When does the close start?
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Is it when they ask for a trial? When you identify pain points? When you get their timeline? When you confirm budget and authority? Or when you ask if they are ready to buy? How do buyers determine when? Get the answers to these questions with The Sales Experts Channel on demand recording here: https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/14877/235283?
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When does the close start?
- 1. When does the close start? How do buyers determine when to buy? @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts
- 2. Introductions Unbound Growth Founder www.unboundgrowth.com linkedin.com/in/carolemahoney @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts
- 3. Agenda What is, and is not, ‘the close’ The impact mindset has on the close The key to a natural close Design a sales process around your buyer’s process How to help improve your or your team’s ability to close Resources and next steps @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts
- 4. The team takes on the mentality of the coach.
- 5. What is and is not the close @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts 1 Image reflecting a mutual agreement, or a team effort- Huck finn image?
- 6. #mindsetmatters Supportive Beliefs No Need Approval Emotional Control Supportive Buy Cycles Ease Discussing Money No problem with Rejection Source: Objective Management Group @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts
- 7. @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts 1 Source: Chris Skinner
- 8. @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts 1 Seller Buyer Do they have a problem I can fix? Do they know it? Do they want it fixed? Is this a problem? What if I don’t fix it? Can I fix it myself? Who can help me decide? Can they tell me to fix it? Can they pay me? Do I need to fix it now? How have others fixed it? Can I afford to have it fixed? Do they believe that I understand their world? Do they believe I have the expertise to help? Do they want my help? Do they understand what I want, need and can do? Are they trustworthy and credible? Whose help do I want?
- 9. @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts 1 Source: Sales Executive Council
- 14. @icarolemahoney #SalesXperts 1 “It’s not you, it’s me finally realizing you’re terrible for me.”
Notes de l'éditeur
- blog post that sparked the idea: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-does-close-start-you-losing-them-hello-carole-mahoney The real question is when and how buyers buy. logisitcs
- Before we get too much further, for those that don’t know me. Tweet your question, thoughts, and feedback- I will personally respond
- Our keypoints. After leading a popular coaching session at Unite, an AA_ISP conference last year (in Vegas!) around the same topic- it sparked some interesting conversations. Like...
- What I recently asked some clients that had just started with coaching, they answered: When they ask for a trial? When you identify pain points? When you get their timeline? When you confirm budget and authority? When you ask if they are ready to buy? And you know what I noticed about all these answers? They had nothing to do with the buyer’s behaviors or agenda. Only the sales person’s. Middle or towards the end- earlier in the opp we can coach, the more likely it will close.
- The “close” is not the time to convince someone to buy. That’s the time to come to agreement on: Who: writes the check? Implements the solution? Cares the most about the result? What: needs to happen? Is the expected result? When: does it need to be solved by? Where: does it take place? Why: all the individual pieces are important? How: much it will cost? will it work?
- Forgive me for getting up on my soapbox for a moment, but almost every time we review an evaluation with a sales person, they are surprised by how bad they are at closing. Especially those who have had some success. It comes down to what they do, or don’t do, in the beginning that sets up their close. And those behaviors, skills and competencies can be tied back to their beliefs and way of thinking. Here is why I beat the #mindsetmatters drum- across industries, methodologies, and processes- it comes down to the salesperson and the conversations they have, or don’t have. Salespeople who have developed and nurtured the right mindset have doubled their commissions, and their companies have seen a 4:1 return. The only thing they changed was adding coaching that dealt with mindsets.
- The key to a natural close YOU MUST ADD MORE VALUE THAN THE WEBSITE- value is in the eye of the beholder. At every interaction, at every stage and step. “The ‘trusted advisor’ is a status achieved by few, but aspired to by many, and is all about the ability to earn the client's trust and thereby win the ability to influence them...In order to get that sort of relationship ... really get under the skin of and in the head of the client. They must see the world through the client’s eyes and understand their needs as well as the client understands them. They must advise them with the right things, not the things that are purely in [their] interests... They must look at the long-term relationship, not the short-term sale.” A big part of that is asking the right questions , at the right time, with the right people involved. Consensus- everyone has different needs and reasons- psychological reasons, for them. To be an effective closer, we have to be able to address those- ask questions about those, and they have to feel that you understand them and their world. Think about it, as a sales person- why do you ask questions- why do you ask the questions you ask? Or why don’t you ask the questions you should? Is it because you are asking only to: To customize their pitch? To diagnose a problem properly? To recommend the right solution? To find out who the decision maker is? To make sure they understand the buyer? To challenge how they think about their problem? OR is it To make the buyer feel that they understand them and their world? Yes all of the above are important, but it is the last one that is the real reason. Why is it the most important? Until a salesperson understands the compelling reason for a buyer to change their status quo, nothing happens. And that compelling reason is personal, very personal. It might be their legacy, their kids college education, the bigger house for their spouse, or the security of their job. It’s something they hold close to their hearts and fiercely protect. Why the heck would they tell you that? And they won’t, not until they know that you get them, that you are on their side, and that you want to, and can, help them. People buy from people, not companies. Companies don’t care about them, people who are like them do. Are the questions you ask only so that you can diagnose a problem, or do they should people that you understand? That you are a part of their tribe?
