Category: Other

In the modern business landscape, sales leaders and teams confront numerous challenges, including adapting to market shifts, managing diverse and remote sales forces, and integrating advanced technologies into their sales processes. The escalating competition and heightened customer expectations further amplify these challenges.

An eye-opening statistic from the 2021 Sales Enablement Report by CSO Insights reveals that only 43% of sales representatives meet or exceed their quotas, underscoring the urgency for a systematic, science-based revamp of sales strategies and operations. This is where Sales Team Science™ comes in, offering a holistic solution to the myriad of challenges faced by sales organizations, focusing on the 7 elements of high-performance sales teams: Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Sales Process, Sales Methodology, Sales Enablement, Sales Effectiveness, and Talent Solutions.

1.     Sales Leadership: At the core of any sales organization is leadership. It’s not just about setting goals; it’s about creating a culture of excellence. Effective sales leadership, as indicated by Gartner, can enhance sales performance by up to 20%. This involves not only setting a vision but also embodying the values and behaviors that define a successful sales culture. Leadership in sales is about inspiring and motivating the team, setting clear and achievable goals, and leading by example.

2.     Sales Management: The role of sales managers is pivotal in driving the sales process and team performance. This includes comprehensive goal setting, efficient lead management, accurate performance tracking, and effective team motivation. Managers are the linchpins in translating strategy into action. They need to be adept at identifying team strengths and weaknesses, providing constructive feedback, and fostering an environment conducive to growth and success.

3.     Sales Process: Aligning your sales process with customer needs is fundamental. This involves a thorough examination of your sales strategy, methodology, training, and execution. The goal is to refine the sales approach to better meet market demands and customer expectations. A well-structured sales process is essential for efficiency, consistency, and achieving desired outcomes.

4.     Sales Methodology: This is about the specific approach to selling. It encompasses sales techniques, tools, value proposition, understanding customer personas, and competitive positioning. The aim is to develop unique strategies that differentiate your sales in the marketplace. A strong sales methodology is the foundation of effective selling, guiding sales teams in navigating complex sales scenarios and customer interactions.

5.     Sales Enablement: In today’s digital age, sales enablement is more critical than ever. According to Forrester, well-implemented sales enablement strategies can lead to a 66% increase in team performance. This involves assessing and providing the right sales tools and technology to ensure your team is adequately equipped for success. Sales enablement is about empowering salespeople with the necessary resources, information, and training to engage effectively with customers.

6. Sales Effectiveness: Sales effectiveness is fundamentally about honing and leveraging the core competencies of your sales team, particularly focusing on skills like persuasion and influence. It’s vital to evaluate and continuously develop these competencies, as they are key drivers in closing deals and building strong customer relationships. This involves comprehensive training and development programs, practical coaching sessions, and regular performance evaluations. By strengthening these essential skills, sales professionals are better equipped to understand customer needs, effectively communicate value propositions, handle objections, and ultimately guide the customer journey towards successful outcomes. Enhancing these competencies leads to more effective engagements with prospects and customers, resulting in improved sales performance and customer satisfaction.

7.     Talent Solutions: The strength of any sales organization lies in its people. This aspect focuses on strategies for recruiting, training, and retaining top sales talent. In today’s competitive sales landscape, having a skilled and motivated sales team is crucial for success. It’s about building a team that’s not only talented but also aligned with the company’s values and goals.

Sales Team Science™ is a paradigm shift in sales operations, transforming every aspect to lead the way in the challenging sales landscape. By partnering with Tyson Group, your sales team is positioned to increase productivity, lower sales cycle time, and increase close rates.

Intuitive Sales Wisdom Regarding Credibility

Here’s a bit of insight I stumbled upon about credibility while doing a half day training with one of our regional sports franchise sales teams.

During the the session, I realized these guys were intently focused on their service. And I needed them to move away from using that as a sales crutch to try something new. So, I started asking a series of questions regarding how salespeople open calls.

I said, “Do you think it’s possible for a salesperson with great credibility and trust to sell a mediocre product that has no reputation?”

The group answered yes.

Then I asked “Can a salesperson with great credibility and trust sell a good product with a good reputation?”

This time there was a quick and resounding Yes!

I then asked, “Do you think it’s possible for a salesperson with no credibility to sell a solid, brand name product with a good reputation?”

