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Inside Sales, Scripts & Cold Call Techniques from Michael Pedone

How to Improve Your PRESENTATION to CLOSE Ratio w/One Sales Question

by MichaelPedone 14. May 2013 09:34
Sales Question:

"We’ve seen an increase in new inbound (warm) leads recently and the number of our presentations are up but our closing ratios are not. Any advice?"

Answer:

There could be lots of reasons for this however when it comes to handling warm leads, one must be careful to not assume that the prospect is ready for a solution. Many inbound leads could be from “information gatherers” disguised as decision makers.

And no matter if you are speaking with an information gatherer or the actual decision maker, a very important fact needs to be uncovered prior to giving a presentation and that is:

Have they made the decision to purchase and are looking for the best solution or…
Are they investigating to see what solutions are out there in order to determine if the problem is worth solving?

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

The difference is this: one is already closed on wanting a solution and the other is not.

A prospect that has already made the decision to make a purchase and is in the research stage of which solution to purchase needs to be handled very differently than a prospect that has an interest in what it is that you have to offer but has yet to decide if they should make a switch to begin with.

Ever give a stellar presentation that the prospect loves and totally agrees with you that your solution would be the best choice, only to not have them buy from anyone, including your competitors?

In most cases, it’s because they haven’t yet made the decision to solve the original problem. And that’s a problem for you if it goes unchecked.

If a prospect has made the decision to find a solution and they are simply looking for the best one, we ask questions that will uncover what their ideal solution looks like to them and why (so we know how to custom target our presentation)

If they are simply in the investigative mode, we ask questions that uncover the motivation behind looking into possible solutions to begin with as well as the pros and cons for solving it (because we first need them “closed” on wanting a solution before we can close them on selecting our solution, make sense?)

I suspect however that a 3rd option might be at play here as well and that is, neither of these type of sales questions are being asked but rather, a warm lead comes in and an assumption is made that they are ready to buy and a “data dump” canned presentation is done without identifying where the prospects position is or what’s important to them.

So How Do I Know Where They Are In the Sales Process?

Try customizing the following sales question to your specific industry:

“Mr. Prospect, have you definitely made the decision to replace your current accounting software program and are simply looking for which solution would best fit your needs or are you still investigating whether or not you should make a switch in the first place?”

Really only two choices available from the prospect:

Choice 1: "Yes we definitely know we want a new solution, we just need to find out which one would be best for our needs" (and look at that… the perfect segue into asking sales questions that will identify what matters most to them)

Or

Choice 2: "No, we haven’t yet decided if we should make a switch, we are just in research mode right now" (and now you can ask questions that will uncover some of the reasons why they are looking for a potential new solution and uncover their thought process of why they should keep the current solution in order to help determine if a new solution would be the right choice. And if it is, well, you’ll know what to do next)

Hope this helps.

Michael Pedone
CSS: Chief Sales Scientist
SalesBuzz.com (A 2011 Sales Training Company Watch List Award Winner & 2013 SellingPower Top Sales Training Company Contender)
888-264-0562 ext. 1

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Prospect Is Disappointed I Called - What Do I Do?

by MichaelPedone 3. October 2011 07:42

Sales Question:

“What do you do when you call a prospect back and you can tell by the tone of their voice that they don’t want to talk to you, even though you had a good call with them previously?”

Sales Answer:

So just to clarify…

You’ve spoken with the prospect before, the previous call(s) seemed to go well and you had a follow up call scheduled to advance the sale and when you make that call and the prospect answers their phone they sound up beat but once you do your introduction you hear a change in their tone… Kind of like an “Oh, it’s you…damn…” type of response?

The Recognition

First, congratulations on consciously recognizing the change in tone… too often (and I used to make this mistake myself) sales reps will ignore the shift in tone and pretend it didn’t happen. And doing so puts us in a bad spot because there’s “heaviness” at the plate and “resistance” is up next to bat.

There’s a difference between recognizing a “tone shift” but making the decision to ignore it and recognizing it but fooling ourselves into pretending it didn’t happen.

One means you see the situation as is and you are moving forward anyway, and the other is operating out of fear that you are going to lose a sale.

At least if you consciously decide to ignore it, you aren’t operating out of “scared” mode.

The Alternative

What I’ve found however to be the best option is to address it – all be it in a somewhat humorous way… It’s important to let your natural personality come out when addressing it. I’m a pretty direct person (many of you may have seen some of my posts / responses on several LinkedIn Group Discussion to know this is true) so dealing with it head-on works best for me.

Here’s a Real World Example:

Prospect: This is (Prospects Name), how may I help you? (Up beat tone)

Me: Hey (Prospects Name), it’s Michael Pedone with SalesBuzz.com…

Prospect: Oh, hey (Ugh tone)

Me: You know, you don’t really sound thrilled to hear from me…

Prospect: Oh (usually chuckles or back peddles a little) no-no, it’s just that…

And now they "pop" with a real objection that is causing a problem in the sale that I need to know about anyway.

If I ignored the “down-shift” however and tried to advance the sales call, I would most likely have gotten a blow-off / stall that would have delayed the sale, making the cycle longer than it needed to be or might not of ever have gotten the sale to begin with because they decided internally that whatever “problem” they were having in moving forward, wasn’t solvable. Yet if it was something I knew about, I may have had a solution.

