Category: sales process steps

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Sassy Selling for SaaS Sellers with Bill Wilson #283

Bill wilson Saas Sellers on Sales Babble

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Sassy Selling for SaaS Sellers with Bill Wilson #283

Bill Wilson is the Co-Founder and CEO of SalesRight, a B2B SaaS company that provides sales teams with intelligent and interactive pricing guides that instantly boost opportunity to close rates. Bill started as an entrepreneur as an iPhone app builder (photographers, newspapers,health apps, etc..). In this episode we give SaaS sellers advice on nurturing clients for life.

Why SaaS

There are many good reasons for sales professionals should consider becoming a  SaaS seller:

    • market $70B and growing
    • easy to add value incrementally and iteratively
    • quicker product tomorrow, not someday
    • B2C experience, makes a B2B sales more comfortable for buyers
    • no big upfront fee for buyers

Bill believes that a sales person’s job isn’t to sell. it’s to give customers value.    We should all aspire to attract the best customer you can get for your company. Not just anybody.

Common SaaS Process

First a prospect calls an SDR/BDR, they then are referred to another Inside sales person. That rep gives them  a demo at which time the process breaks. When SaaS sellers are asked questions beyond the original demo, it is difficult to get answers. There are ALWAYS more questions!

    1. People want choice. Trust matters, so open up on your pricing. Be transparent.
    2. Don’t have a heavy proposal process. Make them lighter.
    3. Have the courage to say no. Don’t make it hard on your customer success department.
    4. Compensation – good people need a strong base given people pay monthly esp. at start. Commissions 1.5 of base.
    5. Good follow-ups are the foundation of keeping prospects top of mind.
    6. BONUS: Ask for the close (and if they’re not ready figure out why).

Springfield Buys a Monorail

How to Find Bill Wilson

Website: https://salesright.co/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SalesRightCo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SalesRightCo/?ref=bookmarks
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/11772492/admin/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salesrightco/

Closing Sales Tips

Here are past episodes SaaS sellers will love:

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How Value Selling Can Grow Your Business with Chad Sanderson #281

Chad Sanderson Value Selling

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How Value Selling Can Grow Your Business with Chad Sanderson #281

Chad Sanderson Value SellingOur guest today is Chad Sanderson, the author of the award-winning Value Selling Framework.   Chad has  successfully sold and marketed products and professional services across the globe. In this episode, Chad and I discuss the necessity of using a repeatable and predictable methodology for selling.  Next we survey the landscape of sales. We look at what’s working, what’s not working, and where there are opportunities for sales growth.

Predictable Selling Methodology

Sales is problem solving. Chad learned his chops selling marketing services. He  found when sales teams get larger, you can’t manage one-on-one. Many methodologies talk about what you need to do when selling. Yet they fail to  talk about how to sell.  Chad believes in focusing on value selling.

The Value Selling  methodology tells you how to do it. B2B buyers act like B2C customers. Sellers need to truly uncover the buyer perspective. just as you would in the B2C space. The difference is subtle but it takes awhile to put in practice.

Value Prompter

Value Prompter is completed per person. There are six affinites in the design:

    • Contact Name and Title
    • Business issue –  time bound and quantifiable
    • Anxiety Question to get an emotional action
    • Problems from the buyers perspective
    • Solution from the buyers perspective
    • Value Box  which contains quantifiable description of problem (from a personal perspective )

Probing Questions are asked to find insight. These questions uncover the buyers perspective and are used to guide value selling.

    • Prepare for a call
    • Take notes
    • Copy past notes into a plan letter (accountability)
    • Development and prospecting persona development.
    • It guides cadences and content.
    • QBR (Quarterly Business Review) readouts

High performing organization have consistency of sales behavior.

