Are there opportunities to boost the level of confidence and skills in respect of sales meetings?  Not just those sales techniques to be found in most sales books (objection handling, presentation skills, etc.) but what is required to really engage with senior managers in bigger organizations.

The traditional menu of skills in respect of sales meetings is as follows:

1. Pre-meeting preparation, objective setting and planning

2. Communication (in particular listening) and presentation skills

3. Asking questions (both in respect of needs analysis and buying process)

4. Communicating key product benefits / features

5. Handling Objections and Questions

6. Progressing – that is ensuring a next step (as opposed to closing)

7. Pre-qualification

8. Meeting follow-up and nurturing

Topping up on these skills can be very valuable. But that does not mean making more people in the mould of the stereotypical salesperson, indeed breaking that mould is often what is required.

Managers must be careful to develop the right skills. Contrary to popular opinion the most important skills required for more effective sales meetings are not new sales techniques, persuasion skills, or even product knowledge. It is not about the neuro-linguistic programming, mirroring and pacing or closing techniques that are read about in sales books.

Standard forms of training, including role playing, can be valuable.  However, most effective of all is salespeople occasionally sitting in (in an observer role) on sales meetings held by their colleagues.  This greatly facilitate the adoption of a more consistent and indeed best practice approach to sales meetings throughout the organization.

Traditional sales techniques are inadequate for meeting with and selling to those who really make today’s important buying decisions – that is the senior level managers who in reality see few salespeople. Accessing and engaging these managers requires being seen as more of an expert and less of a salesperson. Getting these buyers to open up and to engage in a conversation demands that sellers can:

• Talk comfortably to C Level (at the appropriate functional level)

• Talk results (including ROI) and connect with the buyer’s strategy

• Share insights regarding the buyer’s business and the options available to it

After listening to pitches by several vendors buyers are often left confused and dazzled. That is because of the surprising similarity of what is typically presented.

Take a look across any industry and you will find that there is a surprising sameness to the adjective laden marketing messages of many vendors.

So, just how is your message different from its competitors and is that difference something that really matters to buyers?

Salespeople have long been versed in the need to have a clear and succinct elevator pitch.

Here is the problem with most elevator pitches delivered by vendors – they are focused on the wrong thing. That is on the seller’s company and its solutions, rather than on the results that the buyer wants to achieve.

What is the most effective means of differentiating your company from competitors? Well, it is not through long lists of features and benefits, glossy brochures or slick power point presentations.

The first secret to being remembered is to tell buyers what your customers say, not what your marketing department has written.

The second secret to being remembered is to share insights as to how others (preferably the buyer’s peers) have used your solutions to solve their problems and specifically the results they have achieved.

In short buyers remember stories, so use relevant and insightful stories to communicate the key points about your company and its solutions.

The result is that there is no consistency in terms of:

• The objectives for the meeting

• The level of preparation (and pre-qualification) undertaken

• the features and benefits that are highlighted/emphasises

• The balance of listening and talking

• The questions that are asked

• the information that is gathered

• How objections are handled

• What information, or insights are shared

• Whether a presentation is given and what it covers

• If meeting notes are taken and entered in the sales/CRM system

• What next steps are proposed

• What follow-up is undertaken after the meeting

There are a 100 ways to sell most products, or solutions. But there are not 100 right ways. Sophisticated sales organisations have perfected the science of selling to find the best way to sell and that includes the best way to manage a sales meeting.

Now nobody wants to put salespeople in a straight jacket and we certainty want to avoid any notion of mass producing sales meetings, where real interaction between buyer and seller is sidelined.

However in the drive for more effective sales meetings, we do want to ensure a core set of sales meetings principles, or quality standards are adhered to.

So, has your sales team decided upon the best questions to ask in a sales meeting, the best way to handle specific objections, the most effective sales meeting follow-up and so on?

Many managers are striving for greater consistency in terms of how sales meetings are managed. They complain that while sales prospects are difficult to find and costly to meet, too many initial sales meetings go nowhere. All this means they want a more effective approach to sales meetings applied more consistently.

So what are managers doing to ensure greater consistency across sales meetings:

• Ride-alongs – salespeople (as well as managers) sitting in on other people’s sales meetings in order to witness what is and is not working for others

• Sales Kits – documenting the organisation’s sales wisdom, in terms of standard sales materials, pre-meeting preparation (and pre-qualification) check-list, sales meeting fact-finds, lists of customer FAQs and objections and guidelines on how to handle them,

• Sales training workshops – bringing the sales team together to review and discuss sales techniques used, role play sales meetings, etc.

• KPIs for sales meetings – managers are paying more attention to meeting related metrics such as the number of sales meetings, the cost of sales meetings and most important of all conversion rates. This is supported by a drive to ensure that all sales meetings are tracked in the sales/CRM system.

  
  

If you do not, you leave the door open for another solution provider to come in and benefit from all your hard work. This requires you to take a long-term view.

Would you continue selling and developing relationships in an account for over three years without a result? Would you walk away? Say, you lost the deal to a competitor, would you shun the lost prospect and move on? Most salespeople would probably walk away. But one highly successful company we worked with did not. They took the rejection on the chin and kept in contact, making the calls and maintaining the relationship.

Yes, privately they complained of competitors playing dirty, but continued to make it easy for the customer to interact with their global teams. Finally, when there was a change of operations director in the account, the company secured a lucrative and strategic piece of business. It took a long time, but it did pay-off.

Do You Adopt The ‘Nobody Gets Left Behind’ Mindset?

High performing salespeople keep in touch with the entirety of their contact base. The level and frequency of this contact reflects the potential associated with each company in their database. They adopt a ‘nobody gets left behind’ philosophy. For example:

They diary a periodic telephone call, be that every six weeks or three months, to stay top of mind with those offering future potential. They also send an occasional email newsletter, article or information piece to those that represent ‘long shots’.

However, good intentions are not enough. A CRM system (designed by the sales team for the sales team) is required to schedule periodic ongoing contact, making it easy to administer and ensuring it does not rely on the vagrancies of memory.

To avoid follow-on contact falling into the nuisance category, ensure the communication has a real value. For example, an article or whitepaper, a note regarding a move by one of their competitors or a link to a website containing useful information.

Typically, your competition will spend lots of time and resources on the final proposal and sales presentation, but less comparable time preparing to make a good first impression on the prospect.

That means the salesperson that spends more time preparing for initial meetings, will:

•      Reduce the amount of time spent selling to those who can’t buy.

•      Build rapport faster by demonstrating a real interest in the prospect and their business.

•      Relate more readily to the buyer’s business and industry.

•      Demonstrate professionalism by having their homework done.

•      Have something much more interesting to talk to the buyer about.

•      Maximize the time available for the meeting by ensuring they do not have to spend time asking for information that is readily available (for example, from the buyer’s website).

•      Avoid selling too early in the process.

•      Have considered the next step that is most appropriate.

•      Reduce any stress, allowing the buyer to feel more confident and comfortable during the meeting.

Savvy sales managers often advise their salespeople to do fewer, but better meetings. This is because there is always a trade-off to be made between quantity and quality of meetings.

Preparing To Make A Great Impression

Fed Up Looking For The Killer Sales Pitch?

So, why is the ‘killer sales pitch’ so hard to find?  Well, because salespeople are looking in the wrong place. They are looking to their brochures, catalogues and press releases for the answer. Yet, it cannot be found in lists of features and benefits, elevator pitches or sales presentations.

The reason why salespeople struggle with their message is because the killer sales pitch isn’t a pitch — it is an insight!   It is not the explanation of ‘why we are so great’, but rather the answer to ‘why you should care’. In short, the perfect sales pitch has to be preceded with ‘here is something useful you should know.’  Remember, the insights must motivate action and engagement.

What Insights Do You Have To Share?

The salesperson can no longer simply act like a talking brochure. Buyers want something more than marketing blurb and techno babble in return for the time they invest in a meeting. They want to be told something that:

•      Is interesting and topical.

•      Is relevant to their company and its industry.

•      Reflects in at least some way their strategic priorities.

•      Recounts the experience of peers.

•      Is relevant to the performance of their business.

•      Shows the seller has invested some time thinking about the buyer’s business.

All this means that buyers want insights, not information.   But these insights have the power to sell.

Buyers are not really interested in your company and your product. They are only interested in how you can benefit their business.  That means your insights must communicate  how customers have benefited from your solution.

Over the years buyers like salespeople have been conditioned. When they walk into a sales meeting they are expecting a slide show and a sales pitch.

So, what do you do when the prospect asks you to start the meeting by telling them about your company?  Well, some books recommend you reply — ‘I would love to and there are lots of interesting things to tell, but in order for me to understand what areas I should focus on, I would like to learn a little about your company first.’

Now, in principle that makes sense. However, we find buyers often want to hear a little from the seller before they engage. By starting off with a short introduction you give your prospect a little more comfort, as well as the chance to focus on what the meeting is about. This is important because you cannot assume the prospect has done any preparation in advance of the meeting.

With this in mind we recommend having a short overview of your company that will grab attention and set a direction for the conversation. For example:

‘We have helped other companies in your industry. We helped Acme 1 and Acme 2, for example, cut the cost of complying with regulatory compliance by up to 35% by providing new technology to make reporting simpler.

In the process we have noticed some interesting trends with respect to the processes and technologies being deployed and in particular where additional savings can be gained.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss this with you for 45 minutes and see if it is something that is relevant to your business.

While I am going along I can explain a little about our company and leave you with some material.