Breaking the Ice

By breaking the ice, it kick starts the conversation / dialogue that we needed in order to find out what changed since the last time we spoke and what needs to happen next in order for us to reach the ultimate win / win.

The key is to be natural while addressing it head on.

Final Tip

Just make sure you SHUT-UP after you address it… give your prospect the chance to blurp out their reason. For all we know, the reason for their tone shift may be subconscious and they needed a “jolt” in order to recognize why they are feeling the way they do. And both parties need to have that out in the open in order to neutralize it.

Otherwise, you will be back at square one because he/she didn’t get out of them what’s causing their angst.

Sincerely,

Michael Pedone
CSS: Chief Sales Scientist
SalesBuzz.com (A 2011 Sales Training Company Watch List Award Winner!)
(888) 264-0562 Ext. 1

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How Not to Handle Warm Leads

by MichaelPedone 17. March 2011 03:48

Sales Scenario: What Would YOU Do?

Let’s play a game.

In this game, you are the sales person. I’m the prospect. And I just completed a form on your website requesting information regarding a very specific service you offer.

It’s early in the morning as well. Before 9 am. You come into work, and see the new lead assigned to you and you notice that my name and information is already in the system. Apparently I had contacted your organization in the past but nothing came from it. So you see the new request, it’s early and I’m already in the system but past notes show I took no action.

What would your next move be?
A. Call the prospect ASAP – You like to strike while the iron is hot!
B. Hey, it’s early. The prospect probably has morning meetings etc… I’ll schedule a call back for this afternoon.
C. I’ll send him an email that says: “I am responding to the inquiry you made on our website and would like to offer my assistance. I can be reached at 888-999-0000” and will also try and connect with the prospect on LinkedIn.

Ok… Did you make your selection?

If you chose “C” as your answer, (which is what a real sales person did to me – I’m not making this stuff up, people) that answer would be INCORRECT. The real answer – the one that will lead to more opportunities – is A: Call the prospect ASAP – You like to strike while the iron is hot!

But wait… the game isn’t over yet (This gets even better)

So let’s say you chose option C, which is to email me your contact information and let me know I can call you any time (how thoughtful) but instead of calling you, I reply to your email with:

“Dear _____:

When a warm lead comes in, pick up the phone and call the prospect ASAP before your competitor does.”

Now what would your next move be?
A. Call the prospect ASAP – I was just given a second chance!
B. Email the prospect back and say: “I am aware of that, but you contacted us in the past and seemed unresponsive. I was planning on calling you soon. So, do you need information about our services? I would be happy to help you!”
Care to take a guess which option this “sales” person opted for?

What happened to having a “backbone” in sales? What happened to learning how to recognize an opportunity when one presents itself? If you can’t handle a warm lead, how are you going to generate new business when you have to call those same leads after they've grown cold?

It’s high time today’s newer generation sales people learn to grow a pair and give the sales field the respect it deserves by respecting what it means to be a true sales person. Nothing happens in this world until somebody sells something. Be that somebody. Be part of the solution that America needs to get back on track again. Learn your craft and stop waiting for prospects to do your job for you. Pick up the phone and start making things happen for yourself and your company.

Sincerely,

Michael Pedone
CSS: Chief Sales Scientist
SalesBuzz.com
(888) 264-0562 Ext. 1

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How to Avoid Losing Profits Due to Dealing with Non Decision Makers

by MichaelPedone 1. February 2011 08:03

Sales Question:

How should you respond to the scenario presented below?

"My manager said a 10% discount is not enough since we are interested in purchasing a 3 user license. Considering the number of other options available to us, he says a more acceptable discount would be 20%. Can you match this discount?"

Sales Answer: First thing I notice is the "My manager" statement… this tells me that the sales person isn't following a proper sales process. If they were, they would have realized way before ever sending out a proposal that the person they are in communication with is not high enough on the totem pole to be handling a negotiation. The sales rep needs to own this mistake and correct it from happening again in the future.

Secondly, if you look at the phrasing of the question, there is no guarantee that you would get the deal even if you "matched" the discount. And even if you did get the deal, what good is it if you gave up a significant portion of your profit margin?

So step one is to learn to follow a proven sales process that will eliminate these scenarios from happening in the first place.

"Great!" you say… "but how does that help me with this scenario?!"

Ok… here's how you get yourself out of this jam (that you caused… did I mention that already?!?)

So here's what you can say / do if you find yourself stuck in this situation:

"Mr. Non-decision maker, let me ask you this… assume for a moment that we were able to match the 20% discount… what happens next?"

You can learn a lot just from asking one question.

What I'm looking for is:
  • what their intentions are with the 20% discount (are they using me for a better price from a competitor or are they ready to buy now?)
  • uncover the prospects purchasing process and
  • identifying all the players involved in the purchasing decision.
Once I have that information, I'm in much better position to move the sale over to a more advantageous playing field to where I can close the deal without sacrificing profit margins. I'll discuss how this is possible in future blog posts.

PS… The next 12-Week Live Online B2B Phone Sales Improvement & Reinforcement Webinar Program is now open for registration. For group rates, click here.

Sincerely,
Michael Pedone
President/CEO
SalesBuzz.com
(888) 264-0562 Ext. 1
http://www.salesbuzz.com/blog/
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