How To Find Chad Sanderson

  • chad.sanderson@valueselling.com
  • His company can be found here valueselling.com
  •  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadsanderson/
  • Twitter  @csanderson001

How to Manage Sales Teams with Repeatable Processes

Listen here to past episodes on repeatable methodologies like value selling:

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Selling is an Away Game with Lance Tyson #274

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Selling is an Away Game with Lance Tyson #274

Lance Tyson  is the author of the highly acclaimed book, Selling is an Away Game:  Close Business and Compete in a Complex World.    Lance is entrepreneur known for training sales talent for some of the biggest names in professional sports and entertainment.  In this episode Lance and Pat babble about prospecting using the buyers point of view, how to use a blended approach for setting appointments and how sales is half science and half art.

What Makes Sales an Away Game

Lance views selling from the buyers point of view. You’re competing in their space on their turf making it an away game. Buying has changed. Buyers have other means of obtaining information about your products and services. They no longer need to go through you.  They have the upper hand on sales professionals and it’s best to sell  within that context.

Look at your own personal buying experiences. When you buy things online, do you check out reviews before purchasing?  Probably.   We all want to make a wise buying decision.  Sellers may consider these questions “objections’ but that’s a misnomer.  The buyers are not objecting to your product, they just have questions!

Common objections include: cost, price, value, and budget.  Value is  always perceived in the buyer’s mind so it’s imperative to discover those perceptions.  The seller must understand the market and buyer intimately. 

    • What do they value?
    • What do they desire?
    • What experience do they hope to attain? 

Speed Moves Actually Slow You Down

Everyone is in such a rush to get an appointment. According to Lance,  the new ways of communicating has actually slowed down appointment setting.  There are a new set of rules of engagement. It takes 6-8 touches to get contacts and 6-8 touches to get an appointment. Use a blended approach ( email, call, social media texting) and have a process. Consider health care. There is a clear repeatable process checking you in, evaluating and sending you out the door.  Sellers should do the same.

Sales is half art and half science.  A sales process will set you free.

How To Connect with Lance Tyson

Here are links to find Lance online and his thoughts on how selling is an away game.

  • This is the Tyson Group
  • Lance on LinkedIn
  • Email Lance at lance @ tysongroup.com
  • @lancetyson on Twitter

Lance and  I mentioned how we both love the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Research Study for Habanero.Community

Please help with the Habanero.Community matchmaking mastermind study! two  minutes I promise!

 

How to Prospect and Generate Leads

Here are past episodes on prospecting you will find of value. Listen now!

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No Sh*t Sales Journal with Carson Cook #270

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No Sh*t Sales Journal with Carson Cook #270

Guest Carson Cook visits Sales Babble to babble about his new book, “The No Sh*t Sales Journal”.   Carson dials in from Nepal where he consults and runs sales centers for the USA, India, Mexico, Bangladesh, and China. He has trained hundreds of sales professionals in sales communication, client relations, and finance. Currently, he manages several sales-related businesses including inside, outside, and digital sales outlets. Carson specializes in finance and sales- from initiation to close. His expertise lies along interpersonal communication and same-day or one-call closing.

Profanity is Taboo

Profanity is taboo or is it? Sometimes profanity is  the right tool according to Carson.  At times it can be used to emphasize the meaning behind what you’re trying to say.

He wrote his new book as a common sense journal. First as sales basics for sales professionals who want to brush up on their tricks. Next for  new sellers who want to build a foundation for selling.

When making an in person sales call, we will dress at the level of the buyer.  This is true too for your language. Like dressing, speak at the level of your buyer. People trust sellers who are similar to them. Go from stranger to trusted confidant by being like them.

Rules of Communication

When your face to face, there are big communication benefits. You can read what their thinking, not by what they’re saying. Carson then shared it’s not what you say but how you appear. Carson believes there is a 7 second bias.  That’s all the time you have to make a connection. If you mess that up, it’s hard to recover.

Use English words that show empathy e.g “I completely understand”. Solicit interest quickly and give the carrot over the phone as soon as possible.

Learn Your Industry

Carson recommends knowing your buyers industry better than they do. When starting the sales dialogue ask for commitment “If I show you all we have  do I have a chance of earning your business?”   If they say yes, give the full demo. If they say no, you’ve saved yourself a lot of time.

