Category: building rapport in sales

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Climb Everyday Sales Process with Mark Steel #263

Mark Steel Sales Babble

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Climb Everyday Sales Process with Mark Steel #263

Mark Steel Sales Babble

Our guest today is Mark Steel. He’s an international speaker, speaking skills coach, podcast host, and avid rock climber. In his 15 years with Microsoft, Mark stood out as a high-impact sales leader, contributing over $1B in enterprise sales.  Mark and I chat about the things leaders, sales people, and marketers need to do to  amplify impact,  and influence with intent buyers. In addition, his Climb Every Day podcast inspires professionals to achieve a life of confidence, growth, & success.

We Create Our Own Success

Mark believes that we create our own success in the steps we take every day. Mark studied theatre but when he got a job at Microsoft, transtioned to a  1 to many storyteller. As he found success he then transformed into a successful  1 to 1 sales professional.

As a professional seller Mark has learned:

  • Speak back what people say to you and you will be persuasive
  • Buyers will tell you everything you need to know
  • Tell a story, but apply it to a customer. Don’t make the stories long and irrelevant. The stories must have value.

Effective storytelling is about understanding the customer, and speaking back effectively what you hear from them. Leverage your experience to augment and compliment what they are saying. Compelling stories are short and sweet, less than a minute and HIGHLY relevant.

Sales is Like Climbing a Rock

Mark has a sales process he calls the Climb Everyday process.  Climbing is a great metaphor for sales. In both cases you’re stepping into an uncomfortable situation with the goal of success.

Climbling is a mental challenge, and not unlike selling, discover what works, what doesn’t work an. Reflect to develop a better methodology and become more efficient executing what does work.

Common Success Stories

Mark shared an example Microsoft story: “This is a similar situation we ran into with Company X and how we were able to help them. We were able to work directly with all the stakeholders,  learn how they communicate, put systems in place and training to make sure the processes were effective. “

Specific and measureable outcomes really matter.

Why Story

Make sure you know your companies “Why Story” : why your company does what they do, why this product was invented etc….

Practice these stories, have a clear message to make sure they are compelling. People will never remember the facts and figures, but they will remember the stories

Take Action

Challenge yourself a little bit everyday. Start a gratitude journal and find a daily affirmation. Push your comfort limits. Try something you’ve never done before. This is where growth comes.

How To Find Mark Steel

Selling Mindset

Here are some past episodes you will find invaluable to your selling.

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How to Conquer the Conversation in Sales with Erin Marcus #261

Erin Marcus Sales Babble Conversations

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How to Conquer the Conversation in Sales with Erin Marcus #261

Erin Marcus Sales Babble ConversationsToday’s guest is Erin Marcus, a speaker and consultant that teaches how you can create powerful and extraordinary conversations.  Each day there are consequences to the conversations we have. When they go well, they lead to closer relationships, more sales, happier customers. When they go poorly, the consequences are hurt feelings, lost money, lost opportunities and more stress. Today Erin and I discuss how conquer the conversation in sales. We dig into what it means to be a masterful communicator  and ways you can increase your sales and improve the relationships with your existing clients.

Action Cures Fear

Sometimes we have to give bad news to existing customers. Other times we have to attend difficult sales call in a competitive situation. Sometimes you have to explain why the price is going up. Other times why you can’t meet a commitment. I’ve had to have many of  difficult conversation in my career.  We the  sellers, we’re the face to our business. It’s a lot of responsibility delivering bad news because these conversations can make or break your business. Being pushy or assertive is just the result of desperation and insecurity.  Instead see all sales as research. There is no reason to fear the conversation because as Erin says “action cures fear!” 

Open Ended Questions

Let’s start the conversation with some great questions that build rapport and second understand their needs.

  • Tell me what’s going on……
  • Why did you invite me to this conversation?
  • Tell me about the event your putting together…..
  • Why now?
  • Why me? 

When you’re asked a difficult question and unsure how to answer, consider this; maybe it’s an opportunity to ask a better question!  You might find more information to understand the buyer OR they may come to a realization they’re unclear what they’re asking themselves!

Ask yourself this: what conversations are you bad at?  Maybe asking for referrals or asking for an appointment. Now think about what your average client is worth for you? Think about the money your losing. Also realize you’re losing it  just because you’re uncomfortable having a conversation. If you keep everything in perspective you can find the courage to move these conversations forward.

