Month: August 2019

In a previous post, we talked about a powerful tool salespeople can use to open their sales calls. That was the Impact Statement. Today, we’re going to look at another tool you can use to take control of your sales calls. This is the Why Speak Statement.

The Why Speak Statement is the last tactic in the connect stage of the sales process. The Why Speak Statement is where the salesperson can sit down with a buyer and create a favorable atmosphere where the buyer will want to interact with the salesperson.

We’ve done a lot of training with the Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns. One thing both these sales teams have in common is that their salespeople are extremely strong openers. When they’re on a conference call, a GoToMeeting or a face-to-face meeting, they work to create an atmosphere in which the potential client will open up about their business. They do this by sharing a little bit about their own business.

Want more ideas on how to present your business case and drive more deals? Download our digital publication, Persuasive Sales Presentations, here.

Now, If you think about that behavior, it makes all kinds of sense. Have you ever sat down in an airplane and had someone spill their life story to you? When that happens, you typically feel compelled to return the favor. If we step back into the doctor’s office analogy, this is what we mean by bedside manner. The more comfortable we are with the doctor, the more open we’ll be about our lifestyle and how we feel.

What Does the Why Speak Statement do for your Sales Calls?

In the Why Speak Statement, the salesperson uses their communication skills to speak about the benefits of the conversation. They’ll say things like, “Our conversation today is to talk about how you can leverage some of the assets of the Dallas Cowboys to ultimately help you drive your business,” and then get the prospect to say, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Then the salesperson can continue. “In order to do that, I suggest we talk a little about your role and your business.”

That’s a next step taken. The salesperson looks the prospect in the eye. “Does that make sense?”

The prospect says, “yes”. And now, the salesperson has created this environment where both parties are going to connect and qualify each other.

An Example of a Why Speak Statement in Action

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. One of our good customers is the Dallas Cowboys Partnerships Team, which sells a variety of partnerships, like naming rights to the stadium. We were doing a training/coaching session with two of their VPs because one of the big-three accounting firms was interested in leveraging their firm with the Cowboys’ brand. They had a phone meeting set, so I asked Scott, one of the VPs, what his approach would be.

He said he’d start with pleasantries, get into some of the options that he had been thinking about, and then drive to the next step. I coached him to think more strategically, put the ball in their court, and use a strong Sales Starter and Impact Statement.

Scott is a pro. And he’s very coachable. So, when it was game time, Scott executed the sales call flawlessly. He got through the pleasantries and immediately asked the partner of the accounting firm how much time he had. From there, Scott told him that the meeting was to discuss how the accounting firm could leverage the Cowboys’ brand to increase business. Then Scott launched into his Why Speak Statement, which outlined the context of the call as follows:

1. First, we’ll talk about what thoughts you have to see how this can best work.
2. Then we’ll go over some ideas we have.
3. Next we’ll agree on the best possible solution.
4. And then we’ll identify our next steps.

He then used a Trial Close to determine the prospect’s level of interest and to ensure everyone was on the same page: “How does that sound?”

The partner of the firm said, “That sounds dead on.”

Building Rapport in Your Sales Calls Using This Tool

Scott went back to his first question: “How do you see a partnership with the Cowboys working?” The partner went on to outline what it looked like, potential budgets, and what they had previously done. Because Scott used a Why Speak Statement and facilitated the call in the right order, he was able to get the prospect to outline what business would look like with them and outline their ideas. They say when you negotiate, you’re always positioning early to get the other person to go first. In that case, Scott won the meeting.

So, in this process, we have to connect and qualify our prospect to reach a point where we can start building rapport. Everyone thinks that sales is about building relationships. Sales isn’t about relationships. Sales is about rapport. Relationships are an outcome.

Remember, rapport is crucial to sales. Rapport, credibility, and understanding the buyer are three sides of the sales outcome triangle. Everything you say and do, even your appearance, either adds to your credibility or detracts from it. Credibility yields trust, and if you have trust, your rapport improves. At the same time, you need to demonstrate that you understand the buyer. When those things happen, in equilateral balance, you sell.