Objections are really concerns, they want to have  addressed. Objection handling is walking through they buyers needs, desires and questions.  At the end of each meeting, create a sense of urgency. Little by little keep advancing the sale.

How to Find Carson Cook

Website:  theCSOpro.com
You can get Carson’s new book here:  “The No Sh*t Sales Journal”. 
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Five Steps for Instant Sales Improvement with Brian Robinson #259

Brian Robinson Sales Babble

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Five Steps for Instant Sales Improvement with Brian Robinson #259

Brian Robinson Sales BabbleBrian Robinson is a sales and marketing expert, coach, and author of the best-selling sales book, The Selling Formula: 5 Steps for Instant Sales Improvement. After working with some of the largest companies, Brian left the corporate world to launch the only startup in the history of the industry to sell more than one million dollars in business in twelve months—entirely by phone!  In this episode Brian shares the process he uses to train his sales staff for instant sales improvement.

Sales Book

As a long time writer Brian decided to assemble his advice into a book on selling challenges. He journaled what he does when selling, then recorded his conversations. This provided a way for people to listen and integrate itinto their own personal selling strategy. 

Questions are the key to life, and the key to successful selling. Brian has constructed a frame work, with scripted lines and questions, that can be adjusted for instant sales improvement.

Steps of a Sale

Brian has a five step process:

  1. Connect and set the agenda – “Are you opposed with having me share what we’re going to talk about?”
    • I’m going to ask about your business
    • I’m going to ask about the challenges your facing and some solutions we offer
    • I’m going to walk you through how our service works and we’ll talk about pricing
  2. Interview – ask for permission to take notes , shows you care and wantto  collect this information, if you have a bunch of questions they appreciate your preparation
  3. Present your solution – tell stories about your solution from customers in similar situations
  4. Pricing and guarantees – share three prices , have a high-low anchor and most will pick the middle. Have a guarantee that puts the responsibility on you .  Give garauntees that all your competitors do already. Just put them up front.
  5. Close the deal – if all previous steps done properly, this should be a no brainer.

Powerful Selling Phrases – Jedi Mind Tricks

Brian mentioned a few lines he uses time  and again to persuade buyers:

  • Would you be opposed to following up next Tuesday
  • I’m just curious, is there something your uncomfortable with, something we could talk about
  • If I could would you ……. if I could offer you some incentive to move now as oppsed to later, would you be opposed to that?  If I could offer youfree installation would you go now
  • With your permission I’d like to set up another time for us to get together next Tuesday at 10

Email  for Seemly Dead Deals

Brian said the following email gets an 80% response rate and revives many a stagnant deal. This is the script:

Subject: Pat, is it dead or alive?

Dear Pat,

I’ve attempted to connect with you via phone or email and unfortunately I haven’t received any response. So I’m just curious, is it dead or alive?   

Thanks for letting me know one way or another if you would like me to make further contact or to close your file.

Either way I look forward to the courtesy of your reply. 

Best regards,

How To Find Brian Robinson

Brian is easy to find!   Go to his website BrianRobinson.me to connect.
Go to Brianrobinsonbook.com for the first three chapters
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How to Win the Game with a Sales Playbook with Rod Feuer #253

Dave Gerhardt Sales Babble Playbook

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How to Win the Game with a Sales Playbook with Rod Feuer #253

Dave Gerhardt Sales Babble PlaybookConsider the possibility of not just having a model to base your selling process, but a playbook like in sports that tells you what to say and when to say it. Last week we heard advice that  selling must go from models to mindset. Today we’re going to turn the conversation around to look at it from the perspective of going from mindset to models, a sales playbook.

Our guest is Rod Feuer, Chief Strategy Officer, and Co-Founder of Costello. He believes that the best way to have the right first time conversation  is to tip the scales in your favor with a sales playbook. Rod helps sellers navigate key conversations in the moment and qualify them on critical deal information to keep opportunities advancing to a close.