How To Find Erin Marcus

Get these free tips: Top 10 Ways To Make Hard Conversations Easy

Whatever it is that makes a conversation difficult for you – whether its asking for the sale, delivering difficult news or navigating interpersonal issues with your team – there is a tip in here for you to make it easier!

Building Rapport in Sales

Here are past episodes that babble about the power of building strong rapport with buyers. Listen now!

 

 

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Consulting Coaching and Serving Your Ideal Client with Ben and Aiden Hoppe #234

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Consulting Coaching and Serving Your Ideal Client with Ben and Aiden Hoppe #234

In this episode we turn the tables around and have two budding young entrepreneurs interview me on the podcast.  Ben and Aiden Hoppe are my nephews and this past summer we shared an adrenaline rush riding roller coasters at Cedar Point Ohio.  Today Ben and AIden ask me about consulting coaching and serving your ideal client.

The Questions

Download the free checklist to discover Who Do You Serve.

1. Who is your ideal client?

2. What is the problem you solve?

3. What are the typical symptoms people experience with that problem?

4. What are the common mistakes people make when trying to solve that problem?

5. In your experience what can your prospects do to remove these problems and find success?

6. What is one resource that you can direct your prospects that will further help with that problem?

7. What one piece of advice you can give your prospects they could take action on immediately and find success?

For Pat’s answers on coaching consulting, helping sales managers, startups, and sales professionals go here!

Top Thrill Dragster

My favorite roller coaster was the Top Thrill Dragster a hydraulic launched accelerator coaster that goes from 0-120 miles per hour in less than 4 seconds. That’s almost 200 km per hour.  Just as you get to the top it plummets 120 meters (420 feet), then flattens out
to a stop in 17 seconds. The entire trip last 31 seconds. It’s frightening. It’s awesome.

Take Action Now

Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today. Yes it’s a cliche, but we’re running out of time. Take action now. Be fearless!

Free Links Checklists and Selling Aids

How to build your pitch. Great way to know what to say BEFORE you’re tested in public. Prepare now.

The Trick to being a persuasive seller. It’s not about being outgoing, pushy or assertive. You can do it too!

How to Connect With You Ideal Client

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You Can’t Challenge Your Way to a Sale with Meridith Elliot Powell

Meridith Elliott Powell Sales Babble

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You Can’t Challenge Your Way to a Sale with Meridith Elliott Powell #231

Meridith Elliott Powell Sales BabbleOur guest is Meridith Elliott Powell, an award-winning author, keynote speaker and business strategist. Meridith is the author of four books, including Winning In The Trust & Value Economy and her latest Own It: Redefining Responsibility – Stories of Power, Freedom & Purpose. Today we challenge the Challenger Sale and  discuss better ways to engage, qualify, and build client relationships that last.

The Challenger Sale

The Challenger Sale advices sellers to take control of the sale by taking on the role of teacher. This doesn’t work in all situations. The sales conversation is a dance where we learn about our prospects AND they learn about us. You can’t teach your way through most sales!

Sales is not a task to win according to Meridith. If a prospective  client is a fit, that’s great. If they’re not a fit, that’s OK too. We’re not a match for everyone. The goal is find those that DO see your value.  It’s a case of learn not teach!

Sell From A Place Of Power vs a Place of Need

Our responsibility as sellers is to make people aware of our amazing product and its benefits. Meridith believes we are driven by the desire to love people and help them. Yet we can’t be a human specification sheet. Instead we need to build a relationship and explore the buyers needs and desires. For example:

  • slow down at the beginning
  • sell aggressively on the subsequent sales
  • sell an urgent need
  • remember it’s unlikely you are top of mind when first meeting a prospect
  • customers need to be heard
  • sales training doesn’t apply to everyone

Take Action Advice

Lastly, listen, learn and allow the buyer to talk.  If you do that they will tell you what you need to do

How To Find Meridith Elliot Powell

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/meridithelliottpowell/
Website – www.valuespeaker.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/meridithpowell
Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/meridith.powell

This is the link to the FREE ebook 42 Rules to Turn Prospects Into Customers that Meridith mentioned in the podcast.

Sales Skills Training

Below are a number of past episodes that talk about mindset, rapport and generating genuine conversations that lead to closed sales. Enjoy!

