And what’s more, there is a good chance that they might not even be the right person to buy from you either because…
1. You can’t actually help them or
2. They aren’t a good client fit for you
But if we put those two criteria aside, once we have someone in front of us that is qualified, how can we increase the likelihood that a client is going to buy from us?
How could we make it almost inevitable that they will ? What are the 1%- ers that if we get right can dramatically improve our chances of someone buying from us…
Most people I talk to in sales are mainly after 2 things….
1. The confidence to make powerful recommendations to clients
2. A way of having clients accept those recommendations in a trusting, flowing, seamless way
Many business people in sales I speak to have given up on the idea that they can simply have an “on the level” non “pitchy” business conversation with a prospect that results in a predictable sale
Instead, they resort to the “one size fits all” “close hard at all costs” sales tactics and systems that suggest you should drag clients kicking and screaming to “close at all costs” and that failure to do so somehow makes you “a pussy” or “weak”
THIS, in my opinion is why sales people get a bad wrap.
The idea that prospects should be manipulated into buying from you is in my opinion just so wrong.
People who sell others things that they don’t need or that don’t work and serve the needs only of the sales person and not of the client in my opinion should simply be banned.
For a start, there is an inverse proportion to the likelihood of someone referring clients to you and the force at which they were “closed” on your product or service.
If they felt pressure and had an unpleasant experience buying from you they will almost never refer business to you.
Secondly, the client who you have to really “talk into” “convince” or “close hard” on coming on board with you more often than not will be a massive pain in the ass to deal with.
I have now been in sales for 25 years. I have sold millions of dollars or products, services, and consulting and helped my clients sell 100’s of millions of dollars worth of products and services
And here’s what I have noticed.
The biggest, most profitable sales have 2 big things in common…
They are initiated by a business conversation that doesn’t look, sound or feel even remotely like a contrived sales pitch.
Instead they feel like an “on the level” chat between two business equals
These conversations then blossom effortlessly into long term arrangements that result in abundant repeat business and referrals and wonderful business relationships.
Business that begins on this premise feels amazing and becomes effortless to duplicate
Why ?
Because the more we approach deal making with this philosophy the more people will gravitate to us who want what we sell but to be bought into our world in the same way.
In this regard LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE and the more people we help who are truly a fit for us, the more people we will attract who are a fit for us. And the more they will refer people to us who are a fit for us.
THIS is what business people come to me for and THIS is what I want for you and your business
For the last 6 months you may have noticed I have been a bit quiet – you see, I’ve been watching very closely what’s been going on in the market.
And even though what I just shared with you has been at the core of what I have been helping clients to do for over a decade now…
It’s observing what has been going on in Today’s market that has bought it into sharper focus for me.
Because here’s what I have noticed….
I have noticed a shift toward the emphasis in selling being put upon the “sales” man. The glory of making the sale, of having a high close rate and of “closing hard” at all costs.
Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely a big advocate for and teach a highly effective process for converting high ticket sales with high conversion rates and exploring every way possible for a client who is ready to step up to be given EVERY opportunity to do so however…
I believe the sales conversation is something that should be invisible. It should disappear and evaporate leaving room for the client to take centre stage and celebrate their problem being solved.
I believe that clients simply want to deal with an expert business professional, they want to deal with someone who is helpful, sincere and worthy of placing their trust in. Someone who can help them get out of or change a situation and what they are really buying is certainty.
If your sales system is based on the personality of the person who taught it to you and not customized to your own identity and personality, you may well succeed for a while, but your success will be short lived ?
Why ?
Because you can only continue to use the words of SOMEONE ELSE to create YOUR sales for so long -sure the structure of the process can be developed using the principals of the success of another and you can use system based phraseology and language but unless it feels authentic and sincere coming out of your mouth, then there will only be a short period of time you will use it for
Why ?
Because over time, if you can’t sell using your words and more importantly YOUR VOICE, you will make some sales but in time you simply won’t feel authentic, sincere or genuine and unless you have a way that you can actually feel like you, you will either revert back to what you were doing before or you will stop.
So, to make a sale inevitable here are 12 key principals you must adhere to…
1. Create clarity on who you want to do business with (and who you don’t want to do business with)
2. Use system based language customized to your own personality not off the shelf one size fits all personality based language (personality based language is language that only “some” people can “get away” with saying)
3. Engineer into your sales process a way of positioning you and your product or service prior to the sales conversation taking place
4. Customize the different client sales paths you will have based on the types of clients you identify you want to work with and the types of products they will buy.
5. Create a non contrived, non-threatening frame for the sales conversation to take place
6. Create well thought out, powerful questions and spend the time to genuinely understand the clients situation, challenges and core reason for contacting you in the first place.
7. Ensure you allow the space for your client to experience the impact and current consequences of their current situation
8. If you are dealing with an organization, Ensure there is a corresponding business case that easily justifies the investment required in your product or service such that the investment is insignificant compared with the business upside of going ahead with you
9.Offer to help drawing attention to the core driver that caused your client to reach out to you in the first place
10. Make sure you KNOW you can actually help them.
11. Clearly outline the steps needed to be taken to solve the problem and options available to get started.
12. Confirm the next steps in the process
If you do these 12 things you will dramatically increase the chances of a sale taking place.
Good luck with it and as always if you need any help, let me know by simply replying to this email.
