“I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard.” Estée Lauder.
Belief in my product is (also) at the core of why, and how, I sell. And belief, supplemented with sales methodologies and frameworks, can only yield even better results.
I attended sales training last week, and here are the three most important things I learned, and re-learned.
1. When walking into a potential account “cold.”
Three easy steps to make an in-person cold call easier:
- Who: Introduce yourself; name and company name.
- Why: Address the reason for your visit; incorporate a compliment whenever possible. For example: “I saw your Instagram account and love it and wanted to see more in real life” or “Congratulations on the great press mention in last week’s issue of XXX, the article made me want to stop by.”
- What’s in it for me: Address the benefit associated with your visit, for example, free products to try.
2. When walking into an existing account for a followup visit.
Here, the relationship is established, and it can sometimes get easy to treat a followup sales visit as a social call. To help make sure you are making an impact, and to ensure good note-taking and follow-up post-visit, use this framework:
- Situation: Who, where, when.
- Pain: What pain points were discovered? How can you further improve the relationship?
- Impact: What are the followup actions to ensure a positive impact from the visit?
3. When negotiating a sale.
First, replace the word “negotiate” with the word “trade”, which is both less aggressive and more positive.
Second, here are the trading steps to follow:
- Get all negation items out (figure out the list of “asks”).
- Repeat what you heard (active listening).
- Prioritize the issues (so you know which “asks” to focus on).
- Qualify the decision-maker (don’t waste their time or yours talking to the wrong person).
- Make the office, be clear and concise.
- Listen and repeat their counter-offer.
- Confirm the “expiration date” of your offer.
- Agree to consequences.
- Confirm all with email and contract.
