both ended up as my customers.

Before we launch into a few guidelines for separating Buyers from Non-Buyers, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Your time has value.
  2. It’s okay to say no. You don’t have to do everything the prospect asks just because they ask.  See #1 above.
  3. Any Request for Proposal has specifications in it. If you didn’t help write those specs, one of your competitors did – and they’ll probably get the business.
  4. A Buyer’s Journey is a MUTUAL journey – you should both be proceeding through at the same pace. If your Buyer stops, you stop.

With that said, here are a few questions you should ask to separate Buyers from Non-Buyers.

  • The Decision Making Process: Are you talking to the person who will make the decision?  The old method of doing this was to ask, “Are you the decision maker?”  It’s a personal and confrontational question that would almost always generate a “yes” answer – EVEN IF THE PERSON WASN’T THE DECISION MAKER.  A better way is to ask about the process, which depersonalizes the question and makes it safe to tell you that they are not the decision maker.  “Mr. Prospect, could you tell me about the process that will be used to make this buying decision?”  Remember – most of the time, a salesperson has access to the decision maker.  If it’s not you, you’re probably just doing this for practice.
  • Priorities: Your normal sales questioning should establish the need – but where that need is prioritized in terms of the overall company big picture is important, too.  Even if the need is important to your Buyer, does the Buyer have the horsepower within his/her organization to get it done?  Will, for instance, a Marketing project lose to an Engineering project?  Don’t just ask about your own sphere – ask about the overall picture.
  • Resources: For years, I’ve told salespeople not to ask “The Budget Question.”  There are many reasons for this – you’re unlikely to get an honest answer, it opens the door to price pressure, and there are issues beyond money that could prevent you from getting the business, among others.  However, I think there’s a place for a question about   Resources are more than money – it can include time, technology, personnel, etc.  “What resources to do you plan to allocate to solving this problem?”
  • Timeline: The “timeline question” is important – and it’s often done incorrectly.  Salespeople ask about the timeline for the decision – when in fact, they should be asking for the date the solution is needed.  This does two things for you.  First of all, it helps the customer envision their problem getting solved – which makes the process about them and not   When you ask about the decision, you are a supplicant – “please tell me when you are going to buy from me.”  Asking about the solution makes you a partner in the solution.  Secondly, asking about the solution timeline allows you to help set milestones for completion of the different parts of the Buyer’s Journey, as well as to guide the post-decision milestones. Ultimately, it gets you toward success for the buyer and for yourself.

The key is this:  If you aren’t getting the answers that you need, you must not be afraid to discontinue your participation in the process. Again – your time has value, and you could be prospecting to find someone who will embark on a Buyer’s Journey with you.  By paying attention, keeping communication clear, and using these questions, you can tell the difference between a promising lead and a dead end. It’s an ongoing skill that gets better with practice and helps focus efforts where they matter most.

Why Not? Four Innovative Ways to Prospect

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Are you getting tired of me telling you that sales is changing?  Too bad.  I’m going to do it again.  Sales is changing.  That doesn’t mean that you have to throw out all of your old prospecting methods – but it does mean that you need to be adding new ones, and new tools to your toolbox.  That can be uncomfortable for some of us, but it’s necessary.

The reality is that we have more ways of contacting prospects than ever before. Some work – some don’t.  And there are some that you should try to see if it works for you.  What’s cool is this – there is no model of prospecting that “doesn’t work anymore.”  Teleprospecting?  Yep, still works, although the ratios are different now.  Walk in cold calls?  For many industries, they’re dead – but I have a client who lives off of them quite successfully.  And then there are new ones that you probably haven’t tried, nor have I.  Let’s talk about four innovative ways to prospect that you should probably try.

