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How To Advance the Sale #414
Have you ever been on a sales call and after you hang up it seems like the deal is going excruciatingly slow? Like a glacier melt? Well…. you’re not the only one which is why on today’s episode I address why deals don’t move faster by better understanding the sales process, the buying process and the strategy of what it means to advance the sale with the aim to close someday, but not today.
Today’s Chapter: Advance the Sale
Questions leads to sharing
Sharing leads to appointment
Appointment leads to possibility
Possibility leads to belief
Belief leads to a quote
Quote leads to purchase.
The largest of sales begin with a response to the smallest of acts.
This is called advancing the sale.
Today’s Story
Pat and Chris left the sales call and walked out to the parking lot. They chatted about the weather and what a nice day it turned out to be. When they got to the car, they were out of earshot from the office. It was then when Pat spoke, “So how do you think it went?” “I don’t know” responded Chris, “they seemed interested, but guarded. I was hoping they would agree to buy but it was clear, they weren’t ready.”
“I agree” said Pat “ but we did advance the sale. I like that they asked about some of our existing clients and they were particularly focused on our new features. We’ve got our homework to do but we’re still in the game.”
“You don’t think they’re just too nice to say they don’t want to buy?” asked Chris” “Not all” said Pat “ What I’ve found is the more we meet the higher the likelihood they will buy. Today we’ve advanced the sale and that’s a good day of work.
Take Action Quote
This reminds me of the quote from Frederick Douglas, the former slave and abolitionist who said “If there is no struggle, there is no progress”. We’re sales professionals. We’re, not order takers. If buying your product was easy you would only need to put a order form on your website and watch the sales roll in. But that doesn’t work for expensive and complex products and services. That’s not what we do. There is a process to buying and if you quit the process you will quit the result. Count it a win if you can advance the sale. When you do, you’ve done your job.
Thank Our Sponsor Wingman
I’m excited to share that Sales Babble has a new sponsor, Wingman. Wingman is an actionable conversation intelligence platform that unlocks insights from every sales interaction. You can use Wingman to record your calls, review deals, scale coaching and build a repeatable sales machine. Wingman uses best-in-class Automatic Speech. Recognition (ASR) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms specifically for sales.
Go to trywingman.com/salesbabble and get a free trial today. Wingman, your source for actionable sales intelligence.
How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble
Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers. There is no need to be pushy, aggressive or uncomfortable reaching out to prospective buyers. Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help, showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours.
You can listen to our podcast on any podcast app and if you signup for our newsletter you will be able to download a free copy of the Tao Te Ching of Sales eBook. This book has been the inspiration for these Sales Babble episodes and you can see what topics we’ll be covering in the future. Use this book for daily inspiration with short one page chapters on a balanced non-pushy approach when selling.
You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most important the right selling mindset.
Stop fearing sales and embrace it. Learn the selling secrets for non-sellers and start making a difference today. Here is the entire back catalog of episodes in the sales podcast.
This is a production of Habanero Media
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