Connecting, however, is the first step toward doing that. It’s the step where you overcome preoccupation in the mind of the buyer. You’re going to do a much better job at connecting if you remember that the process is a two-way street. And you must put in the time, practice, and effort to strengthen your Sales Starters, Impact Statements, and Why Speak Statements.

Only then can you create an environment that will advance you to the evaluation stage in the sales process.

Want More Powerful Ideas on Opening Sales Calls?

Because the two are so similar, many of the ideas we use when opening a sales presentation are similar to those in opening sales calls. For additional ideas on getting your audience’s attention, from a single prospect to a room full of decision makers, download our digital publication, Persuasive Sales Presentations, here.

Build a Strong Foundation for Opening Your Sales Call With the  Sales Impact Statement

In a previous post, we introduced the concept of the sales impact statement and on using that tool to focus the opening of your sales call. Remember, no one is sitting by the phone waiting for your unsolicited call. And sometimes, they aren’t even waiting for your scheduled phone call. People are busy. They have things they need to get done, especially if they are decision makers. So, once you break their preoccupation, you must work to get their attention and start building their interest. And for that you need an effective impact statement to tell your story.

What is the Sales Impact Statement?

In its most basic form, the sales impact statement is an elevator pitch. It is a brief, structured statement customized to the buyer in question. It’s designed to overcome the natural preoccupation and elicit some interest on the part of the buyer. In this statement, you are highlighting the primary benefits of doing business with you as succinctly as possible. Upon opening the sales call, you’ve already earned their attention using a sales starter. Now, you are attempting to break through the buyer’s preoccupation by eliciting interest from them.

Salespeople often fail at this point because they don’t have a solid framework for directing the sales call. Instead, your average salesperson will meet a prospect with nothing more than a laundry list of what their company, product, or service does and hope that name recognition or prior knowledge on the part of the prospect will be enough to win them over. These salespeople have to work harder at becoming trusted advisors because they fail to connect with the buyer at an emotional level and start building trust. They employ what I call the spray and pray strategy, and that never works.

The impact statement is analogous to a thirty-to-forty-five-second commercial on television. And like a commercial, the impact statement should speak the buyer’s language, not yours. It needs to tap into the buyer’s mind-set, address their needs, and create opportunities.

Ultimately, how you use your sales impact statement in your sales process will be determined by your sales methodology. With that, let’s take a look at the basic framework of the impact statement.

How to Create the Sales Impact Statement

There are 4 basic parts of your impact statement that, when combined, will deliver an impactful message and elicit interest from your client. Here are the 4 components of the sales impact statement:

What is an Example of a Good Sales Impact Statement?

Remember my encounter with the financial advisor, Doug? Here’s an impact statement example he might use in his sales process:

“You know, if you’re like a lot of the folks we work with, you’re probably looking to sustain your lifestyle over a period of time, get your best return, create an income even as you sleep, ensure the success or legacy of your family. We help our clientele do that by getting a clear understanding of where they are and where they’re going. Also, we design and build options for them to execute that long-term plan and, ultimately, we measure results. We might be able to do the same for you. Would you mind if I ask you some questions about your financial situation?”

Do you see the four components in this example? Using something like the above impact statement, a financial advisor can communicate a succinct message in a predictable way. They aren’t talking about their financial services business. But they are talking about what their financial services business does for people like their clients.

Where Does the Sales Impact Statement Fit in the Sales Process?

The impact statement can be used in all sorts of scenarios at the beginning of the sales process where salespeople are trying to get their prospects to be more receptive. It will do a couple of things. First, it will qualify the prospect to see if they are a good fit for the salesperson’s products and services. Secondly, it will qualify the salesperson in the prospect’s eyes. Remember, the prospect is also judging how the salesperson builds rapport, trust, and understanding of the prospect and their situation.

Here are some examples of where flexible sales professionals can use an effective sales impact statement to generate initial interest:

One of the drills we work on in our sales training sessions with corporate sales teams is: “Can you tell a decision maker or a prospective buyer what you do in less than thirty seconds?” We pose this question to the teams. And then we let them go to work in small groups to develop their impact statements and address prospective buyers in their company’s primary industry of service.