 

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Valve Stem Sales Strategy with Corey Philip #229

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Valve Stem Sales Strategy

Corey Philip Sales Babble

In this episode we meet Corey Philip who founded Gulf Coast Aluminum, a patio and screen enclosure company. He attributes a large factor of the rapid growth of the company to earning referrals from happy customers and data-driven sales and marketing. It was there he invented the Valve Stem Sales Strategy.

Valve Stem Lets Out the Pressure

Corey’s goal was to build a presentation that didn’t sound salesy. He’s tried pushy sales techniques. He did not like them. Nor did he find that it helped his business in the long run. Corey arrived at the idea of the valve stem sales strategy. By placing the price of the product in the middle of the presentation, you let out all  the pressure. Typically the price is at the end. This moves the focus to the value. He wants people to feel like they are making a decision on their own.

Valve Stem Process

The strategy contains 6 steps to be completed in order:

  1. Introduction – ask if they’ve heard of you, share how you do things differently.
  2. Fact Finding – understand what they want, build value by explaining how you’ll do it in detail, step by step process.
  3. Calculate the Price – quote a price to the dollar e.g. $5020
  4. Show similar project – references build trust.
  5. Tell the company story – pictures of office, key people, trucks, equipment.
  6. Assumptive close – should we get this written up after all the story telling.

38% of the prospects are closed at step 6.  30% will come back with an objection that eventually close.

Take Action Today

Get a sales process that is comfortable, natural, with a story and trust. This will differentiate you from your competitors.

How to Find Corey Philip

  • Website: http://www.homeprosuccess.com
  • Infographic post: https://www.homeprosuccess.com/infographic-the-valve-stem-sales-strategy-close-more-sales-using-story-trust-without-sales-tactics/
  • Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/896216427196514/
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreyphilip/

 

Closing Sales Tips

Coffee’s for closers, Sales Babblers too. Listen to these past episodes:

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Honesty Sells with Colleen Francis #223

Colleen Francis Sales Babble

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Colleen Francis Sales BabbleHonesty Sells with Colleen Francis #223

Colleen Francis is the Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions and the author of Nonstop Sales Boom and Honesty Sells. Colleen is a successful sales leader for over 20 years, well versed on the challenges of selling in today’s market. She is a Certified Sales Professional (C.S.P.) and an inductee into the Speaking Hall of Fame.  In this episode we discuss the necessity of honest selling and advice on how sellers can build trust with transparency.

What Makes for Honesty Sells

  1. Trust is built on honoring your word in all you do. Keeping promises matters.
  2. Prove honesty through voice mail e.g., promise you will call them back at a set time, then do it
  3. If you made a promise and have no news, make the call and share you have no news
  4. Customer experience is the key differentiator
  5. Have a culture of honesty in your organization. It will spread to your client interactions.
  6. Always apologize when you make an error. Coddle them with kindness. Own it.
  7. The top performers (upper 10%) have a culture of honesty.
  8. Don’t over promise and under deliver
  9. Don’t under promise and over deliver
  10. Honor your word

Take Action Advice

Make sure you’re creating an open transparent organization, both inside a team and outside of the team. Next make sure the sales team starts telling customers exactly what they are going to do, then doing it. Meet your committments!

How To Find Colleen Francis

Books Mentioned 

Nonstop Sales Boom and Honesty Sells. 

Consultative Selling

Here are some previous episodes on the power of honest selling.

 

 

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How To Sell With the CRINGE Method from Doug Vigliotti #213

Doug Vigliotti Sales Babble

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Doug Vigliotti Sales BabbleHow To Sell With the CRINGE Method #213

Douglas Vigliotti is a sales consultant, workshop-speaker, and bestselling author of The Salesperson Paradox: A Strikingly Simple Way to Provide Solutions Your Customers Can’t Say No To.  In this book Doug shares how to sell with the CRINGE method, a strategy and mindset of focusing on helping clients, not pushing product.
Doug has twelve years of successful frontline sales experience, across three different industries, and two Fortune 500 companies—Automatic Data Processing and Johnson & Johnson. In January 2016, he opened the doors of groundupSALES, a strategic selling partner for non-sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and small business owners.
He’s an avid reader and writes a monthly reading list at douglasvigliotti.com.