- How do you Design a sales process around the buyer’s process? This is a simple, high level way to approach it-does your process answer the questions on each side? What questions do you need to be asking to lead up to these questions? What questions are buyers asking to answer these questions? What KPIs might you out around this? We were talking with a coaching client who sent us this “It was an excellent call, by most measures. Good questions / listening etc - her doing most of the talking. She thanked me for my guidance and insight - and I didn't really say anything. One area that I would like to discuss - and this is the agenda for today - we got to a point where she essentially said that data / quant analysis is something that she needs to differentiate herself from her peers (and she pointed out that she could get that from us. From that point, I said something to the effect of 'ok, so where do we go from here?' I want to talk through the path to take from that point.” Asked questions like “How would you be differentiated?” “Why does that matter to your client?” “So, how would being differentiated benefit you?” I asked, “Do you feel that you understand her world and what is happening?” To which he said yes, more so than other calls I have been on. Great! “Does she feel like you understand her world? What happens if they do nothing? What is her personal reason for wanting to change the way they do things?” Remember it’s not about you. Of course it is important that you understand, but it is even more important that they know you do. Only then will they feel comfortable and confident enough to reveal what is closest to their hearts. The first question to be answered during the sales process is “Do they have a problem I can solve?” (Do you understand?) The second is “Do they know it?” Let’s talk a bit about some more questions leading to the close. Heads up: we are putting together a question matrix that will be shared on this BrightTalk channel at a future date- so stay tuned.
- In the previous BrightTalk session, I talked about how much and how often managers should be coaching their salespeople. Now let’s discuss when and where in the process they should be. Keep in mind that I am probably biased because the beginning is where I spend a lot of time with salespeople. Whether it is how to respond to an inbound lead, get a referral, use social media, or pick up the damn phone- a lot of time is spent coaching to the approach and start of the engagement. And when clients start to reverse engineer with me why a prospect has disappeared or a deal fell through that could have been won- they find something that they missed in the beginning that should have been addressed before it became an issue later. Yet most sales managers, if they do try to coach their reps, do so for the opportunities “that should close”. They get involved too late and as a result, it’s a mess and coaching is reactive instead of proactive. In this fast paced world, salespeople are in the biggest hurry of all. There are quotas to meet, contests to win, and therefore steps that need to happen by a certain date. All of us fight against that feeling of; "Let's hurry this along so we can get to the good part, you know- that part where you decide to buy? Or where I can start demoing all the ways we are perfect for you..." It’s natural, but it can be destructive when things go too fast and important details are missed. It sounds contradictory to say that in order to speed up the sale, you need to help your salespeople slow down their approach. My advice here: coach early, coach often, coach regularly. Check out the eGuide attachment “Is sales coaching right for you?” if you think you can up your sales game, or if you want best practices on how structure coaching and why. http://bit.ly/2iF4y0t Next, let’s look at a few ways to help salespeople do that and more than double their close rates as a result and then wrap it up with some questions.
- What will buyers see when they find you? Ex: LI eGuide. Attachment link: http://bit.ly/2hp9kKm Get your profile not just presentable, but representative of who you are, how you think and then start getting active to get people to notice you. Use your link, like I have, in presentations, on your other social profiles like Quora, twitter, instagram, participate in groups on LI (not to share or talk about how wonderful you are), write content that people can read to see what you are thinking about lately (not an ad for your company), use your profile link on other blogs you comment on as your website… Why point everyone to your LI profile? Because then you can see who is looking at you. And like the person in the bar checking you out, now you can say hi. What brought you by? How do you know so and so? Have conversations with people first, sales conversations will come after …
- What will buyers see when they find you? Here we have Randy who was so gracious as to allow me to use him as an example of what I mean. Going clockwise...