Here’s another impact statement example. If I were selling accounting software like QuickBooks and I get an entrepreneur on the phone, I might say something like the following to get an appointment with them:

“Look, if you’re like a lot of entrepreneurs, you’re probably concerned with money in, money out, accounts out the door, and taking care of all the taxes and things you’re responsible for as a business owner. We’re able to help businesses like yours because we understand what they are trying to do and the kind of business they are in. We have a couple different versions of software that are less complicated for different kinds of businesses, and then we teach them how to use the software, so it becomes part of their process. I’m not sure we can do the same thing for you. Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions, or would you be willing to meet over a cup of coffee?”

A Fantastic Opening is the Basis for Powerful Sales Calls

Remember, when opening a sales call, sales professionals have got to be able to speak with impact and credibility. Look at it this way. You put in plenty of work to research your prospect and break that 7-second barrier to form a good impression. Don’t waste it with a lukewarm effort to break through their preoccupation, elicit their interest, or use the time in a fishing expedition. Instead, know how you are going to work with this prospect to cultivate their interest and build your credibility. Your goal is to reach the point where they want to know more when you reach the trial close.

So, I leave you with this action to take. Before talking with your next prospect, create your own sales impact statement by answering this question: what can I say about my business that answers what I do, how I do it, and why it would be important to them?

Once you have learned how to create and use the sales impact statement, you must present it in a compelling way before you are on your way to successful sales. Be sure to download our digital publication, Persuasive Sales Presentations here and give yourself a tactical advantage when opening your sales call.

Sales reps are still being taught old school tactics that don’t work in today’s digital business environment. In a previous post, I reviewed how the much maligned cold call has become ineffective because of the outdated practices still being used to execute them.

The same can be said for opening a sales call. If you want to to be effective when opening a sales call, you need to drop the old-school behaviors that some organizations are still teaching.  Here are two examples of behaviors you need to stop right now when opening a sales call.

When Opening a Sales Call, Don’t Read Your Script

One morning recently, I received a call from someone offering a free executive report as a “reward” for subscribing to an online publication. I can appreciate what these sales reps are doing. However, if you’re targeting executives, your communication style needs to be executive-like.

I was in the middle of a task when my phone rang. Like most people in business, I didn’t want to stop what I was doing. So, I looked at my smartphone and made a decision based on the caller ID.

Usually, when the caller ID is “unknown” I do what most business people do and let the call go to voicemail. However, I was curious this time. So I answered, half expecting the call to be a marketing robocall that I could easily drop.

Instead, I got  “Bobbi”. She opened her call with, “Hi my name is “Bobbi and I’m with High Tech Magazine. May I speak with Lance?”

Now, I typically answer the phone by stating my name, “Lance Tyson”, and today was no different.  So when somebody responds with , “Hello, Lance?” or, “Lance?” my perception is, “OK. They have poor cell phone reception” or “They are re-affirming my name because I didn’t speak plainly enough.”

But when they begin with a “Hello this is Bobbi from High Tech Magazines, Inc. May I please speak with Lance?” after I just said, “Hello, Lance Tyson” it says to me that they are reading from a script.

When opening a sales call, perception is everything. If you sell over the phone, especially in a B2B environment, drop the script. Stay focused on the conversation and respond to your contact accordingly. Stay present and aware. Managers and executives have no time for sales reps who are mentally unavailable.

When Opening a Sales Call, Respect Their Schedule

After Bobbi opened her sales call with her less-than-stellar attention-getter, she proceeded to read the rest of her script. She outlined the benefits of this report and how it was going to reveal secrets about the sales industry. But, before she could send it to me, she needed to confirm some information.

Remember, I’m preoccupied with my own tasks. So,  I tell her that I’m currently in the middle of a meeting.

Now, here’s a question for you readers out there: How many of you are in the middle of a couple of tasks when you get an unsolicited phone call?

