Speaker 1: You have to approach the conversation with a buyer mindset.
Speaker 1: If you successfully map your solution to the buyer's pains
Speaker 1: and provide proof that you can live up to your commitments,
Speaker 1: you know you'll truly sell and negotiate on value versus price.
Speaker 2: You're listening to the audible Ready Podcast, the show that
Speaker 2: helps you and your teams sell more faster. We'll feature
Speaker 2: sales leaders sharing their best insights on how to create
Speaker 2: a sales engine that helps you fuel repeatable revenue growth.
Speaker 2: Presented by the team at Force Management, a leader in
Speaker 2: B to B sales effectiveness. Let's get started.
Speaker 3: Hello and welcome to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. I'm
Speaker 3: Rachel klap Miller, and one of my favorite things to
Speaker 3: cover on the podcast is really basic sales fundamentals. I
Speaker 3: like it when we just get back to basics because
Speaker 3: they are so critical and a lot of us do
Speaker 3: them without thinking about them now, but never to experience
Speaker 3: for a refresher. So today we're packaging them up this
Speaker 3: five things to practice before your next sales conversation. Of course,
Speaker 3: John Kaplan joins me today.
Speaker 1: Hi John, Hey, Rachel, I think this is a great
Speaker 1: topic of just I call it sales hygiene. It's like
Speaker 1: waking up, brushing your teeth and combing your hair. So
Speaker 1: I really really like the way you set these five
Speaker 1: topics up.
Speaker 3: Right, and the discipline that you need to be a
Speaker 3: great salesperson goes back to those hygiene steps. You know,
Speaker 3: at any sales call, you only have a short window
Speaker 3: to make the person on the other end want to
Speaker 3: take next steps, want to even talk to you. So
Speaker 3: let's dive into these critical reminders. First up, you're so
Speaker 3: called elevator speech.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you know, people love this topic, the
Speaker 1: elevator speech. Be prepared to talk about what you do,
Speaker 1: and that's probably the question we're asked the most. You know,
Speaker 1: how many times has the customer started the sales call
Speaker 1: with so, you know, tell me about your company, tell
Speaker 1: me what your company does? And you've got to make
Speaker 1: sure that you have an answer that demonstrates your capabilities,
Speaker 1: the uniqueness, and the value provide your customers. And it's
Speaker 1: always best if you can make these points by making
Speaker 1: them relate to what you know about the customer. I
Speaker 1: call it kind of outside in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think my classic line to the answers to
Speaker 3: what do we what do you do? I always say
Speaker 3: I do marketing for forced management. We help high tech
Speaker 3: sales organizations generate more revenue per rep. And I love
Speaker 3: it because it's very clear of what we do. But
Speaker 3: sometimes they look at me like, WHOA, she's got that
Speaker 3: nailed down, and I'm just it's about outcomes and that's
Speaker 3: what that's what we preach.
Speaker 1: I better have that down audible ready, that's right.
Speaker 3: So another concept we use the three piece. We've talked
Speaker 3: about it in some other podcasts episodes, but really a
Speaker 3: good thing to practice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the three p's are incredibly valuable. When
Speaker 1: you're trying to get to busy prospects and you're trying
Speaker 1: to get their attention. You have to structure an opening
Speaker 1: or a lead in with succinct initial sales conversation, and
Speaker 1: the three p's are just kind of a great, great methodology.
Speaker 1: So first, it's the purpose, the goal of the meeting.
Speaker 1: Why are you calling me? I mean, you've got to
Speaker 1: put yourself in the shoes of the buyer and here's
Speaker 1: where they're ask here's where they ask, why are you
Speaker 1: calling me? And so the next pe is process, define
Speaker 1: how the time will be spent. And so it's kind
Speaker 1: of the agenda, you know, what do you want from
Speaker 1: me if you're standing in the shoes of the prospect.
Speaker 1: And the third one is the payoff. It's the relevant
Speaker 1: and tangible benefits that peak the prospect's interest. This is
Speaker 1: kind of the what's in it for me? So articulating
Speaker 1: the three p's early on in a conversation or even
Speaker 1: in the agenda demonstrates your business acumen. It lets your
Speaker 1: prospect know you won't be wasting his or her time,
Speaker 1: and they can also help you ensure that the right
Speaker 1: people will be part of the conversation. You know, when
Speaker 1: you do purpose process payoff and you're talking about that
Speaker 1: process and you're talking about the kinds of questions or
Speaker 1: the topics that you want to speak about or to
Speaker 1: engage that prospect about, many times it's going to identify
Speaker 1: other people in an organization that could benefit. And I
Speaker 1: don't want you to shy away from this, Rachel. I
Speaker 1: hear a lot like I say, so people say to me,
Speaker 1: so are you're talking about, like sending an agenda, And
Speaker 1: I'll be like, well, why not? And many times I
Speaker 1: find the reason why people do not send an agenda
Speaker 1: is because they don't want the meeting to get canceled.
