Controlling Sales Conversations

Controlling sales conversations is not always easy. I will share a few key techniques that, if followed, will provide you a reliable map to follow from hello to thanks for you business. 

When selling, you must tread a thin line between being empathetic yet assertive; driving the focus of the conversation, but still listening to your prospects responses; and building rapport without being overtly obvious that you are looking to close business. 

ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY AND PERSONALITY 

It is critical that in the first one to three minutes of a sales conversation, whether in person or over the phone, that you establish your credibility and personality. What I mean by credibility is bringing up the name of client that you've worked with that is impressive, a job you completed that is a feather in your cap, a peer of the prospect that would recommend you. Also, be certain to express thanks that they are giving you consideration and time. 

"Hi Susan, Leslie Venetz from Company Y. I recently finished a project for John Doe that decreased his overall fleet costs by 4% for the next quarter. Since I know you also have large fleet and I am sure could benefit from similar cost reduction, I wanted to take a moment to speak with you. Thank you for carving out time in your schedule."

OR

"Hi Susan. Leslie Venetz from Company Y. I am work with companies like Nike, The Finish Line, and PUMA since I know Adidas is in the same vertical as those companies, I want to take a moment to introduce myself as a thought lead in lean manufacturing for retail products. Thank you for taking this meeting."

During this introduction, which certainly can be longer than the above, you also want your personality to show. That doesn't mean you should be wearing hot pink lipstick and have your tattoos visible. It does mean that you should make a good first impression by smiling, being confident, having good manners and, overall, displaying yourself as a professional that this person would trust with their success.

GET TO KNOW THEM. DIG DEEPER. BUILD TRUST

Don't walk into a conversation without preparing. You need to have, at least, a basic idea of what this person and theirs company's needs are. With that being said, you also don't want to assume you know everything. If you know too little, the meeting will seem like a poor use of the prospect's time. If you are overly confident in your knowledge--it may come off a bit pompous. 

If you are selling a Accounting Solution to a VP of Tax from Kellogg and are not a CPA and have not worked as a corporate accountant, the decision maker will likely appreciate your acknowledging that they are the expert on some matters. Use this to your advantage by taking your basic understanding and turning that into probing questions. 

"Susan, I know that you have a large fleet and would benefit from cost containment solutions. Can you give me an idea of what steps you have already taken."

"Why have you decided to focus on cutting costs from the fleet as opposed to other areas of the business?"

"If we were able to work together to cut 3% of your fleet costs, how would that impact the overall health of your business?"

Just as important as the questions you ask, is your ability to listen to the prospects answers. I have written about questioning techniques in the past--I highly recommend you go back and look at that entry for more ideas. Continue to ask questions until you feel like you have reached a pain point or a truer understanding of their needs. 

If you try to sell based on knowing they only want to cut costs from their fleet, it is not likely that you have a well-rounded understanding of their issues,. What is driving the cuts? What is the timeline? What are the hopes are for after the cuts are made/ They may be looking to cut costs in fleet in order to open an in-office day care. Knowing that will help you sell with more conviction and certainly more control. 

JUST REMEMBER: Ask a question and then STOP and make sure you really listen to and digest the reply. 

BUILD VALUE

At the beginning of your conversation you did a little bit of value building by talking up your credibility and maybe giving a brief introduction to your value proposition before starting to ask questions. It is incredibly important that you do not pitch your entire product or try to sell the prospect before you get to know them. 

Why? Because your initial pitch would be a generic statement of why somebody in their position could benefit from your service/product/solution. AFTER getting to know their needs and uncover their pain points your pitch will be focused on why they, specifically, will benefit from your solution and how only your solutions can help them reach their goals/tackle their pain point. Does that make sense? Your ability to make a sale is increased exponentially the more that you know about your client. 

PULL OUT ALL OBJECTIONS

Now that you have uncovered all of the prospects needs and have built an incredible amount of value surrounding your Solution's ability to solve their specific pain point. ASK FOR THE BUSINESS. It may be that easy--and they say yes. More likely, they will give you some form of objection. That is great. Don't view objections as overtly negative--you want to hear them so that you can have a chance to answer and sooth your prospects concerns. 

It is far worse to not ask what is holding a prospect back, rent space in your head thinking it might be a piece of business, and the entire time not knowing that they already decide against moving ahead with you. The old adage--A quick no is better than a slow maybe--is always true. 

You are not asking them for their business because you always think they are going to say yes, but you are letting them know you want to move forward and exploring any issues that might hold them back. 

CONDITIONAL CLOSE

Once you have overcome any objections always do a conditional close which is a trade. For instance they told you that the per unit price was too high for them to commit today. You ask them questions to discover what the total investment they were planning to make is, what their best case scenario for price per unit it, what their other options are and then you ask them:

"If I am able to lower the per unit cost by 1.5 cents and split your payment over two months, will you commit now?"

This is either going to get you a deal or uncover more objections. Obviously the deal is preferable, but lets say they give you another objection--keep following the same process of discovering as much information about the objection as possible and then going back in for a conditional close.

"I know that you mentioned you needed to speak with your boss about the new price/split payment structure that I proposed. If I send over an email guaranteeing the new terms until the end of the month, would you be able to speak with your boss and make a decision by that time?"