As I’ve said in many of my training sessions, no one is sitting at their desk waiting for a salesperson to call them. Your prospects are always preoccupied with something at any given time.

After I tell her that I’m in a meeting, she paused, and then said, “I apologize for the interruption. I just need to verify a few pieces of information”. She did not say, “I apologize, is there a better time to talk” or “I’ll call back at a more opportune time.” She sent the unspoken message, “I’m sorry, but this is more important. So drop what you’re doing and give me your information.”

If your contact says that they don’t have time right now or they are in a meeting, don’t double-down on your request. Use the few seconds you do have with them to set up a future meeting.

Remember, perception is key. How you respond to your prospect’s statement of “I don’t have time right now” goes beyond simply getting the calls in to make a quota. It reveals to your contacts how you view them: either as a number on a spreadsheet or a valued professional.

Two Things Your Prospects are Short on – Attention and Time

Today, business people are being pulled in multiple directions. The attention span of the people you are contacting is limited, fractured, and split amongst 5 to 7 different projects. And your call is just one more item thrown into the mix, adding to their mental burden and their frustration.

Now, I realize that sales reps have more channels like LinkedIn to communicate with their prospects in addition to picking up the phone and making a call. However, if your prospect is so busy that they can’t respond at that moment, then the issue is less about the media used and more about you doing a better job of breaking their preoccupation and getting their attention.

You won’t break their preoccupation by reading a phone script. And you certainly won’t win their respect by disrespecting their time.

In review, when someone says that they don’t have the time to talk at that moment, schedule time in the future with them and move on to your next prospect. But before you move on, perform a quick review of the call. Determine how you failed to break the prospect’s preoccupation and win their attention. Now, you’ve set yourself up for the next prospect on your list. And you have the high ground when you call your busy prospect back.

Do You Want More Powerful Ideas on Opening a Sales Call?

Because the two are so similar, many of the ideas we use when opening a sales presentation are similar to those in opening a sales call. For additional ideas on getting your audience’s attention, from a single prospect to a room full of decision makers, download our digital publication, Persuasive Sales Presentations, here.

Your Prospect is Getting Advice on Their Buying Process That May Not Help You
Four days later I was back in Columbus, having lunch with a member of my team, Lauren. “Hey,” I said to her. “I have to run over to the mall after lunch. Do you have some time to go over there with me, so I don’t have to drop you off at the office first and then come back?”

Lauren nodded. “No, it’s right here. Let’s go. What are you getting?”

“I’m looking at a pair of sneakers.”

“Oh, okay. Cool. What are you thinking?”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m thinking of white Adidas AlphaBounce.”

She looked at me with astonishment. “White? Really? You?”

It was a conspiracy! It had to be!

After some cajoling, she agreed to accompany me and we went to the mall, looking for my soon-to-be new kicks.

As I was looking at the white AlphaBounces, the salesman approached. After introductions and pleasantries (no, I didn’t let him get away with an opening like ‘can I help you’), he started asking questions.

“What size are you?”

“I’m a 9 ½ or 10,” I replied. “Can you bring them both out in white?”

He disappeared into the back. Meanwhile, Lauren picked up a pair of smoke-gray AlphaBounces and said, “You might want to look at these. I’ve just been around you long enough to know you won’t keep them clean.”

So, when the salesman returned, with my self-esteem waning, I said, “All right, let me look at the grey ones, too.”

At this point I was putting on the white ones and asking myself a series of questions: Do I want the white ones more now because two people told me not to get white? Or are they right and I should take their advice? But what if they’re wrong? Should I follow my instincts?

Using Questions in The Sales Process to Direct the Attention of Your Prospect
So, I tried the 10, then I slipped on the 9 ½.

“Well, what do you think?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know if I should get the 9 ½ or the 10.”

“You should get the 10,” he said, “because when you work out, your feet will swell a little bit and they’ll expand.”

“No, no, no,” I said from behind a grin. “These aren’t for workouts.”

We were connected at that point and he knew exactly what I wanted to achieve. He evaluated my needs based on a few questions. Now came the time for the diagnosis.