  1. Video messaging: This is an offshoot of a conversation that I had with a recruiter this week while on a speaking engagement.  He’s finding good candidates on LinkedIn and, instead of sending a generic text message on LinkedIn, he is recording a highly personalized 30 second video, tailored directly to the individual, and sending that.  Yes, it takes more time to do – but he tells me that his pull-through has actually doubled.  That’s a great idea for recruiting, but it might be a great way to prospect, too.  The key to this (as will be the key to all the methods we’ll discuss) is that it must be very 1-to-1 and speak to the individual – not a mass message.  Have I done this yet?    Am I going to try?  You bet your commission check I am.  And I’ll tell you the results.  But don’t wait for me; give it a shot yourself.
  2. Rethinking the cold call: We know that the ratios of calls to contacts (someone actually answering the phone) have dropped precipitously.  Whereas we used to see someone answering on about half of the prospecting calls we made, now it’s closer to 1 to 5, or even 1 to 10.  So why not make that work for us?  Instead of hanging up or leaving a boring voice mail, think of something exciting to say – and tailored – and consider it an opportunity to get your name on their radar screen, rather than considering it a failure if you don’t get an answer.  In my training with my clients, we see that salespeople who leave voice mails get views on their LinkedIn pages from some of the people they called.  Great!  Leave a tailored voice mail asking them to call you – but also to look you up on LinkedIn or to text.  When they do look you up, send a connection request.  Then slow-play the relationship development (see my comments on LinkedIn prospecting below) so you don’t immediately get blocked.
  3. Buy the appointment: OK, this one is out there a bit, but a close friend sent it to me and it was too good not to share. One ad agency discovered that it cost them $126 to get a lead on LinkedIn, so they skipped the middleman and sent out a nice brochure with $126 in cold hard cash, asking for an appointment.  As the article shows, the sample size is small so far – but the results are good at the start.  This is admittedly one for a company with a decent sized budget, but if you can, why not?  Save it for your top prospects, of course, but if you get business, the ROI is there.
  4. LinkedIn prospecting: You’ve probably seen it.  You accept a connection request from someone you haven’t met, and immediately you get bombed with a hard-sell message.  If you’re like me, you either tell them you’re not interested, or you block them.  Don’t get caught in that trap.  You absolutely should use LinkedIn to prospect, but you should also be aware that it’s a slow play.  Once you receive the connection request, just send a simple message thanking the person for joining your network.  Then, engage with them – like their posts and comment or share where appropriate (but make sure your comments are appropriate and not stalkerish).  Then – when they post or comment something that indicates an opportunity for you – send them a SOFT message suggesting that you can help with their problem, and asking if they’d like to have a conversation.  If they say no, keep engaging.  LinkedIn is a relationship based strategy, but it can work if you do it right.
  5. Send a handwritten note: Admittedly, this is not “new” or “innovative.”  But it’s pretty damned different now.  Nobody sends handwritten notes now.  And by “handwritten,” I don’t mean a note with a printer that looks like handwriting.  I mean an actual handwritten note.  Again – as are all of these methods – it must be tailored and speak directly to your prospect on a one-to-one basis.  This is one that I can tell you works today.  In fact, on a percentage basis, it might work better today than it used to.  Want to combine old tech and new tech?  Send a handwritten note on a card that has a QR code that allows them to reach out quickly.

While you’re digesting those four innovative ways to prospect, I want to cop to a change in my own thinking.  I used to say that prospecting was a function of the law of large numbers, and I told managers to discourage their salespeople from doing extensive research on prospects – instead, make the calls and get the appointments. A good database that tells you who your target contact is and their company’s demographics and industry data was enough. For some industries and environments, that still is appropriate.

For many of us, though, it’s time for a shift.  Notice that every one of those four methods above demanded tailoring.  To succeed, you must speak directly to your prospect on a person-to-person level that demonstrates that you know a little bit about them and have a reason for reaching out.  The good news is that it’s so easy to research now that, within five minutes, you can come up with enough information to have a ‘hinge’ for your contact.

Have I personally tried and trained on all of these methods?  No.  Not YET.

Do I think some of them might fail for myself or for you?  Possibly.  Not everything is a fit for everyone.

But we are in a moment where there aren’t many rules, where these four innovative ways to prospect present a relatively blue ocean (because not many salespeople are trying them), and thus you have an opportunity to use them to succeed.  So try things.  Learn things.  Innovate.  Hell, think of ways that I didn’t think of above.  Maybe in a year, you’ll have developed four innovative ways to prospect that are all yours.

Sales is changing.  You can sit back and not change with it, and you will likely fail.  Or, you can change with it, or even be an agent of change.

Let’s move forward together.

I can help.

 

What if Your Prospect Says, “I Just Want a Price?”