Purpose of Business To Create and Keep Customers

Doug believes that customers will view you completely different when you go from selling to helping. Why is this? Doug sights a number of aspects:

  • Mindset shift – people will feel you are looking out after them.
  • Common way to reset your view ask ” Why did you start this business? “
  • If you  focus on money  it will hurt your sales performance. Yes it’s a paradox, but it’s true
  • Businesses pay commissions with the idea that the harder you work, the more you make. But great sellers work hard for reason above and beyond short term commissions.

Peter Drucker said ” The purpose of business is to create and keep your customers”

Furthermore Doug believes:

  • True performer able to set aside the “me first” inclination.
  • Consider that helping people is a moral obligation for you to SOLVE their problems.

CRINGE Solution

Doug then shared his CRINGE method. Consider a product service and solution that you have to cringe to say yes … a whole body solution.

  • Customer First – did my customer feel like they won?  If they do,  they will come back for more business.
  • Real Problem – are you solving a “real” problem? Don’t assume problems. Put yourself in their shoes.
  • Immense Value- in is the solution. Price is what you pay, value is what you get. Ways to differentiate: time, status, ease,  money.
  • Non-Negotiable – your mindset is complete belief in your solution. You know your customers are better off.
  • Good Timing – create good timing, improve your luck, by understanding your customer and they are ready to buy.
  • Easy – make it easy to say yes by reducing risk.

Take Action

Become more conceptual and strategic in your selling. It’s a quicker route to business success. Too many sellers are tactic driven when they should be more conceptual in their selling approach.
One tactic to consider is Sales Prevention: don’t oversell products in your portfolio that may not help your customers. If they don’t love the product it will hurt your next sale. Focus on your long game.

How Find Doug Vigliotti

You can find Doug on the internet. Look here!

The Lost Chapter 13

This is the lost chapter to Doug’s book mentioned in the podcast. Just for Sales Babble listeners!

SalesBabble.thesalespersonparadox.com   

 

Selling Mindset

Here are other past episodes that focus on the selling mindset beyond the CRINGE method.

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Sales Jokes That Don’t Fall Flat with Jon Selig #195

Jon Selig Sales Jokes Sales Babble

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Jon Selig Sales Jokes Sales BabbleSales Jokes That Don’t Fall Flat with Jon Selig #195

There  are parallels between sales, improv and stand up comedy. Unfortunately sales jokes can fall flat and jeopardize a deal. In this episode Jon Selig shares advice on how to employ comedy to connect, build relationships and win deals.

Sales and Comedy

Each sales call has elements of standup. Open strong, close strong, probe the audience for their pain. display confidence. First you need to sell them on you. A simple  self deprecating joke is safe.

Craft jokes specifically for a prospect’s pains and challenges within their industry. It is very easy to offend and alienate your prospect.  You only need to offend one person on a team to lose a deal.

  • Don’t push anyone down
  • Don’t marginalize anyone
  • Don’t mock popular sentiments
  • Be as politically correct as you can

Have empathy and put yourself in your customer’s shoes. If you do that you won’t cross the line and have your sales jokes fall flat.

Improv in Sales

Frame your message within the problems and desires of your prospects. Be positive with the other person, respect them.

  • Answer the question  your prospects ask
  • Listen for the question, address it square on
  • Use the improv framework of Yes And
  • Accept what you hear and go with it.
  • Show how your solution will address their pains and challenges

Take Action Plan

Write more. Set aside time, express your thoughts in  1-3 pages. Stream what’s going on in your head. Discover your goals, then work it into your sales presentations. The key is to be relatable.

How to Find Jon Selig

You can find Jon Selig online and at a comedy club near you in Central America!

Website: jonselig.com
TW: @jonselig
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonselig/
IG: ImprobableComic
EMAIL: jon@jonselig.com

Jon also raises funds with Comedy Abroad, which produces live English stand-up comedy fundraisers in Latin America. 

Sales Babble Sales Jokes

Go here www.salesbabble.com/jokes 

Building Rapport in Sales

There are other ways to build rapport other than jokes. Here are past episodes. Listen today!

 

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How To Sell The World with Karl Weaver #177

Karl Weaver Sales Babble

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Karl Weaver Sales Babble

How To Sell The World  – Advice on Selling Asia #177

In this episode we meet Karl Weaver, an international sales professional who is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to how to sell the world. Selling Asia is different than the USA . Europe too. In both cases, sales only happen once trust is built.  In this episode Karl shares 7 ways to sell in a protectionist environment by a process of creating trust.