Speaker 1: And that's just a confidence and conviction topic. So if
Speaker 1: you believe what you do matters, preparing yourself with purpose
Speaker 1: process payoff really gets your mind right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And as we said at the top, no sellar
Speaker 3: is above having to do these fundamentals because the homework
Speaker 3: that you do before a meeting coming up with your
Speaker 3: purpose process payoff. Of our colleague Frank Azelino always says,
Speaker 3: homework is respect and it shows respect to the people
Speaker 3: on the other side of that zoom call, other side
Speaker 3: of the line, whatever, whatever it is. So the next one, John,
Speaker 3: another good reminder listen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, you can never underestimate the ability to effectively
Speaker 1: listen in a sales conversation. And you've got to remember
Speaker 1: people don't like to be persuaded. They rarely argue with
Speaker 1: their own conclusion. So you have to help them see
Speaker 1: how your solution will provide them value by an effective
Speaker 1: discovery process. You got to ask the right questions and
Speaker 1: uncover the key positive business outcomes that they're trying to achieve.
Speaker 1: And I like to talk about that little I call
Speaker 1: the little enemy within or that little devil on my
Speaker 1: shoulder that every now and then I'll be on a
Speaker 1: sales call and I'll be talking, and I'll hear this
Speaker 1: voice in my head that says, why are you talking?
Speaker 1: Why are you talking? And if I can't follow that
Speaker 1: up with because you said, mister missus customer. The reason
Speaker 1: why I'm telling you this, mister missus customers, because you said.
Speaker 1: And if you can't do that, shut up, shut up.
Speaker 1: And so listen to that enemy within. When you hear
Speaker 1: it in your head and you ask yourself the question
Speaker 1: why are you talking, you better have a good answer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I should come up with a little gift of
Speaker 3: you John saying yes, yes, okay. So number four, keep
Speaker 3: the focus on your buyer. Think like the buyer in
Speaker 3: all things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we talked a little bit about this. You know
Speaker 1: this outside and approach. You know, you have to approach
Speaker 1: the conversation with a buyer mindset. If you successfully map
Speaker 1: your solution to the buyer's pains and provide proof that
Speaker 1: you can live up to your commitments, you know you'll
Speaker 1: truly sell and negotiate on value versus price. And at
Speaker 1: the same time, you'll definitely definitely minimize that price conversation
Speaker 1: or that price only conversation.
Speaker 3: So important and Finally, number five, making sure before your
Speaker 3: next sales conversation you are brushing up on relevant keyword
Speaker 3: relevant proof points before you start that conversation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean you have to show that you can
Speaker 1: provide the value you promise. You have to be ready
Speaker 1: to provide proof points that show the tangible results your
Speaker 1: solution provided for another customer helps prospects see the value
Speaker 1: in doing business with you. It's not a logo. It's
Speaker 1: not naming a brand or a logo. You have to
Speaker 1: learn and tell the story.
Speaker 3: Yeah, as we close, John, I mentioned it earlier. All
Speaker 3: of these five tips, these basic sales fundamentals, come down
Speaker 3: to prep You can't underestimate the power of preparation.
Speaker 1: Yeah. A famous basketball coach once wrote that the difference
Speaker 1: between stress and pressure is preparedness, and the most elite
Speaker 1: sellers are always the most prepared. And I like what
Speaker 1: Frank Gazelino said on this topic. You know, preparation shows
Speaker 1: respect and it will be and that preparation will be
Speaker 1: admired and felt by the prospect. So its just sum
Speaker 1: this up. Rachel. The you know you're listing out. I
Speaker 1: like to see people get up in the morning and
Speaker 1: list out the calls that they're going to make for
Speaker 1: the day, and then do the three p's and practice
Speaker 1: purpose process, payoff to talk about what you do in
Speaker 1: a way that highlights the problems that you solve and
Speaker 1: how you solve them differently. Talked about really focusing on
Speaker 1: listening with the intent to understand, So putting the customer
Speaker 1: first and make it all about your buyer before you
Speaker 1: make it all about you, you'll earn the right to
Speaker 1: make it all about you. And then learn, prepare, and
Speaker 1: tell great stories as proof points to help your customers
Speaker 1: minimize risk. Those are five really good hygiene topics that
Speaker 1: we can wake up with every morning, just like brushing
Speaker 1: our teeth and combing our hair.
Speaker 3: That's right, Stick them on a post it note, stick
Speaker 3: them to your computer, keep them top of mind. Thank you, John,
Speaker 3: my pleasure right, and thank you to all of you
Speaker 3: who continue to listen to the Audible Ready Sales podcast.
Speaker 3: We appreciate it. John gets tons of LinkedIn messages and
Speaker 3: I love seeing the comments too that so many more
Speaker 3: people are finding our podcast. It's so rewarding. If you
Speaker 3: like it, please rate us five stars. That helps other
Speaker 3: people find us too. Thanks again.
Speaker 4: At Force Management, we're focused on transforming sales organizations into
Speaker 4: elite teams. Our proven methodologies deliver programs that build company
Speaker 4: alignment and fuel repeatable revenue growth. Give your teams the
Speaker 4: ability to execute the growth strategy at the point of sale.
Speaker 4: Our strength is our experience. The proof is in our results.
Speaker 4: Let's get started. Visit us at forcemanagement dot com.
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