Stop Having Sales Calls

I said something out loud to someone the other day that struck me as odd for the first time.?

I've said it many times before and to many different people, but this time was different.??

What did I say? I said, "I wish I were better at sales."

?I've read many books and attended several (expensive) live sales events. But I always thought this was not how I wanted to engage with people.?

Why did this strike me as an odd thing to say? Mainly because it wasn't true anymore! It was the old Dee slipping out, I guess!?

What do I know now that I didn't know before, even after?all?those sales courses??

The answer is @Storybrand. If you are not familiar with StoryBrand, I'll give you a watered-down explanation. StoryBrand helps your business craft a Brand Story that makes people listen using a 7-Step framework. This framework position your customer as the Hero of the story and you as the much-needed Guide.

I highly recommend you get the book. It's changed my business and my life. It will change how you talk about and market your business. Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

What's magical about this framework is that it can be used not only to write the words you can use to grow your business. But it can also be used as a framework for sales. It helps you have a very natural, very human conversation that never looks, smells, or feels like a sales call.??It helps you position yourself as a guide in your prospect's story as opposed to the Hero of yours.

So here are the simple steps to use the StoryBrand Framework to have productive and successful sales conversations where both sides come out with a clear path to success.????

1.?????Start with the problem. I know it sounds like a no-brainer. But if you have been on LinkedIn for any amount of time and have accepted connection requests with great trepidation, wondering will this person throw up on me in the message box without even understanding what problem I might be having as it relates to their products and services. Not cool!

2.?????Position your product as the solution to the problem. Think about how powerful it would be if those businesses started a conversation with me, like a normal person. Taking the time to find out if I even have the problem they seek to solve with their products and services.

3.?????Give the customer a step-by-step plan. Nobody likes to walk into a fog. Creating a simple three-step plan of what it looks like to work with you. Number 1, let's schedule a time to talk. Number 2, let's come up with a plan to help you solve your problem Number 3, sit back and relax; I'll take care of everything.

4.?????Paint the steaks (negative). Once you have a clear understanding of the problem this prospect is having, It's easy to list them out in a way that helps them understand that you get it. You get them. If you can list out all of the pain points they feel, you are automatically positioned as the person who can help them solve it. But this is tricky. You need to do this in their language and not your language. Using industry jargon may make you feel smart, but it doesn't make you look smart if that prospect doesn't know what you're talking about.

5.?????Paint the steaks (positive). Show the prospect the promised land. What their lives will look like once they've worked with you. You've just laid out all of the negative things they're already experiencing. Now you are going to show them how you're going to solve all of those problems for them, all of those pain points that they've been suffering where they're going to go away. This is what their life will look like after they work with you.

6.?????Call the customer to action. People will go where they're told to go. If you've done all this work, you've gotten them on board, and you don't tell them what to do next, you just wasted everybody's time. Giving them a clear call to action is critical. "Great, Tom, so here's what I want to do next; I'm going to send you my Business Growth Accelerator action plan with my recommendations that we talked about today, and before we end this call, let's go ahead and schedule a Proposal Review call for next week.?

If you or someone you know struggles with making sales calls because you never want to come across as a sleazy salesperson. Or maybe they don't even realize you are coming across that way!??

Here is a link to Business Made Simple where this training was presented by Donald Miller in greater detail. You can find it under the Live Training Tab.?

It's an amazing platform that is way underpriced!??

I'm curious as to what you think about being "attacked" by people in the message box who don't even bother to learn about you before they push their products or services on you.??