Sales Blog, The Navigator News

It’s an all too common phenomenon.  A fresh lead calls in and declares, “I just want a price.” These prospective customers have often conducted extensive research on their own, formed a clear idea of what they want, and are primarily seeking quotes. Reality is that buyers have changed, their expectations have changed, and this can make traditional sales approaches seem outdated and inadequate – because they often are.  Old-school sales techniques often depended on buyers who were uneducated, leaving us as the oracles of all wisdom.  It isn’t that way anymore.  Studies show that the average buyer has completed nearly 60% of his or her Buyer’s Journey before reaching out to a salesperson.

Trying to take one of these buyers and slam them into your “sales process” is a sure way to failure.  Nowadays, “sales processes” are obsolete, and the Buyer’s Journey rules all.  If you haven’t read my article explaining the five steps in the Buyer’s Journey, do it now – that will help the rest of this article make sense.  The only way to handle this type of call is to treat these informed prospects with respect; by doing so, you can still have a significant impact on influencing and persuading them.

You have to understand that, when this type of buyer calls you, their mindset is that they don’t really need you.  They have already (at least in their mind) gone through the Motivation, Investigation, and Solution steps of their Journey, and they aren’t going to be excited initially about backing up.  Look – we know that sometimes, buyers get it wrong, and what they’re asking for won’t really solve their problems.  Been there, done that.  But you absolutely MUST NOT give the impression that this is what you’re thinking; that will turn this prospect off like a faucet.  So, how do you handle it?  Here are a few steps:

  1. Acknowledge and Validate Their Research:

When a prospect comes in well-informed, it’s essential to acknowledge the time and effort they’ve invested in their research. Begin the conversation by saying something like, “I appreciate the effort you’ve put into understanding your needs. It’s clear you’ve done your homework.” This not only shows respect for their knowledge but also helps build rapport by demonstrating your understanding of their situation.  What this buyer has missed out on is the experience of being heard, respected, and understood.  You have the opportunity to give them this experience, and in doing so, you’ll build rapport.

  1. Ask Open-Ended Questions:

Instead of jumping straight into pricing, ask open-ended questions that encourage prospects to share more about their needs and goals. For example, “Can you tell me more about what you’re looking for in a solution?” or “What challenges are you hoping to overcome with this purchase?” These questions steer the conversation towards a deeper exploration of their needs and allow you to provide tailored solutions.  Let your buyer give you their definition of success.

  1. Share Your Advantages:

Rather than listing features and pricing, focus on the advantages your product or service can provide for your buyer. Help the prospect connect the dots between their needs and how your offering can address them. Highlight real-life success stories or case studies that illustrate how you have solved similar problems for other clients.

  1. Address Concerns and Objections:

You should never have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to objections.  You already know what your common objections are – and you should already have “first, best” responses to resolve them.  Be prepared to sell at a higher price than your competitors.  ALWAYS.

  1. Offer Options:

Provide prospects with different options, such as various product packages or payment plans, to give them a sense of control over their decision. This approach allows them to weigh their choices more thoroughly and may reduce their fixation on price alone.  I always like a “Good/Better/Best” approach.  In fact, if you want to be more effective, present it in a “Best/Better/Good” scenario.  When you start low and add advantages and price, those advantages can seem less important than if you start at the top and take them away.  And when you do quote price, quote it forthrightly and directly.  Be proud of your price.

  1. Close:

Never forget to ASK FOR THE BUSINESS.  Even if your buyer says that he or she is going to check multiple sources, ASK.  People do buy without multiple sources, even when they say they won’t.

  1. Stay Connected:

Even if you don’t get an immediate sale, stay connected with these prospects. Share valuable content, industry insights, and updates to reinforce your expertise and maintain a relationship. This keeps you top-of-mind when they’re ready to make a decision.  If you have a drip marketing program, put them in it.  Lost sales now can result in wins later.

Our reality today is that the buyers are the stars of the show, and they KNOW IT.  It’s tempting to just fire off a price to this type of buyer (what we used to call the “price and puke” in the car business), or to treat their research with a certain amount of disrespect while looking for mistakes.  DON’T.  Ultimately the relationship will go to the salesperson who makes this buyer feel respected and validated.  If that’s you, the rewards will come.

Navigating the Buyer’s Journey is an essential skill for today’s salesperson.  It’s also the topic of my Webinar coming up in a few weeks, and if you haven’t registered, what are you waiting for?  It’s on November 16.  Click here and get signed up.