There was a pause and some quick deliberation around the room. Then, the group answered no.

“Hmmm… why not?”

After some discussion, the group came to the conclusion that a prospect wouldn’t trust a salesperson with no credibility. The prospect couldn’t trust the salesperson to do the right thing by them and that the salesperson was possibly only looking out for themselves.

I didn’t even go for the fourth scenario. I didn’t have to.

Sell Yourself and Establish Your Own Credibility First

Then I said, “So, a salesperson with credibility can sell a well known product, or even a mediocre, unknown product. And a salesperson with no credibility will have trouble selling even well known products. So, what should you sell at the opening of a sales call?”

The answer was obvious. Intellectually, everyone knew it where this was going. However, for some salespeople in the room, it was an emotional “OMG!” moment.

If you want to move the sale forward, then sell yourself first. You won’t do that by talking about your company, your great services, or the rich feature set in your products.

You sell yourself by spending the only currency that matters—your time. Spend time researching your prospect’s business. Spend time understanding their business practices and their problems. Then, wrap all of that up in an Impact Statement. Now < when you open the sales call, you can show that you’ve made an investment in the relationship with the prospect. That puts the ball is squarely in their court.

When you go on a sales call and start working with your prospect or client, remember, you own the relationship. So start acting like it.

Own the sales call. Sell yourself first.

Good Selling!

Need more ideas on enhancing your opening? Treat it like a presentation. Get your copy of Persuasive Sales Presentations.

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, mastering the art of Social Selling has become imperative for sales leaders. Tyson Group, a leader in sales training and consulting, brings you an in-depth exploration of Social Selling, a technique that harnesses the power of social media to revolutionize sales methodologies. This blog post is dedicated to unpacking the essence of Social Selling, highlighting its substantial advantages, and providing you with actionable tips to implement this strategy effectively. Prepare to embark on a journey that will not only enhance your understanding of Social Selling but also transform your approach to sales in this interconnected world.

What is Social Selling?

Social Selling transcends traditional sales tactics by integrating social media into the heart of sales strategy. This approach involves using platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to research, connect, and interact with prospects. The key lies in building digital relationships and offering value before ever pitching a product or service. It’s a strategic shift from cold calling to warm engaging, focusing on establishing credibility and trust through online interactions.

Social Selling is also about personal branding. A salesperson’s online presence speaks volumes about their expertise and the values they represent. By sharing relevant content, commenting on industry trends, and being an active member of online communities, sales professionals position themselves as knowledgeable and approachable resources in their field.

Advantages of Social Selling

1. Deepened Relationships and Trust: The cornerstone of Social Selling is relationship-building. By engaging in meaningful dialogues with prospects, sales professionals foster a sense of trust and familiarity, which is pivotal in today’s sales environment. As per a study by CSO Insights, salespeople who excel in Social Selling are 51% more likely to meet their quotas.

2. Enhanced Lead Generation and Sales Pipeline: Platforms like LinkedIn provide unparalleled access to potential clients. By strategically engaging with these prospects, sales professionals can generate higher quality leads. A recent study found that teams that excel in Social Selling experience a 45% increase in sales opportunities.

3. Improved Visibility and Brand Recognition: Consistent engagement on social platforms elevates brand presence. It allows companies to showcase their expertise, share their corporate culture, and humanize their brand, making it more relatable and trustworthy.

4. Data-Driven Insights for Targeted Approach: Social media platforms offer a wealth of data that can be leveraged to understand customer needs and preferences, allowing for a more tailored and effective sales approach.

Practical Tips for Implementing Social Selling

1. Profile Optimization for Maximum Impact: Your social media profile is often the first impression. Make it count by ensuring it is professionally crafted, reflects your brand, and highlights your expertise.

2. Content is King: Share content that adds value – industry insights, thought leadership articles, and company news. This not only enhances your credibility but also keeps your audience engaged.

3. Active Engagement is Crucial: Regularly interact with your network. Comment on posts, share your perspectives, and be a part of conversations. This helps in building a rapport with your prospects.

4. Leverage Advanced Tools: Utilize tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator or Twitter lists to track potential leads and engage with them more effectively. These tools offer advanced features to refine your search and keep tabs on key conversations.

5. Analytics to Guide Your Strategy: Use the analytics provided by social platforms to understand what works. Track engagement rates, click-throughs, and the growth of your network to fine-tune your strategy.