He smiled. “Oooooohhhh.  They are *those* sneakers. Then you definitely need to get the 9 ½! You just want to be able to slip those bad boys on, right? Not worrying about them slipping off or tying them up tight. Just wear them nice and loose.”

“Right,” I said. I paused for a moment, thinking back on my team’s past suggestions. Then I asked, “What color would you get?”

“Meh… the white ones are gonna get dirty, a lot dirtier than the gray ones, and quicker unless you’re super-careful. I’d get the gray ones. They give you the same effect and they don’t need cleaning as often.”

Sales Process Debrief – What Went Well in This Example
Let’s review what transpired. In this scenario, I may have purchased something in an unsolicited buy. But I still asked myself several sets of questions:

This post on the sales process was originally published on Aug 28, 2017 and updated on Aug 7, 2019.

Here’s a question you need to ask yourself about your sales process: If my salespeople could get in front of more qualified buyers, how much more could they sell?

In all of  my training sessions and sales activity over the years, here’s something I’ve noticed:

When it comes to training their salespeople, most companies are product and service heavy, but sales process poor. If you look at the typical training programs a company puts its people through, you’ll see a lot of attention given to product and service education, product positioning, etc. A lot less attention is given to the actual sales process, which involves organization skills, communication skills, and prospecting techniques, to name a few.

Compounding the problem in B2B sales is the fact that the whole sales  process has become heavy with contact information.

For example, I once trained two different groups of Senior Account Executives back to back. The first was at the San Francisco 49ers. The second was at the Sacramento Kings.  In both instances, we performed an audit to discover where these groups struggled to meet their sales objectives.

Based on their responses, these reps were suffering from what I call “paralysis by analysis”.  Six out of seven, or a whopping 86%, felt overwhelmed by the amount of information available on their high value contacts.

2 Questions Salespeople Ask the Most About the Start of the Sales Process

As we investigated further, the question I heard most from sales reps had to do with determining what information is most important.  Their second biggest question dealt with finding the best tactic for an initial introduction.  Members of both sales teams estimated they were spending about 35% of their time sorting through information on prospective accounts. That’s one third of their working day not selling.

In other words, Google and Linkedin had become an information trap for these reps!

The success of your salespeople stems from how they use their time.  Now, our 35% estimate is a conservative estimate. And the salespeople in my unscientific survey are senior level account executives.  This means we’re looking at a generation of salespeople that build their confidence through acquiring more information.  They’re looking for an information based “magic bullet” that will give them a competitive advantage. They continue to research prospects because they feel it’s a critical element of their success.

Now don’t get me wrong. Sales research is vital and you’ll hear me talk  consistently about salespeople needing to do their homework on their prospects and their prospect’s industries to give them the foundation for a strong opening. In fact, most sales managers I talk with recognize that sales research is not busy work.

But at what point does this research stop adding value?

Remember, we hire sales people for profitable action.  We acknowledge the hard work, but we worship sales execution.

Identifying Important Information

Let’s take a look at those two questions asked by the two sales teams. The first deals with identifying important information.

Here are some sobering facts:

1. According to Hubspot, B2B data decays at a rate of 2.1% per month, an annualized rate of 22.5% (Hubspot, Data Decay)
2. According to Hubspot’s latest inbound report, 57% of sales reps spend up to an hour a day on data entry (Hubspot’s State of Inbound).

So from this, we see our salespeople have solved the data decay problem by spending more time updating it!

However, the key to their sales success is efficient use of their time. This means they need to determine the minimum amount of pre-approach information needed for a new opportunity. Then, they can use that information to create their initial introduction.

Creating The Initial Introduction in Your Sales Process

The second question deals with creating the initial introduction.

The following observations are what we found from our experience in contacting high level decision makers during our time running a call center.