Four Keys to A Successful CRM Implementation

Sales Blog, The Navigator News

A few weeks ago, I read a recent article in a monthly trade magazine by a guy who is/was one of America’s most prominent sales authors.  The article was about CRM.  Specifically, it was about how he had finally seen the virtues of CRM (Customer Relationship Management app) and moved his own business off of the old spreadsheet model.  Well, golly gee whiz!  He’s selling like it’s 1999.  Look, let’s be honest.  If you don’t have a CRM system that is up, running, functional, and being used (the definition of successful CRM implementation), you are as behind the times as he is – and you’re probably getting your ass kicked by sales teams that do have one.

I’m tempted to say that “in today’s world, CRM is essential,” but that would be a lie.  Twenty years ago, CRM was essential.  Today, it’s foundational.  Product knowledge isn’t king anymore.  Customer knowledge is king.  And if you don’t have a functional CRM system, you don’t know enough about your customers.  I’m of the opinion that the reason that sales teams don’t implement and use CRM systems is that they make it too complicated.  Hence, I want to simplify CRM.

Entirely too many CRM implementations are guided by the IT department or vendor.  That’s a mistake.  IT departments love features and functionality – the more, the better.  CRM should be guided by sales and marketing, because they are the users and the ones who benefit from successful CRM implementation.  Sales and marketing tell IT what they need, and IT implements it.  Here are the four things you must have for successful CRM implementation:

  1. Contact management: For me, contact management includes the “business card information” for every contact at your target companies. It incorporates demographics on their business – size, industry, etc.  It also includes data-input fields on their current method of doing whatever they do:  Who they buy from, what they buy, how often they buy, how big their potential is, and whatever other fields are vital to your business.
  2. Activity management: Activity management is the recording of every interaction and “touch” with the customer.  What did you do?  When was it?  What was the result?  What important information was discovered or exchanged?  All calls, meetings, video contacts, emails, and texts should be recorded.  The good news is that the best CRM systems will interact with your email client to automatically log emails; a good mobile app will log phone calls and texts as long as you’re using your smartphone with a mobile app (more on that in a moment) to make them.  One more thing.  All CRM systems that I’ve seen include a generic “notes” function.  Don’t use it.  “Notes” are for information gleaned, and that information was discovered within an activity – a call, email exchange, or meeting.  Log all your notes within the activity that generated the note.  That gives context.
  3. Opportunity management: An “opportunity” happens whenever the customer or prospect enters a Buyer’s Journey with you; i.e. there is a buying decision to be made.  A successful CRM implementation gives you the capability to log the opportunity, trace it through the sales funnel, and log the win or loss.
  4. A usable mobile app: The old model was that salespeople would go out into the field, make sales calls, come back to the office, and sit down at the computer and type in their activities and notes, usually with the sales manager haranguing them about it.  That’s obsolete.  Today, a good mobile app is part and parcel of a successful CRM implementation.  That way, salespeople can have a meeting, return to their vehicle, quickly log the meeting and results while sitting in their vehicle using a few taps and talk-to-text, and get on to the next meeting.  It’s far more efficient for the salesperson, it communicates information in real time to the office, and frankly, it’s just plain smart.  If (like me) you take a lot of notes using pen and paper, snap pictures of the pages with your phone and use the app to attach those notes to the customer record.  Boom – they are forever logged.  Want to know how to make your work more efficient with a mobile app?  I have a video for that – watch it here.

Are there more ways a CRM can be useful?  Sure.  Automated workflows, email blasts, data segmenting, integration with your back-end accounting program, and other functions can be good to have – but don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good.  If you don’t have a successful CRM implementation, start with the four keys above, and you can always make your CRM more robust as time goes on.  And don’t worry about picking “the wrong one” if you’re just getting started.  You can always export data out of one system and into another.  When in doubt, start simple and work up from there.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you what I use.  I’ve used HubSpot for five years, precisely because it has the four keys above, it’s easy to use, and oh yeah, if you use the basic version, it’s free. No, I don’t get a kickback for referring people – I’m just letting you know.

Whatever you use, pick a CRM and use it.  Frankly, today’s selling is far too data-driven not to.

6 Reasons Why You Should Respond to Leads in Five Minutes

Sales Blog, The Navigator News

I hate wasted opportunities.  I bet you do too.  One of the biggest sources of wasted opportunities is slow response time to incoming leads.  I truly do not understand this – salespeople work their guts out to get new prospects, and yet when someone holds their hand up by calling, emailing, messaging, or filling out a contact form, salespeople let that lead sit there and get cold.  I’ve seen it as a coach and I’ve experienced it as a customer.