Embracing Social Selling is not just about staying relevant; it’s about taking your sales strategy to the next level. In this connected world, the ability to effectively use social platforms for sales is a crucial skill. Tyson Group is dedicated to empowering sales leaders with the knowledge and tools to succeed in Social Selling. By integrating these practices into your sales process, you can build stronger relationships, generate more leads, and close more deals.

The digital landscape is your new sales frontier; navigate it with the prowess of Social Selling.

In an industry as pivotal and dynamic as healthcare, the role of a sales leader transcends mere transactions. It’s about forging connections, understanding complex needs, and navigating an ever-evolving landscape with finesse and expertise. At Tyson Group, we’re not just aware of these unique challenges; we’re here to help you master them.

In this post, we delve deep into the realities of healthcare sales—a world where rapid innovation, stringent regulations, and high-stakes decisions are the norm. We’re talking about more than just strategies; we’re exploring transformative tactics that redefine how sales in healthcare are approached and executed.

The healthcare industry, marked by rapid innovation and regulatory shifts, poses unique challenges for sales leaders. Balancing cost-effectiveness with quality assurance in sales dialogues is a tightrope walk. The saturated market not only fuels competition but also demands a nuanced understanding of healthcare nuances and client expectations.

Effective Sales Strategies for Healthcare Leaders

In this ever-evolving landscape, adaptation is key. Sales leaders must be agile, embracing industry shifts and technological advancements. Implementing technology, like CRM systems and digital communication platforms, can streamline sales processes and enhance client engagement. Trust and credibility form the backbone of healthcare sales, necessitating a strategy that emphasizes these values in every client interaction.

Communication Excellence in Healthcare Sales

Sales success in healthcare hinges on communication. Understanding the language and priorities of healthcare professionals is essential. Sales pitches need to resonate with the specific needs and concerns of healthcare stakeholders. Active listening and empathetic communication go a long way in establishing meaningful relationships.

Navigating Regulatory Compliance and Ethical Considerations

Healthcare sales are laden with regulatory landscapes that are constantly evolving. Staying abreast of these changes is not just a legal mandate but a trust-building measure. Ethical selling practices should be at the forefront, ensuring that every sales decision aligns with industry norms and moral principles.

Leveraging Data and Analytics in Sales Decisions

Data-driven strategies can revolutionize healthcare sales. Utilizing analytics helps in understanding market trends, customer needs, and potential sales opportunities. Predictive analytics, in particular, can be a game-changer in identifying new avenues for growth and client engagement.

Building and Retaining a High-Performing Sales Team

The foundation of any successful sales operation is its team. Recruiting individuals with the right blend of skill and industry knowledge is crucial. However, the journey doesn’t end there. Continuous training, skill development, and a culture that values learning and growth are vital in retaining top talent and ensuring consistent sales success.

Navigating the complex world of healthcare sales requires a blend of industry knowledge, ethical practices, effective communication, and data-driven strategies. At Tyson Group, we understand these challenges and offer tailored solutions to empower sales leaders in the healthcare industry.

Embrace these strategies, innovate, and watch your sales team achieve new heights of success.

Get Your Buyer’s Attention by Using the Sales Impact Statement

The impact statement is a tool we recommend our clients use early in the sales process to get a prospect’s attention and to establish credibility.

We recommend that you establish credibility by talking with your prospect or customer about things that of interest to them. But you won’t establish credibility with your prospect by talking about items you find in their office. While commenting on pictures or artifacts found in a prospect’s office was a popular tactic back in the 50’s and 60’s, they won’t give you much traction in today’s business environment.

In today’s environment, we establish credibility by talking about issues relevant to the buyer or prospect. These issues should reflect what similar buyers have enjoyed by using our solutions. The sales impact statement helps us establish ourselves as a problem-solver and shows that we create value and return on investment for our clients.

Here’s a brief outline of the sales impact statement:

• Provide general benefits your company has provided other organizations as they relate to your current buyer’s needs.
• Give a brief overview of how your company provides these benefits
• Suggest that similar benefits are possible.
• Secure a meeting or advance the sale.

Ideas for Using the Sales Impact Statement

As with any sales tool, there are plenty of opportunities on using impact statement to advance your prospect to the next stage in your sales process. Here are some basic ideas on customizing and using your sales impact statements:

• You don’t sell in the impact statement. Instead, focus on the buyer’s issues.
• Include relevant pre-approach research information in your sale impact statement.
• Talk about specific results, especially the return on investment, including money and time.
• Use positive language focused on what they will get, and less on what they will avoid.
• Use bullet points strategically.
• Keep it brief, usually a minute or less.
• Remember that there are legal restrictions on unsolicited faxes and emails. Use common business sense.

Before you open your next sales call or send your next pre-approach sales email, take time to create and review your impact statement while keeping within the general sales philosophy, “try to honestly see things from the prospect’s point of view.”

You’ll find opening your sales call a lot easier.

When I had my call center, I remember fielding a question from a member of my inside sales team after she finished a call. She said, “I just got off the phone with a guy who said he didn’t have time to talk because he was in a meeting. That just doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, why would you pick up the phone if you were in a meeting?

Now, this situation was new to her and will probably be a new situation for any freshman sales rep. But I have seen situations where managers and directors were conducting one-on-one consultations or were leading a small group meeting and they stopped what they were doing to take a phone call. Why would a decision maker stop their meeting to take a call only to tell the caller “I don’t have time to talk”?

Why Your Prospects Won’t Take Your Call

The obvious reason why your prospects won’t take your call is that they don’t want to talk to you. It’s a cover to politely hang up. As a sales rep, you have considerable control over these situations by how you set up your call prior to making it.

But what about the not-so-obvious reasons? Why would a decision maker pick up the phone when they don’t have time to talk?

Customer service managers do this all the time. Managers in post-sales support and service live in a reactive world. They expect their people to send unmanageable and irate customers their way. Or when the company’s top customer has an emergency, they need to respond in the moment and manage the situation. They need to put aside what they are currently doing to deal with the customer crisis at hand.

Then there’s the manager or supervisor who is conducting a one-on-one coaching session with a member of their team but is expecting a call from his or her spouse regarding a family emergency. They will pick up the phone for that update, regardless of what they are doing in the moment.

These are just two examples. There are many more situations where a manager will pick up the phone even if they are engaged in an important activity.

So imagine how this manager or department head feels when they are in a meeting and expecting an irate customer, or bad news on a family member in a hospital, and instead they get you, a sales rep. And the only reason for your call is to talk about your product, your service, your company, or what you want.

Sales Tip: See The World From The Prospect’s Perspective

Here’s a sales tip to consider when you’re making those initial calls:

If you can see the world from your prospect’s perspective, you will be in a better position to respond to their reactions when you interrupt their day.

I’ve done all types of real-time phone coaching with a variety of inside sales groups. Getting the gatekeeper to put a decision maker on the line is easy.

Listening to the decision maker chew you out for a useless interruption with no value is a lot harder. In my training sessions, on social media, and in consultations, I’ve had sales reps ask questions like, “How do I get past the gatekeeper?”

Or “How do I get the president of the company on the phone?” Instead of asking these common questions, asking the following two questions will have a bigger impact on your perspective and your call results:

• Why am I calling this person?
• Am I flexible enough to see the world from the prospect’s perspective?

The tactics and strategies that we review in our training programs and coaching sessions are extremely effective. However, nothing can compensate for the lack of a legitimate reason for the call in the first place.

When you are calling your customers and prospects, always know why you are calling. See the world from the prospect’s perspective. And if you catch them in a meeting, they probably picked up the phone expecting the worst. Apologize for the intrusion, reschedule, and leave them something to smile about before sending them back to their meeting.

Remember sales is an away game. It takes place in the mind of the prospect. Always leave your prospect or customer with something of value and you’ll be advantageously positioned for your next encounter with them.

Good Selling!

Here is the question beginning sales reps ask a lot during my sales training sessions’ left 25 voicemail messages and sent several emails. How do I get a response from my prospect?

After mulling over the question, I have a few questions of my own:

Are you trying to connect with the right person?

Is the product/service you are offering a good match for what the company does?

Are your sales processes and techniques a match for their environment?

I understand that these are more questions, but if you are expending that much effort without so much as a peep from your contact, I’d say either they have left that place of business or they don’t see a reason to talk with you.

3 Keys to Leaving Effective Voicemail Messages

Before you start working on your voicemail techniques to get a response from your prospect, consider the following:

Determine if he or she is the right person to contact. Some sales reps get caught up engaging contacts that have no authority to buy. It makes them feel productive. However, some reps go in the other direction and waste time trying to contact people that are too high on the organizational chart to care. You won’t get far with either one.

Insure that your product or service is a match for their environment. Sometimes as salespeople, we buy into the myth that “everyone needs what we have to sell” and we happily go from door to door or from phone number to phone number singing our praises to everyone that will listen. Do some research on your market and understand the impact your product or service can have in the companies that you are selling into. If the prospect doesn’t see a match, they won’t want to be bothered with you. Forget about the “if they will only spend a few minutes with me I can show them how this will benefit them” argument. There must be a legitimate match for your offer and their environment.

Match your process and techniques to theirs. While I think it’s always good to develop relationships, using a consultative selling process for transactional sales won’t be an effective selling strategy. Neither will using transactional selling methods to sell the executive team capital equipment. Use the right tools to get the job done. Don’t throw techniques at a challenge haphazardly, hoping something will work.

So, You Have the Right Contact, the Right Offer, and You Still Aren’t Getting a Response. Let’s say you are contacting the right person and you know your product or service is a good fit for what they are doing. If you are still striking out after leaving 10 voicemail messages, then it’s time to start looking at the details of your technique.

Here’s an easy layup for you. If you called your contact 10 times and left the same the same message repeatedly, then you haven’t left 10 voicemail messages. You’ve made one call 10 times. That will only annoy your contact.

Researching the industry and knowing something about your prospect, their environment, and what they want is crucial to increasing your odds of creating a favorable impression with your voicemail message. Information is key. Once you have credible information on your prospect, you can create messages that will get their attention.

In training sessions, I’ve seen sales reps create unique and unusual messages that grabbed a client’s attention and yielded a response. I’ve seen sales reps use the curiosity approach effectively and get responses. I’ve even seen sales reps inject humor into their message to get gain attention.

The key in all effective approaches is to know something relevant about your prospect and to tailor the message to what they want.

An Example of a Voicemail Message That Won’t Yield a Response. Now, if you are leaving voicemail messages like the following, I can guarantee you won’t get a response:

“Hi, my name is Bill from ABC company. Call me at 408-255-1212. I have some ideas I’d like to run by you. When would be a good time to connect?”

There’s no reason for the prospect to listen past the first few seconds. This does nothing for grabbing the prospect’s attention and there is no compelling reason for the prospect to return your call. As I say in my training sessions, “Your name is not an attention-getter. It means nothing to them unless you’ve established a meaning with them. Don’t lead off with it.”

On the other hand, a voicemail message like the following does a better job of getting a prospect’s attention:

“Bob, 20% of car dealerships won’t weather the current economic downturn. Yet, two of our clients have taken steps in the last month that will put them in the top 10% of national producers. I’ll call you on Thursday to discuss what they did and see if this will work for you. Bob, ABC Company, 408-555-1212.”

Here, I’ve created curiosity through statistics and a little drama that is tied to their current business model. At the very least, they will be expecting my call, if they don’t call me first.

Again, I emphasize that you need to know something about your prospect and what they want. Calling blindly and leaving generic messages about irrelevant products and services won’t work in the today’s business environment.

Don’t Limit Yourself to Just One Contact

Last point on strategy. When calling into a company, contact multiple people in that company. Build yourself a strategic contact infrastructure so that you can bounce back from minor setbacks, such as a two-week long vacation or a month-long sabbatical.

I can’t tell you how many times I was working with a prospect where everything was proceeding as planned. Suddenly, all correspondence with my prospect ceased with no explanation. After 10 to 12 useless voicemail messages, a call to the gatekeeper revealed that my contact had suffered some debilitating health ailment with no timetable for their return.

So, if you find yourself leaving a string of voicemail messages to your contact and you aren’t getting a response:

• make sure that you are calling the right person,
• make sure your offer is right for the company,
• and know something about what they do and their needs.

Oh, and as an extra bonus, make sure you have multiple contacts within the company to insure that somebody is home.

The financial realm is not for the faint-hearted. A dynamic blend of traditional tenets and modern disruptions, it presents a gauntlet of challenges that sales leaders must deftly navigate. As stakes run high and margins for error slim down, there’s a pressing need for a guide tailored to this intricate landscape.

If this echoes your sentiments as a sales leader in the financial sector, you’re not alone. Leveraging Tyson Group’s unparalleled expertise in sales training and consulting, we shed light on the pressing pain points of the industry, offering strategic pathways to overcome them.

1. Adapting to Regulatory Tides

A tide that’s constantly in flux, financial regulations demand unwavering vigilance. Keeping abreast and ensuring adherence becomes paramount.

Solution: Establish regular training intervals. Make compliance an ingrained part of your sales culture, where being updated isn’t an option but a norm. This proactive approach not only safeguards against missteps but also instills client confidence.

2. Cultivating a Trust-First Approach

In the world of finance, trust is currency. The intangibility of products makes building and nurturing this trust essential.

Solution: Champion transparency and authenticity. Equip your sales team to be clear communicators, always underscoring the ethos of putting client needs first. When trust is the foundation, client relationships flourish.

3. Dispelling Digital Myths

The digital age, while a boon, is also a breeding ground for misconceptions. Clients often come armed with half-baked information, posing a challenge for sales reps.

Solution: Be educators as much as salespeople. Ensure your team is trained to address misconceptions head-on, offering clarity and fostering informed decision-making.

4. Carving a Distinct Niche

In the sea of financial offerings, differentiation becomes key. How do you ensure your product or service doesn’t just become another face in the crowd?

Solution: Adopt a solution-centric approach. Train your team to delve deep into client needs, positioning your offerings as not just products, but tailor-made solutions that address specific pain points.

5. Embracing the Digital Shift

With finance going digital at a breakneck speed, adapting without losing the personal touch becomes a tightrope walk.

Solution: Marry technology with personalization. While adopting tools that enhance efficiency, emphasize the importance of maintaining human connections, ensuring clients feel valued, not just processed.

6. Making the Intangible Real

Selling something intangible like financial products requires a shift in approach, from mere explanation to evocative storytelling.

Solution: Foster a culture of narrative-driven selling. Encourage your team to weave compelling stories that make abstract financial concepts tangible, relatable, and enticing.

On the challenging battleground of the financial sector, sales leaders are the generals strategizing for victory. While the challenges are formidable, they’re not insurmountable, especially with the right insights and strategies at one’s disposal.

Tyson Group stands at the nexus of sales challenges and innovative solutions, especially curated for the financial industry. Our award-winning training and consulting paradigm ensures that sales leaders are not just ready but are ahead of the curve.

Remember, in the financial world, the blend of expertise, empathy, and evolution makes the difference. Rise to the challenge, and the rewards – both tangible and intangible – will be yours for the taking.

In the high-paced world of software, sales leaders are feeling the heat. The industry’s rapid evolution, the emergence of cutting-edge technologies every other day, and the unparalleled competition are all factors that make the software business thrilling. Yet, for the leaders navigating this storm, it’s a constant battle against some daunting pain points.

If you’re a sales leader in the software realm, you’re probably nodding in agreement. Tyson Group has been on the frontline, helping sales teams increase productivity, lower sales cycle times, and increase close rates. Drawing from our award-winning experience in sales training and consulting, let’s dive into these pain points and throw light on how to tackle them.

1. The Ever-Evolving Software Landscape

The software world is in a perpetual state of flux. What’s cutting-edge today may be rendered obsolete tomorrow. For sales leaders, this means constantly staying updated and ensuring their teams are not just selling a product, but selling the most current and relevant solution.

Solution: Prioritize ongoing education. Invest in regular training, webinars, and workshops. And remember, it’s not just about product knowledge; it’s about understanding industry trends, emerging technologies, and potential market shifts.

2. Understanding the Tech-Savvy Buyer

Today’s software buyer is informed, tech-savvy, and has probably seen a dozen alternatives to what you’re offering. Pitching to them isn’t about listing features anymore; it’s about delivering solutions to their unique problems.

Solution: Adopt a consultative selling approach. Dive deep into understanding the prospects’ pain points, business objectives, and tailor your pitch accordingly. Your sales team should be adept at problem-solving, not just product-pushing.

3. The Talent Conundrum

Finding, training, and retaining the right talent has always been a challenge. In the software industry, it’s even more daunting, given the complex nature of products and the need for salespeople to possess a blend of technical knowledge and soft skills.

Solution: Focus on continuous skill enhancement. Partner with training organizations (like Tyson Group) to design customized training modules. Cultivate a culture of continuous learning and offer incentives for those who take initiative in their professional growth.

4. Managing Lengthy Sales Cycles

With software, especially enterprise solutions, the sales cycle can be long and arduous. Managing stakeholder expectations, navigating procurement processes, and handling legalities can stretch the cycle, leading to frustration and dwindling morale among sales reps.

Solution: Implement a robust CRM system and streamline the sales process. Establish clear milestones and celebrate small victories along the way. Regularly communicate with your team about the bigger picture and the value of persistence.

5. Navigating Price Wars

With a plethora of software solutions available, there’s an inevitable downward pressure on prices. While it’s tempting to slash prices to win a deal, it can be detrimental in the long run.

Solution: Position your product or service based on value, not price. Ensure your sales reps can articulate this value proposition compellingly. Train them to handle price objections by focusing on ROI, long-term benefits, and the unique advantages your solution offers.

6. The Blurred Line Between Sales and Customer Success

In the software industry, the job doesn’t end with a closed deal. Customer success has become an integral part of the sales process. Sales leaders now have to ensure smooth handoffs and continued client satisfaction post-sale.

Solution: Foster strong collaboration between sales and customer success teams. Encourage open communication, share feedback, and ensure that both teams are aligned in their objectives and strategies.

In the tempestuous seas of the software industry, sales leaders face challenges that can seem insurmountable. But with the right strategies, tools, and mindset, you can not only overcome these challenges but also thrive amidst them.

Tyson Group understands the unique struggles of sales leaders in this domain. Our award-winning training and consulting solutions are crafted to address these pain points head-on, offering actionable insights and results-driven strategies.

In the end, remember this: Every challenge is an opportunity in disguise. And in the world of software sales, those who adapt, learn, and evolve are the ones who come out on top. Don’t just sell software, champion solutions.

In the last post, we explored the potential of enhancing your evaluation process by asking sales questions. In this post, we’ll take a deeper dive into using the questioning process to build increased interest in your prospects.

Previously, we used a river as an analogy to develop a questioning model. In this river analogy, one bank represented the prospect’s current situation. The opposite bank represented the desired situation. And the river represented the gap that the prospect must bridge in moving from the current situation to the desired situation.

Use Sales Questions to Identify Where Your Prospect Lives Right Now

The questions a salesperson asks need to reveal the prospect’s current reality. They’re the “what” questions. They could be anything about the prospect’s current situation, or what has happened that brought them to this situation. They’re sales questions like: “Tell me about your company. Tell me about your role. Tell me about what brought you into the store today.”

Let’s look at an example. Let’s say you are going to your favorite business tech store to buy a new router. You currently have a router that performed flawlessly when you purchased it for your business 3 years ago. But as you know, things change. Technology changes. Your environment expands. Your business grows.

Away Game Selling Book Quote

So now, you find your router is having trouble handling your current day-to-day traffic. In addition, you want to add a few more employees, but you know that’s going to increase your internet traffic and exacerbate the problem. And to add insult to injury, your current employees are already blaming the “slow internet” as for why they can’t get things done.

Now when you go out looking for routers, you may not know all of the technical options available to you. There’s technology out there that that can shape and prioritize traffic, perform compression, and increase overall efficiency and usage effectiveness. A good salesperson could figure that out and could help you realize that there’s potential for a better solution. They will help you bridge your current situation to where you want to be by asking the right sales questions.

Good Sales Questions Diagnose the Current Situation

So, in diagnosing the prospect’s current reality, some questions the salesperson might ask are:

• So, tell me about your current technology.
• If you had to choose, what are the top 3 features you like about your router?
• What are 2 shortcomings that you don’t like about your router?
• If you had to change something about your current technology, what would you change?
• What about your business environment?
• How many users do you have?
• What times do they start working?
• What kind of activity do they perform online?”

As you can see, there are a variety of sales questions here. Some are open-ended while others are closed. Some allow the prospect to answer in a long, essay-type format while others provide for a multiple choice. The types of sales questions you have in your arsenal are important and we’ll deal with those in another post. What’s important here is the fact that the salesperson uses their sales questions to build credibility, build trust, and build out the prospect’s current situation.