- Watch for the we-we factor: in the weekly sales labs people send us their emails, recorded calls… and this is the first thing we look for when we analyze them. How often does the salesperson talk about themselves, their company, their product, or ask questions that are only meant to learn enough to pitch their product, solution, company, etc...
- We talked about asking the right questions, and the most important reason is to understand their world and making sure they know that we understand their world. To ask questions that are buyer focused, here are some mindsets twists that we repeat often to clients Sales is about understanding someone else's bias and mindset- in other words, what do they believe? What do they believe is their problem? Why is it a problem for them? What is the risk to them, or the opportunity? What do they think the solution is? This is a huge responsibility. Diagnosing someone else's problem is like going to a doctor. He has to ask questions to understand what is causing the symptoms. A good doctor, and sales person, doesn't just want to subscribe pills. To really help, you have to treat the cause, not the symptom. When people figure out things for themselves, they are more likely to believe it and follow it. If you tell someone something (with a period at the end) and give them the answer, you are robbing them of the opportunity to learn it for themselves. "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime." Questions control your ego and emotions. Rather than reacting, you take the step to learn more. You aren't the smartest person in the room telling everyone how it should be done. Seeing someone else you helped be the smartest person in the room is an even better feeling. Seek first to understand, than to be understood. Building trust starts with understanding them and being other focused. Intent is the only difference between a con and a trustworthy advisor. First, whenever I think I know the answer to something, I try to keep it to myself. It's like sitting on my hands sometimes! Instead I visualize the answer as if it were on a map, and there are a few ways I could go to get there, but I won't know which way is the right way, or if my assumption is even correct that that is where we need to get to. Not until I ask questions to verify. Once verified, which direction will help lead my counterpart to see if they can get to the same answer themselves? Sometimes they do, sometimes we end up with a slightly different and possibly better answer (destination). Sometimes neither of us are anywhere on the same map or want to get to the same destination, and I have to walk away. The secret to asking those types of questions is simple. Your choices are: What? Who? When? Where? Why? How? My advice: Stop telling, ask- and keep in mind the intent of your questions. If you want to be wrong, say it with a period. If you want to learn something, ask it as a question. One question can change the cadence of an entire meeting. http://www.unboundgrowth.com/blog/can-one-question-change-the-cadence-of-an-entire-sales-meeting
- Look for the no, maintain a full pipeline! it will make it easier to push back on prospects appropriately, which will help you develop trust when you are not an eager yes man but are willing to bring up objections and obstacles to a customer's solving their problem or capitalizing on an opportunity. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140510152325-12004013-5-signs-you-need-to-fire-a-prospect-or-client?trk=mp-reader-card
- Stop fixing them. Researchers at UC-Riverside tested the order in which they delivered news to subjects, and gauged their responses and behavior. What they found was interesting: People who were given the bad news first were more likely to feel better about what they were told, while people who were given the bad news last were more motivated to act on the news.I see this in demos all the time. Have this problem, here is how to fix it! Remember the reason to disqualify, what might stand in their way? What happens if it’s not fixed? If xyz isn’t in place when that opportunity comes knocking, what are they missing out on? Focus less on what your solution can do for them, and more on what they can’t do or have without it. Dave Kurlan used to tell my partner Rick Roberge to make the sale, then fix the customer. Think about your sales process. You ask about goals. You ask about issues. You ask about problems and pain and challenges and then, you tell them what you're gonna do, you make a proposal, give a quote, tell them the solution and voila, like magic, they're fixed. You can't imagine how many times someone's said, "Hey.... I had a great conversation with my prospect. Totally did a great job getting them to share. Got everything that I needed. Put together the best proposal/demo of my life and now I can't get them on the phone to close them. What should I do?" I always say the same thing. "Stop fixing them!" You gave them the solution. Now they can try to do it themselves. Shop around for a better price. Get second opinions. They're doing everything but buying. Remember Dave. Make the sale, then fix them.
- Attachments- Is sales coaching right for you eGuide: http://bit.ly/2iF4y0t Inbound Way to Use LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/2hp9kKm Weekly Sales Labs: http://bit.ly/2hpfN8g Seed questions: -Does the who looked at my profile really work? Do people get business from it? -I don’t have time to write content. Aren’t there better things I should be doing? -CEOs don’t want to talk to me. How do I sell to them? , ABR -When you talk about the we-we factor, what about in demos? Prospects are expecting me to demo the product, and if I start asking them a bunch of questions, they’re going to get annoyed with me. -how does bringing up objections help the sale? Isn’t that contradictory to your cause? Why give them a reason to say no?