Conversation Playbooks

The goal is to put reps in best place and to help guide them through calls. Give them the best set of words to respond for two kinds of calls . The first one is outbound calls (cold call  you often get push back) and overcome objections. The goal is to schedule a meeting. The second call is an inbound call and discovery conversation.

Picture a playbook with all the right conversations and questions a prospect might take. It’s a decision tree with paths. Once you make enough manual calls you get a 80-20 idea what they are going to say and how they will respond.  The goal is not to be a robot.

  • What you ask always the same
  • How you ask is adaptive

Take Action Advice

Start on version 1 of your sales playbook by writing down the 7-10 things about a deal you want to know. Next come up with questions that answer those questions. Now you have a great start. 

How To Connect with Rod Feuer

Rod chief strategy officer at Costello

This Rod on LinkedIn 

Sales Process Episodes

Let’s keep the conversation going and listen to other past episodes on this topic!

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The Index Card Business Plan with Brian Margolis #224

Brian Margolis Sales Babble

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Brian Margolis Sales BabbleThe Index Card Business Plan with Brian Margolis #224

In this episode we meet Brian Margolis, author of the “The Index Card Business Plan For Sales Pros and Entrepreneurs”.  The natural order of life and business moves from the simple to the complex. Yet at the same time big advances in science are the simplest of answers. You too can simplify and advance your business. Brian walks us through his business Chaplanning process with only a set of recipe cards!

Have a Strategy

If you had a completely free day, what would you work on today? If you’re unsure  you don’t have a business strategy. Let’s get one and build a process that ensures results. Stop procrastinating.

Characteristics of Pillars on the Index Card

Brians process is based on a set of pillars. Pillars are activities when executed consistently have a diproportionate postive effect on your business. When you execute your pillars, in a week you will see results.

Examples of Pillars:

  1. Proactivity
  2. High leverage activity
  3. Action or predictable result
  4. Something you already know how to do
  5. You can measure it weekly
  6. It’s not already a habit

Example Pillars for one client…

  1. Schedule certain number of meetings
  2. Send 5 non-sale touches to existing clients
  3. 2 hours a week sharpeing the axe
  4. Worked out 3 times a week.

Brian’s Pillar

  • Prospect and message 3 hours a week (uses a spreadsheet)

How To Find Brian Margolis

Twitter @prodgiant
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/margolisbrian
Go to the website for a worksheet for the book and see the first chapter
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Master the Art of Closing the Sale with Ben Brown#161

Ben Brown Sales Author and Coach

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Ben Brown Sales Author and Coach

Master the Art of Closing the Sale

A Game Changing 10 Step Sales Process for Getting More Clients and Referrals

In this episode we discuss the importance of having a repeatable sales process. Our guest Ben Brown has just published a book titled “Master the Art of Closing the Sale – The Game-Changing 10-Step Sales Process for Getting More Clients and Referrals”.  In our conversation we walk through each of these steps with Ben sharing concrete advice on how you can apply this process to your business.

Front Loading the Sales Process

Ben’s 10 steps consists of a front loading  sales process which makes the entire sale more efficient. The sooner you can qualify and discover what your prospect values, the sooner you can discern if you should pitch them, or give them a pitch.

Download Find The Itch Before You Pitch 

10 Step Sales Process 

When closing a sale Ben shared the following process. We walked through it step by step with examples.

