Client Conversations - Why Bother?

I had originally intended to just jump straight into how to lead a very important and high converting client conversation. Just speaking with a client this morning, made me realize 2 things:

A. I need to talk about?why it's so important to get that conversation piece right.

B. Why it is a key metric to have for yourself and for your sales team to create more quality client conversations.

1. So the first big reason why more client conversations is more important is this. If you're not creating quality client conversations, conversations where you're able to lead the client as opposed to being led by the client, -?you are being seen as a commodity.?It is transactional selling,?and that opportunity of really creating a connection and finding out the?why?behind the sale is lost.

2. The second big reason is a lot of people are selling via email. And there is a missed opportunity there. I've seen it happen again and again?when I work with teams over the last number of years, they're leaving an awful lot of the sales process to email.

And they just end up pitching too early and sending a "quote", as I call it.

If you are in the?B2B market, if you are selling a high value product or service,?and you want to really distinguish yourself from the competition or even?eliminate your competitors, it's a key area to get right.?

Clients have to have a conversation in order to make a connection. Especially in the virtual world.

The marketing team will help to bring in the lead.?It is up to the sales team to convert it.

But if your team isn't able to?convert the lead at a profitable price, then you're losing business opportunities.?

3. This is the third reason - the acquisition cost of a lead is way too high. If you're not able to bring client conversations around and to produce profitable pieces of business what tends to happen is your product or service is devalued and you may?end up in a price war in order to WIN the business.

In summary, these are the?3 main areas:

1. Avoiding?transactional selling because that conversation comes down to price.?You want to avoid being seen as a commodity.
2. Selling via email. What happens here is your team just end up sending a quote.?I'm quite sure you're paying way too high salaries to just be sending quotes.?Robots can do that.?Sales people watch out - don't get replaced by technology.
3. The acquisition cost of a lead is too high and it's too valuable an opportunity to?lose out on winning the business because of lack of training in how to lead a high converting client conversation.

So in my next article, I will walk you through the different areas of a conversation and where the opportunities are in order to lead that conversation.?You want to make sure that you're walking away from client conversations with an opportunity to send a proposal for really profitable business.

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Thanks a million! Ciara

A little about Ciara:

I share a message of how sales strategy and brave moves can transform companies, lives, and culture. I believe in the power of connection rather than transactional sales.

Voted one of the Top 10 industry pros to follow by Social Tables, I share practical insights that land with an impact.?Connect with me for a Sales Strategy Chat or to talk about running a workshop for your team.