Based on roughly 2,000 outbound dials a day made by our call center team:

1. We found our team members lost momentum at 2 different times during calls to high value contacts:
2. In the first 7 seconds. This was when they needed to win the prospect’s attention and failed to do so.
3. At the 20 second mark. This was when they should have had the prospect’s interest and they lost it.
4. When they were on the phone between 45 and 65 seconds with a contact, their success rate was about 40%.
5. On average, they made about 112 dials to win a meeting for a client’s project.
6. During a contact campaign, they made about 8 “touches” to a specific contact to get a meeting. These touches involved several media types including (in no specific order):
7. Social Media
8. Email
9. Phone calls
10. Voicemails
11. text messaging
12. In a B2B sales environment, they also focused on multiple contacts in each account:
13. Our team discovered 2 to 3 important “influencers” in each potential account.
14. The inside salesperson typically identified the decision maker during the sales call.

Opportunities for Improving the Sales Process

Here are my observation. The initial stage of the sales process has become cumbersome and labor intensive. In our call center work and in our training sessions, we have identified three areas of improvement during the initial phase of the sales process:

1. Identifying relevant data
2. Streamlining the sales process
3. Developing our sales talent

Now, as I said before, obtaining the right data is important. However, I think all of us, sales managers included, are focusing too much on collecting the “right data.” As sales leaders, we need to give more attention to creating an effective sales process and developing the right sales talent.

Remember, technology can be our greatest ally or our worst enemy. It has made data prolific, and finding relevant data a problem. It has provided us with numerous communication channels to use, while creating disorganization and numerous distractions. Technology is a great tool for getting insights out of data and communicating at an unprecedented level. However, we can’t rely solely on technology at the expense of the sales process or to replace the skills and abilities of our sales team. We have to use our tech wisely and enhance our people and processes.

Over the next few posts, we’ll focus our attention on what it takes to make the sales opening more engaging and effective.

Should be an exciting ride.

Until then, good selling!

Oh, and one more thing. You can find additional ideas on opening the sales call in Selling is an Away Game, available online at Amazon, fine bookstores, and many Hudson News locations. Get your copy today.

When putting together a sales presentation, there are certain guidelines you’ll need if you’re creating a first class performance. And make no mistake. You aren’t just educating your prospect, you’re performing for them. Your presentation has to have style, panache, and showmanship.

So when putting together your presentation, it’s best to start at the beginning.

Sales Presentation Tip 1: Know Your Audience

You’re going to have to do some research here. In many ways, the public speaker and the salesperson are alike. When you’re in front of your group, what you present has to be what they are ready to hear.

I once sat in on a technical conference dealing with CRMs. One of the speakers delivered a very technical presentation, complete with a whole lot of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms). His presentation came across as dull and boring. In hindsight, there were many reasons his presentation failed to engage the audience. But the speaker’s biggest challenge was that he created his presentation for the implementers. And his audience was a group of engineering managers. The ideas may have been important, but they didn’t address the managers’ needs.

The next speaker, Joshua, didn’t make the same mistake. He was engaging and bantered with his audience. But most importantly, Joshua talked about the technology in terms of what the managers wanted and needed. He did not talk about what he wanted them to hear.

When you speak to a group, especially if you are making a sales presentation, gather extensive intelligence about your audience. Then, like Joshua in the previous example, tailor your presentation to your audience.

Know Your Audience and Talk About Their Interests

Knowing your audience is an excellent place to start in your presentation. To get your audience’s attention, you have to talk about the things that interests them. Then, you must deliver that material the way they want to hear it. But before you can reach that point, you have to know your audience.

The material you present to a group of end-users won’t be the same material you present to a group who manages them.

If you are speaking to entertain, you don’t want to stand in front of a group that is expecting an educational session. When speaking to a group of manufacturing workers, you don’t want to talk about management issues.

If you want to get the attention of your audience and keep it, you have to talk about what’s interesting to them. Do your research. Determine what type of audience you will be speaking to and tailor your presentation accordingly.

Remember, you open a presentation the same way you open a sales call. Use the following sales affinity rule:

Get your prospect’s attention by talking briefly about things in which they are interested.

You’ll find other ideas for creating your sales presentation in our playbook, Persuasive Sales Presentations, available for download here.