  1. Get Prepared – be mentally prepared when you start your day.
  2. Research and Relate – do your homework and know your prospects.
  3. Qualify Potential Customers – don’t waste time with people who will never buy.
  4. Find an Emotional Trigger to Persuade – people are more likely motivated by emotion vs logic.
  5. Setup the Offer – repeat back the issues and desires to reinforce need.
  6. Present the Offer – build rapport buying signals and build yes patterns. The presentation could be 5 minutes or 30 minutes. It depends. Give them what the need, not what you want to present.
  7. Close on Product Concept – does this solve the problem does it sound like the way you want to go?
  8. Ask For the Sale-  “are you ready to move forward?”
  9. Ask For the Money –  ” what credit card do you want to put this on.”
  10. Ask for Referrals

How To Find Ben Brown

360 Sales Consulting specializes in sales training and coaching for small business and entrepreneurs who need help with their sale process. Ben has a proven method of the sales process and can provide analysis of the current method to see where improvements need to be added.
Twitter   @team360sales
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/360salesconsulting/

What are the Sales Process Steps

Here are past episodes that discuss integrating process into your sales. Click on one now!

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Sales Cycling and Startups with Jon Woodroof #145

Sales Cycling and Startups

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Sales Cycling and StartupsSales Cycling and Startups

Our guest is Jon Woodroof, a former bicycle shop owner and founder of TwoTone Amsterdam. Jon is a Georgia native, now living in the Netherlands where he started the TwoTone  consulting agency that is “stoked on where startups, sales & cycling meet.”  Sales Babble is passionate about long distance bicycling so it’s only appropriate the Jon talks about sales cycling and startups.

Build a Sales Process

The key to success for non-sellers to to build a repeatable sales process and follow it. It can be this simple:

1. Schedule an initial meeting – phone, Skype, in-person,etc.

2. Ask them for further information regarding their goals in a bullet point form:

  • What are you trying to achieve?
  • What is their success criteria?
  • If we were to work together how would you measure success?
  • What would you feel would be success?

3. Prepare a 1 page proposal from the bullet points.  Add time, budget, things previously addressed.

4. Ask them if the proposal represents their goals.

5. If they agree have them send a deposit, and  schedule a kickoff.  To gamify the process Jon places steps at bottom of the email to elicit trust e.g. “two tone consulting sent 1 page proposal”.

Take Action Advice

1. Interview and survey customers and prospects. Create an Ideal Client profile.
2.Have a sales process and follow it.

Where To Find Jon Woodroof

I found Jon on Twitter, you can too.  He is all over social media:

How To Grow Sales

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Wizard of Oz Sales Process with Steve Kloyda #137

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steve-kloydaWizard of Oz Sales Process with Steve Kloyda #137

In this episode we have a  returning guest, The Prospecting Expert, Steve Kloyda. Steve believes that all sellers should get serious about sales and use a sales process. Today he shares his Wizard of Oz Sales Process. It includes a set of questions that engage and illuminate the value of having a sales process.

Five Major Wizard Questions

1. What was Dorothy’s primary purpose in the movie?

Get home!

2. Who was the right person to get her home?

Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City.

3. What was the plan to get to the Emerald city?
Follow the Yellow-brook Road

NOTE: There were many obstacles, yet Dorothy persevered.

4. How do we know there is a Wizard (Dorothy asked)?
She referenced Glynda the Good Witch. Because of this referral they were able to get through the gate keeper. They eventually met the Wizard who agreed to grant their wish if they brought him the Wicked Witches broom.

5. What was the next step for the Lion, Tin-man, Scarecrow and Dorothy?

  • Courage!
  • Heart!
  • Brain!
  • Go home!

5 Step Sales Process

This is the Wizard of Oz sales process:

  1. What is the purpose for your next step?
  2. Who are the right people?
  3. What is the game plan for the next step?
  4. What is the solution for this potential problem?
  5. What is the next step?

Your Value Proposition

This is your unique prospecting message:

  • IS what is the name/definition of the
  • DOES what is the problem Pain it addresses
  • MEAN what does it mean for your prospect? increase expand maximize strengthen or build up?

An example: it’s an iPod, it does play music, what does it mean to you? You can carry 1000 songs in your pocket

How to Find Steve Kloyda

This is Steve in a previous episode #73 of Sales Babble

Here are his links:

If you’re not familiar with this movie, read this description on Wikipedia: “The Wizard of Oz”

 Sales Process Past Episodes

Still not convinced you need a sales process?  Listen to these episodes for other process ideas: