OBJECTIVES
- To make it easy for the client to understand how you are different from others with whom they will be meeting and how you can uniquely solve their challenges.
- To make this meeting so relevant and engaging that the client finds the concept of working with your organization irresistible.
CHALLENGES
- Studies show that 85% of senior leaders believe that sales meetings are a waste of their time because it is not about them, but all about the sales team and their story. They are assuming this meeting will be no different.
- They don’t want to have to work too hard to follow along with you, figure out how you are different, and understand how you can help them.
- Inertia is often your greatest threat. 95% of your initial meetings are with people who are reasonably satisfied with the status quo. Things may not be perfect, but they are tolerable. When a client cannot picture exactly how you are going to help them, they tend to do the simplest and safest thing—nothing.
TECHNIQUES
There are many nuances to selling successfully, but if you focus on only three things, here are the essentials.
A. Make it about them
From the moment you start talking your client is listening to see if you focused on them, not you.
1. To make the meeting about them, you first need to understand them. Before the meeting, do you homework. Review what you know about them, what they have told you, and do additional research into:
- The responsibilities of the people with whom you are meeting.
- What's happening in their industry, market, and competition overall, including outside pressures they are feeling.
- Their business objectives.
- The challenges they are facing that are in the way of them achieving their goals.
- What they hope to learn from you.
2. Now that you have learned what you can about them, identify 3 key messages for the meeting.
These should convey how your solutions will uniquely help them address their challenges. Resist the temptation to have four or more key messages.
The “Rule of Three” says:
- They can easily remember 3 messages.
- Three messages have the power to persuade, but four or more will leave them feeling skeptical.
3. For each of your 3 key messages, tell the client why they should care, why it is important to them and their specific situation. We call this the ’So What’.
4. Give them proof points to support your 3 key messages.
Proof points can be statistics, performance results, case studies, anecdotes, or real stories. Your client will make a buying decision based on emotion, but they need facts to justify how they feel.
B. Engage them
People do not just buy from people they like they buy from people they think like them. You are not just selling your solutions, you are building a relationship, one you hope will continue for a long time. Engaging in conversation is fundamental to building relationships, and asking questions is central to conversation.
1. Use open-ended questions to engage them in conversation.
These are questions that cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ so they get the client talking and thinking. Studies show that people who ask more questions are better liked. They are perceived to be more caring and better at listening and understanding.
2. Use questions to learn about your client, to get at how they think, what their challenges are, what they want to accomplish, and what’s important to them.
Have 5-6 open-ended questions ready in advance. The client’s answers to these questions will help you guide the conversation, shape your story, and position your value.
3. When they respond, listen attentively.
Be fully present. Stop your inner voice, do not rush them or interrupt them, do not worry about what you are going to say next, trust that it will come to you.
Listening is an act of empathy. When you listen, you have the chance to see the world from their perspective and to learn about them.
4. Ask follow-up questions.
These are the crown jewels of a conversation. The follow-up question is even more valuable than the original question because it shows that you have been listening, and you are keenly interested in them.
5. Restate or rephrase what they said and check in with them to see if you got it right.
This is a great opportunity for them to hear their response repeated back and expand on it. More often than not, they will tell you more because they've now had a few more moments to think it through.
If you don't get it right, it's okay, because they will correct you and you will learn even more about what's important to them.
C. Guide them
You want to make it as easy as possible for them to hear your message so it is your job to verbally hold the client’s hand and guide them through the meeting. You are both the play-by-play announcer and the color commentator.
1. During your opening, share the flow of the meeting and preview your 3 key messages.
- Share what you will be talking about today, in what order, and why they should care.
- Ask for feedback to see if they have other expectations. Any information they share now gives you insights into what’s important to them.
- As you share the flow, tee up your 3 key messages. You will elaborate on these during the presentation, but now is a good time to headline them. You will later reinforce them in your closing remarks.
- Once they know the flow and agree to it, they can then relax and listen. You have eliminated the confusion of the unknown.
2. Clear every slide.
Headline what the client is looking at before you begin your explanation of the information on the slide. You want to eliminate the chance that they are ‘trapped’ in the slide, reading and trying to decipher it all. When they are trapped in the slide they are not listening to you.
3. Design your presentation so that each slide has one main point that supports your bigger story.
Avoid dense, content-heavy, confusing slides that are trying to convey multiple points.
4. Use previews and summaries to transition.
At the end of each section, summarize what’s important about what was just covered, then headline for them what’s coming next.
5. Use Verbal Grabbers to draw attention to important points.
These are strong words or statements like:
“This is REALLY important because...”,
“A GREAT advantage to this is...”,
“This is VERY interesting because…”.
Verbal Grabbers tell them you are excited and that what you are now sharing is worth remembering. It’s like when a teacher says “This will be on the test!”
6. Use your close to tie it all together — succinctly!
Using the client’s own words to the extent possible, tie back to your 3 key messages and recap how your solutions uniquely solve their challenges. These are the three things they can easily remember and appreciate as valuable for them and their situation.
You want to leave them thinking, “They are different, they get us, and I want to work with them.”
ADVANTAGES TO YOU
- The client opens up and shares more when you show interest in them.
- As you learn more, you are able to guide the conversation to how your solutions align with their challenges.
- You create the beginning of a relationship rather than being just another vendor.
ADVANTAGES TO THE CLIENT
- They see how you are different and how you can help them.
- You made it easy for them to focus during the meeting.
- You made it easy for them to remember your key messages after the meeting ends.
- They can easily explain your value and how you are different to others in their organization.
- They can justify their decision both to themselves and within their own organization.
RELATED LESSONS
Available upon request at info@thebardgroupllc.com
The more fully you are engaged, and they are engaged, the better the outcome.
Brett MacInnes