Let the client talk early!

We spend a lot of time improving our sales message, making sure it makes sense, adding technical jargon and generally giving us lots to talk about when we are with a client.

This is important as it lets the client see our expertise and technical ability etc.

However perhaps the first phone call is not the time to be bombarding your potential client with all this info.

One of the areas we spoke about last week on the Sales Forum was allowing the client to talk as early as possible and for as long as possible.

Let us think about where the client is their customer journey at the point of the first conversation!

1.   Awareness: Yes

2.   Consideration: They have probably done their research on you (remember your marketing content? they will be reviewing!)

3.   Conversion: Not Yet

So, the client is probably somewhere between the consideration and the conversion stage. They may know a lot more about you than you know about them! This is your opportunity to really find out about what problem they are trying to solve.

We need to stop ourselves from jumping in with the solution we think we have without listening to what the real problem is or giving the customer time to articulate it.

• Give them the time
• Listen
• Ask clarifying questions
• Empathise and
• Confirm your understanding of their problem.

Another powerful suggestion from the Sales Forum was to allow the customer to formulate what your solution would look like to them. "How do you see this working for you?"  

Allowing the client to talk early will give you a much stronger foundation on which to create your tailored solution.

If you need help this or any other sales issues or indeed, you’d like to drop into our Sales Forum on the Ireland Together Platform, don’t hesitate to contact me.