5 Sales Tips to 5M

With the over Abundance of content online now, with a capital A, of info, tips, tactics, and strategies with what we see daily is overwhelming but also right at our finger tips anytime we want it. Most of us have gotten really quick and efficient at sorting out all the info and seeing what we benefit the most from right now and seemingly in the near future.   Your sales or business prospects do the same thing with who they meet with, evaluate, test out, and eventually partner with solving a real business problem they have.  So what REALLY separates the best from the rest?  True empathy and being memorable in self first then solution; you're the face they associate a company or partner with.  The empathy comes from understanding and knowing what someone is thinking, doing, and living so we can make a lasting impact which becomes memorable.  Quite simply:  not being a robot, a pitch mouth, a tech head, or a pushy sales professional who thinks that their solution is the only solution. Too much of the conviction bone early is never good and attitude of "my product is the best solution out there," isn't either. It sounds like blah blah blah to a potential client; you are beginning to lose them.

Top sales professionals and senior executives are strong at evaluating companies, people, and industries before they come on board and they are also equally good at telling that story to a future potential client.  Here are the Top 5 Highest Impact Sales Tips in 15 Years I have gathered that will turn any mediocre sales professional into a Sales God *IF and only IF they properly vetted their company ahead of time and KNOW it really is a strong solution to a problem.  There are so many authors with books out there with different styles so this is a combo of what I have done myself, collaborated on, and also learned thru the years with trial and error. There are many more tips but for your initial absorbtion these are the first 5 from an overview and 

1)  Tell The Right Story:  There are a few short stories that make up your whole story you bring to your client into one.  Craft yours sincerely and effectively so you can transition into some good questions, flow, pitch, and next steps.  It looks like this:  Discussing briefly how you evaluated the company you came on board with as well as the industry when making your decision and why you did it instead of just telling the company history.  Also speaking briefly about how you vetted and considered other comparative solutions letting them know as a sales pro today in the world of short attention spans and crowded industries you want to be where you see has the most impact by helping clients. Ask about their background and give them a quick insight into yours is a good segway into establishing yourself and what you have solved for prior clients.

2)  The Right Timing:  Know if the timing of your Uniqueness or Key differentiator is ripe for them.  Some of the best solutions in the world are at the wrong time in the buying cycle.  Knowing where your prospect or that company is at based on some good probing questions is important to make a determination where you can offer right now solutions and over time solutions leaving your strategy to be more walk, run, sprint approach.  

3)  Call The Top Level, know them & their Admin on the Account List: On your first entry into a new account, get their admin, and ask for time to setup a call.  First In should be Top Down, always in your first attempts.  Once you go in too low in the decision chain, in most cases, you are stuck there.  If you can't answer what town that the senior admin is from (Gatekeeper in a technical era) you are doing it all wrong.  ALL WRONG.  The Human Factor with follow up still wins over Tech (emails, flash drives in the mail, LinkedIn connection requests/messages, fancy presentations) any day. To mid level decision makers it makes their jobs a little easier if what you are offering makes sense and speaks non-verbal volumes when you connect with a C-Level exec who refers you to them.  When the time comes for sign-offs and approvals it has made my sales cycles 1-2 months faster and potentially yours too.

4)  Solution Performance Model:  The % Refund Tiered Approach:  This is a model that some companies, who are sure of their solution will put a credit in place and many won't based on the type of product/solution and clear uncertainty.  Could your industry or solution warrant this style of certainty to close?  Is your company willing to put dollars on the line (maybe test it) for a client to excel? A few organizations I have successfully worked in have put this model in place because they trusted their product/solution, their back end support, and me to get it done.  If it is measurable, put your money where your mouth is and ask thoughts on the spot.  I would rather get a deal, mess up and have to give back 10 or 20% of my incentive because I got the deal, where we can improve what was missed, and avert it in the future.  

5)  Ultimate Trust, on both Sides:  Prospects who are on the fence need to know someone is behind what they are doing, willing to take a risk like they are, and very ready to deliver real and measurable results.  "Here is my linkedIn login and password, if it is completely wrong for you and gets screwed up, you can tell everyone I/we are a lack luster professional(s)."  See the risk there? That creates ultimate equality from their risk, to your accountability, and if you can do it in a big room with people all together seeing each others reactions, that's even more powerful.  **DISCLAIMER:  Don't do it if you have a second or third rate solution and sub par support staff.  Will the prospect/client actually bad mouth you, probably not, but to date since 2009 that has been my most successful partnership aha moment to gain business and there were 2 times it bombed.  I was willing to open up my whole network to them because I knew we would be successful; not perfect, but ultimately successful. True conviction is something many sales pros have but never use to it's full potential.  

Try #5, if you dare!

I hope you were able to pull 1-2 new tips from this and gradually take on more implementable ideas to grow your style and client base.  

More tips and tactics to come.         -TJP