The only reason that I can fathom for this is that salespeople don’t want to appear “too anxious” to react.  It’s kind of like the old dating philosophy that “you should never call her (or him) the day after the date.”  Well, it’s dumb in dating and it’s dumb in sales.  Incoming leads are gold and they should be worked immediately.  How immediately?  Here are the numbers, according to a study by M.I.T.:

Five minutes is the ideal response time.  Yes, I said five minutes.  What that means is that a lead that is responded to with a personal phone call, not an email, within five minutes has the highest chance of being qualified, and further in turning into business.  In fact, a call placed within five minutes is four times as likely to be qualified as a call placed at ten minutes – and 21 times more successful than a call placed at 30 minutes.  If they don’t answer the phone, send a text – again, immediately.

WOW.  Why is that?  Because the moment when someone holds their hand up is the moment when they are hottest for you.  That should just make sense.  But seeing the numbers in this format is right in your face, isn’t it?  Let’s take it farther.  A lead that is responded to in the first 30 minutes is 17 times as likely to turn into business as one responded to within 24 hours.  In fact, over 20 hours, a lead response has the same percentages as an ice-cold call.

All of this should be intuitive, but let’s take a deeper dive into the psychology of why quick lead response is essential.

  1. First Impressions Matter:

The old saying “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” holds especially true in the realm of sales. When a prospect contacts you, their interest and enthusiasm are often at their peak. A swift response demonstrates that you are attentive, eager, and professional. It conveys your commitment to providing exceptional customer service and sets a positive tone for the entire sales process.  In other words, your prospect figures that if you’re that quick about responding to sell them, you’re likely to be that quick about responding to service them.

  1. Capture the Prospect’s Attention:

Leads are often fleeting. If you don’t engage with a potential customer promptly, there’s a high likelihood they’ll move on to a competitor who responds more quickly. Today, customers expect instant gratification, and a rapid response can help keep their attention focused on your solution.  And if you don’t respond quickly, they’ll move on to someone who will.

  1. Nurture Leads and Build Relationships:

Timely responses enable you to strike while the iron is hot. By addressing a prospect’s queries or concerns promptly, you’re more likely to keep the conversation going. The more you engage with a lead, the closer you come to building a relationship, which is the foundation of successful sales. It’s in these interactions that you can demonstrate your expertise and tailor your solutions to their specific needs.  When a prospect holds his or her hand up, they are signaling that they are Motivated and are beginning their Buying Journey.  Great salespeople understand and respect this – which is a relationship builder.

  1. Stay Ahead of the Competition:

In a competitive sales environment, quick responses can be a game-changer. Your competitors are just a click away, and they are ready to swoop in if you fart around. When you are the first to respond, you are the first to set the stage.  Even if they do talk to other vendors, you become the yardstick against which all other vendors are measured.

  1. Avoid Lead Coldness:

Leads, like food, have a shelf life; as noted above, that shelf life is less than 24 hours, and drops off very quickly after the first 5 minutes. The longer a lead sits unattended, the colder it becomes. Cold leads are harder to convert as the prospect’s interest wanes over time. With rapid responses, you can keep leads warm and maintain their engagement.

  1. Demonstrate Reliability:

A quick response time is a testament to your reliability as a business or sales professional. It reflects your commitment to customer needs and your ability to deliver on promises. In a world where trust is a valuable currency, demonstrating your reliability is crucial.  Again – quick in sales response means quick in service response.

The bottom line is this – leads are gold.  Customers today have so many options that, if they are holding their hands up and calling to you, you need to react and respond QUICKLY.  If you’re a sales manager, you should have some mechanism for rapid personal response – and remember, personal response means a phone call.  The typical “Thanks for contacting us, someone will be in touch” email is NOT enough.

Bonus info:  If you’re a sales manager, you know that hiring is getting tougher these days.  This technique works just as well in the hiring arena.  When you receive an application or resume’, you should do a quick triage, decide if you want to talk to them, and make a phone call within a few minutes if at all possible. We live in a world of instant gratification – and job applicants are no different. In my Hiring Assistance programs, I teach a four-question phone screening that can aid you in doing this.