Does that make sense or is there something else that we should cover in particular? I was thinking it would take 45 minutes. Is that ok? ‘

This is a lot better than a long-winded ‘about us’ monologue or product pitch. It indicates to the buyer that you have some useful insights to share, that you are not just there to sell and that you are no ordinary salesperson.

Notice what is happening here:

•      By mentioning the names of other companies you add credibility to your message.

•      By confirming the topic to be discussed and the time available, you manage expectations and demonstrate you are respectful of the buyer’s time.

Engaging with the buyer in a conversation is the real test of the salesperson. If the buyer is not saying very much then take care. Read the signals — ask if this is of interest and be prepared to go back to square one to find out what is.

Some conversations between buyer and seller never really take off, but to prevent this happening make sure you avoid:

1.   PowerPoint Presentations.

2.   Talking too much about yourself/company while failing to listen.

3.   Failing to show a genuine interest in the buyer and his business.

4.   Asking too many or inappropriate questions.

5.   Telling stories that suggest breach of confidence.

6.   Talking negatively about the competition.

7.   Running over on time.

8.   Evading questions or fluffing answers.

9.   Making what appear to be exaggerated claims.

10.    Looking for a big commitment from the buyer too soon.

So, are you making any of the following conversation killing mistakes?  Use the above list to identify opportunities to boost the effectiveness of your sales meetings.

Listen to buyers and it is clear that past experience with salespeople has made buyers very cautious. They have become highly skeptical and as a result are slow to make any early commitments.   These result is that in sales meetings they can appear withdrawn and disinterested.

Because purchases now tend to have larger strategic implications, managers involved in championing a specific purchase or supplier will have their decision scrutinized from many different levels within the organization. Therefore, buyers are even more circumspect when dealing with suppliers looking to sell.

In fact, while the salesperson is enthusiastically making his PowerPoint presentation or talking about his solution the buyer is usually thinking:

•      Where is the proof to back-up these claims?

•      Who else uses this solution in our industry and what results have they achieved?

•      Could I really work with this person?

•      I have heard all this before.

•      This is a typical salesperson. I don’t want to be prequalified or closed.

•      You don’t seem to know much about my industry or business.

•      I have another meeting to go to. How do I get out of this?

Is Your Selling Preventing Engagement?

The faster a salesperson is to sell in an initial meeting, the slower the buyer will be to engage. The buyer may sit back patiently as the salesperson delivers their presentation, but is unlikely to be truly engaged.

Buyers are often happy to let the salesperson do all the talking, while keeping their own cards held close. The result is many sales meetings end without the salesperson understanding if there is any real interest or even a valid opportunity. Worst of all they leave without knowing what the appropriate next step should be.

‘Stop selling’ may certainly sound like strange advice, but the reality is that most salespeople perform at their best when they stop selling. When the pressure to sell is removed salespeople begin to listen more closely to their customers’ needs and in turn decision makers start to open up about what they need and want. As a result the chances of success are vastly increased.  A high performing salesperson put it like this:

‘Several times a month we receive the standard text reminder, ”Always be closing.”  This is a theme followed through in every sales meeting, where the same manager, repeats the line ”the only difference between losing and closing is a ‘C’.“  However, I know that if I applied that logic in my meetings with buyers I would get absolutely nowhere.

I make a point of honestly telling all those that I meet, that whether they spend €150,000, €50,000 or nothing, I am not there to sell to them, but rather to help. And I do mean it. I tell them about what other customers are doing and listen to what they want to achieve and we take it from there. It will take several meetings, but my success rate is the best of my team.’

Listening is essential in sales. When sales deals turn sour it is usually because the salespeople involved were not listening to what the buyers were telling them or they were misinterpreting what the buyer was saying.

Your primary goal as a salesperson should be to listen carefully, to learn about and understand the prospect’s problems so that you can sell your solutions.

By asking questions and listening to the prospect you build awareness of the problem, as well as ownership of the solution. These are two vital ingredients of your sales success.

A Senior Manager — Buyer in a Multinational Corporation put it like this: ‘The Executive Suite can be a lonely place. If we trust the salesperson and feel they will listen, we tend to open up.’

Do You Listen, Before Talking?

Contrary to popular opinion great salespeople are not great talkers, but great communicators. The key difference is the ability to listen.

The eternal debate in selling surrounds the proportion of time the salesperson should spend talking, as opposed to listening. Is it 70:30 or 50:50 in favor of the salesperson?  Does the ratio change over the course of the sales cycle, with the buyer expected to do more talking at the earlier stages?

One thing is clear you cannot arrive at a sales meeting and expect to ask lots of questions and spend your time listening. On the other hand, you absolutely cannot spend most of the time talking. There is a delicate balance to be struck.

The rule must simply be to start a conversation that genuinely engages the buyer. Again the magical words are ‘conversation’ and engagement — thinking this way naturally ensures the right balance of listening and talking.