Good Sales Questions Highlight Where the Prospect Wants to Be

Let’s say that you want higher download speeds. Then, the salesperson would probably ask questions around identifying and achieving your desired outcome. For example:

• What are your growth plans for the next two years?
• What will your business focus be in that timeframe?
• How many employees do you plan on having in the near future?
• What activities do you envision your people doing to build your book of business?
• Do you plan on supporting your own technology inhouse or do you want to keep your people focused on your core business?
• What if there are other options that will allow you to bring more people online? Would that be a viable option for you?”

Again, you can see a variety in the forms of the sales questions. But the salesperson uses these questions to build credibility and trust to get the prospect to open up about their future goals, where they want to be. Your job, in your questioning process, is to create as clear a picture as possible of their future, desired situation that will give them what they really want.

Remember, no one buys a quarter-inch drill bit because they want a quarter-inch drill bit. They buy a quarter-inch drill bit because they want a quarter-inch hole. Your questions should identify what having the hole will give them.

Who Is the Questioning Process For?

Now here’s something to keep in mind. When we survey salespeople in our sessions and consultations, we ask this question: “Who is the questioning process for, the seller or the prospect?”

Most of the time, salespeople will say, “The questions are for me, the seller.”

Here’s the shocker – they’re not. They’re actually for the prospect. The prospect should be central to your questioning process.

Remember, sales is an away game. It takes place in the mind of the prospect. And that’s where your questioning process has to take you – into the mind of your prospect.

We’ll come back to that in a bit. But first, let’s review our model again through another example.

Acknowledging the Gap in the Questioning Process

Let’s have a look at another example. If I were selling financial services, I might start by asking for their current situation. “Tell me a little bit about what your philosophy is on how you put money away for your future. What does your nest egg look like? Is it good, bad, or ugly? What’s your philosophy? What’s your current 401(k) look like?”

Then, I’ll bridge to the desired situation, a desirable future. “Let’s look a little bit in the future. You’re thinking about retirement. What should it be? What are you looking to do? When are you looking to retire?”

I’m going to ask these questions where I increase the awareness of these gaps between the current and desired situations. I’m going to start by asking for more current situation questions, and then move to asking for the desired situation.

That space between their current situation and their desirable situation is the gap that we have to sell to. The greater the gap, the bigger the opportunity. But be forewarned. There’s a reason that the gap exists. You have to bring awareness of the gap and the obstacles that exist in that gap to your client. If there were no obstacles standing in your prospect’s way, then moving from their current situation to the desired situation would be easy and they would have achieved their desired situation already.

Bridging the Gap

So you need to use your questioning process not only to identify your prospect’s current situation and desired situation, but it also has to make your prospect aware of the gap and the obstacles that live there. Just as you examined their current situation and the desired situation, your questioning process has to bring those obstacles out of the cloudy murk in the gap and into full daylight where they can be examined, challenged, and resolved.

Going back to our financial services example, I’ll ask the prospect about some things that are standing in their way. They might say, “I’ve got to meet my bills now, I can’t put 10 percent away.”

And that gives me the opportunity for more probing questions, getting them to further clarify the obstacle or to challenge it. “Well, what’s going to ultimately happen if you don’t start doing it now?”

They might say, “I’m going to be in a scenario where I’m not where I need to be. I’m going to be racing towards the end and I might run out of time if I don’t start doing it now.”

At the end, I might say, “If I’m hearing it right, you’d be comfortable if you had a plan to ramp up how to get toward retirement. So, you’d be open to that?”

Building the Relationship Through Interaction

This questioning process is our ability to interact with the prospect. In some complex sales processes, this could be a whole meeting. This could also be several meetings or more as the prospect adds decision makers, because complex B2B processes currently have anywhere from three to four influencers, sideliners, a champion, and then, ultimately, a buyer. We might be performing this evaluation over a few engagements, or it might be during the very first connection.

In review, your questioning process needs to generate interest on your prospect’s behalf by highlighting the challenges they face. As the salesperson, you do this through your questions that:

• review their current situation
• highlight their desired situation
• and bring awareness to the obstacles in the gap between the two

Your questioning process also performs the critical function of building trust, framing issues, and shaping the mindset of the prospect. We’ll review that in the next post.

You’ll find more sales strategies for executing your sales process in Lance Tyson’s book, Selling Is An Away Game: Close Business and Compete in a Complex World available on Amazon. Get your copy today!