Advice on Selling Asia

We walked through a series of steps that in many ways, mirror enterprise sales in the United States:

  1. Realize their goal is to compete with the West
  2. Protect all you laptops and stored information
  3. Learn the language or bring someone who can
  4. Give a gift and something local like Almond Roca
  5. Don’t expect an immediate sale
  6. Honor the exchange of business cards
  7. Use social media like LinkedIn and WeChat

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Advice on Selling Europe

Like Asia, European companies do not make pop decisions. They are more formal when approaching business transactions. The gesture of exchanging business cards is a good example. Like Asia, it’s treated as an honor to both give and receive a business card.

Europe is interested in gaining trust before doing business. They want substance and don’t make quick decisions.

Take Action Advice

Even if you lose a deal, keep working on the next one. It takes time to break in. Be patient. Share on social media you’re value proposition. Over time relations will build for those who grind away.

Don’t expect the immediate sale. Be in it for the long run. Don’t close the door, keep going back and try again. Continue the good battle, sell, market and use social media why you’re products are great.

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How to Find Karl Weaver

Karl Weaver 魏卡尔 is a globally trained, Mandarin-Chinese speaking, senior wireless market and Smart Phone/mobile device specialist, working for wireless technology companies on both sides of the Pacific Rim in a sales & business development capacity.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karljweaver/

Add Karl J. Weaver 魏卡爾 on WeChat   Add Karl J. Weaver 魏卡爾 on WeChat

Building Rapport in Sales

Dig into our back catalog and learn more about the challenge and skills you need to build rapport with YOUR customers. Listen now!

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Slidebean Examples Created for Sales Babble

As I mentioned here are  couple slide decks that I created for two Sales Babble presentations. Enjoy!

https://app.slidebean.com/p/hggYElvrRX/Tips-For-Selling-Success

https://app.slidebean.com/p/tvielUvSqi/Selling-With-Confidence-for-Startups

Here are details in how why Slidebean sponsors Sales Babble!

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How to Sound Better and Improve your Voice during Sales Presentations with Tracy Goodwin #172

Tracy Goodwin Sales Babble

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Tracy Goodwin Sales BabbleHow to Sound Better and Improve Your Voice During Sales Presentations with Tracy Goodwin #172

In this episode we meet Tracy Goodwin, owner of Captivate the Room. Tracy has coached hundreds of people around the globe how to improve their voice, sound more confident, and close sales. Starting her career in the theatre,  Tracy coaches business professionals  on what she calls the psychology of the voice. She  gets to the core of how to sound better and improve your voice during sales presentations.

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Voice is the Tool to Affect Emotions

The voice shares passion and feeling and it’s how people connect. Great sales is based on building relationships.  People can hear doubt, desperation, and aspiration. Your ability to connect depends on words.  Words are everything and nothing.  It’s how you bring them to life that matters.

Mistakes people make:

  • Rely solely on the words, not the voice
  • They talk too fast, try to get all the words out
  • They don’t connect with listeners because they don’t understand

What To Do To Improve Your Sales Voice

Tracy discussed at length on things sellers can do to improve their speaking and presenting. She also shared six ways to sound better and improve your voice during sales presentations. We dug deep into each element:

  1. Take  a deep breath before you pickup a phone or stepping on a stage
  2. Find connector words – be a tour guide and go on a voice journey
  3. Tell stories and it will minimize getting louder and faster
  4. Pause (don’t fear the space)
  5. Be unpredictable
  6. Memorize the first line and the last line (like an actor). This way you know where to start and how to end. The middle will fill itself in.

Take Action Advice

Make bold choices and commit to them.

How To Find Tracy Goodwin

People all over the world seek out Tracy Goodwin for her expertise because she unravels the voice story. If you’re interested in ways to sound better and improve your voice during sales presentations, find Tracy at here Captivate the Room website: www.captivatetheroom.com

Free Voice Review Offer

Connect with Tracy and send her a recording of your speaking and she will give you a free analysis and advice on how you can sound better and improve your voice during sales presentations.

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Building Rapport in Sales

Look here for past episodes on how to build rapport in sales!

 

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