In the work I do helping sales people to become more effective, we focus a lot on questioning skills. Let’s assume it’s your intent to ask questions in order to uncover your customer’s needs, likes, dislikes and perspectives. Here’s a typical question that is used by many sales professionals.
“If I could show you a way to easily solve your problem, would that be of interest to you?”
Let’s look at this question and examine why it isn’t effective.
Here are just a few reasons:
- The intention behind the question is not one of curiosity about your customer’s needs; it is a leading question that is about you.
- It is a closed question and the only information you will glean is a “yes” or “no”. More importantly, it is a ‘gotcha’ question because the only logical answer is yes.
- It is a question that leads right into a pitch. As soon as the customer answers the question (yes), the next words that will come out of your mouth will be pitching words. Continue reading “Pitching Disguised As Questions”
Jim Bentley (name changed) is a well respected, seasoned sales professional with solid expertise in the financial services industry. He has long standing clients, with whom he enjoys excellent relationships. He is one of the top sales producers for his company. In spite of his sales success, he almost missed out on solidifying one of his best client relationships.
Jim participated in the Intentional Selling™ program as part of a company wide initiative. Part of the training process includes identifying limiting assumptions that might unconsciously block sales success. Jim became aware of the following limiting beliefs: Continue reading “Favourite Client Stories: How Jim’s Success Almost Got in His Way”
Questions will help you persuade more powerfully than any other selling behaviour. Yet the number one error that I consistently see sales professionals make is not asking enough questions to clarify the needs of their clients.
In my sales training and coaching, I’ve seen even seasoned sales professionals lead with their product, solution or ideas rather than leading with questions. Pitching product (showing up and “throwing up”) is hoping that if I talk about my product enough, something will stick. But it will annoy, overwhelm and cause your client to shrug and think “So what?” Whether you’re conducting sales meetings or delivering presentations, product pitching simply does not work. If you do not take the time to fully uncover the real needs of your client or audience, you are sabotaging your sales success.
Many sales people are under the misguided assumption that they do ask questions. But I have seen the most seasoned sales professionals fall short time and again. While they may start off asking a few questions, the minute they hear “a need,” they jump in with how their solutions will address the concern rather than asking more questions to get underneath the concern and to understand the impact of the problems. Continue reading “Top Sales Errors: Why Pitching Product Doesn’t Work”
In a previous post I told Jim’s story about how he self-sabotaged his sales with a client. Jim was a client of mine who was already successful in sales. He had doubts that the Intentional Selling™ program could add anything new to his sales results. But he gave it a good try anyway, with much encouragement.
He ended up gaining new respect – and new sales – from his client. Had Jim continued to work under his previous assumptions about the client’s needs, without delving deeper into the discovery process, he would have missed a big opportunity.
Anytime you operate on assumptions without adequate discovery, without exploring with the client what they really need, you can self-sabotage your sales results.
What Can You Do About Sales Sabotage?
You may think you know which assumptions you hold that creep into your thinking when it comes to selling. However, a word of caution: This is not easy to uncover and discover. Unless you devote time and effort to learn your own limiting assumptions, many of your beliefs risk remaining out of your conscious awareness, operating in the background to sabotage your best efforts.
It is difficult to discover this on your own without a structured program and process, or without a coach to help you work your way around your own self-limiting and sabotaging barriers.
Exercise: Continue reading “How to Avoid Sales Sabotage”
Sales professionals clearly understand the need for structure and process for the delivery of their products and services and yet, many of the smart sales people I talk with don’t have a clear process for selling. Having a clear sales process is very important and here’s why.
A clear sales process allows professionals to be who they are and to demonstrate their expertise during the selling process. For example, in all our sales training we incorporate a 6-step process that easily aligns the selling process with your identity as a consultant.
The 6-step sales process is a framework that guides you through the face-to-face meeting (it can also be used for ear-to-ear phone meetings). The important thing to know is that there is a clear and structured process that works to produce consistent sales results. And, when you learn to use the process, you will be seen as a true professional, demonstrating genuine care for your prospective client – and your results will skyrocket. Continue reading “Smart Sales People: A Common Mistake Even They Make”
As service professionals, one of the ways we help our clients create breakthroughs is to raise their awareness of the assumptions and beliefs that sabotage their results and limit their potential. Many times, sales people aren’t even aware of their own assumptions about selling, or about their client’s needs.
In my coaching work, this is one of the first things I address with my clients. What are you assuming to be true, without examining it in light of the current situation and/or client? Even the smartest, most brilliant sales professionals are amazed at the ways in which they actually undermine their own success.
With the Intentional Selling™ program, we begin by examining these limiting assumptions and beliefs. I ask you to take a hard look at what your underlying assumptions are and the impact on your behaviour.
If we are unaware of our limiting assumptions and their implications, we will likely continue to self-sabotage success in developing business.
Through my Intentional Selling™ coaching process, clients self-identify their limiting assumptions and then, for each assumption, we explore the impact on behaviour. Most limiting assumptions are based on faulty thinking or logical fallacies. Some examples are illustrated below.
Continue reading “Self-Sabotage and the Sales Process: Jim’s Story”
A big mistake some professionals make is confusing marketing with selling. In my work with Partners in Performance and as an Intentional Selling™ coach, I have met many professionals who are not crystal clear on the distinction between marketing and sales.
They see marketing as a way to avoid the dreaded job of selling their services. This resistance to sales is illustrated below.
One of the former “Big 5” professional services firms responded to fierce competition by rolling out a sales coaching program for their associates and partners in North America. As one of the coaches involved, I quickly learned that the biggest obstacle the professionals had with their business development efforts were the limiting assumptions and beliefs that they associated with sales. Many wouldn’t even use the “S” word. They instead referred to business development as “marketing,” under the misguided assumption that marketing alone would take care of getting new business.
Continue reading “Sales Mistakes: Confusing Marketing with Selling”
In the work I do helping sales people to become more effective, we focus a lot on questioning skills. Let’s assume it’s your intent to ask questions in order to uncover your customer’s needs, likes, dislikes and perspectives. Here’s a typical question that is used by many sales professionals.
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