Supersonic sales session: Quick questions and interesting intros

We do weekly sales training sessions with our team – quick, 20 minute sales sessions focusing on individual sales skills to keep everybody at the top of their game on their sales technique. We break the sessions down into smaller bite-sized chunks to make sure everyone is engaged.  We also include interaction into these sessions so that no one can switch off.  Plus, I like to surprise them with a session at different times of the week to keep everyone on their toes.

Anyway, I thought it may be interesting to do a quick synopsis of two recent sessions:

1. How do I make an impact when I introduce myself?

Whether you’re making a cold call or walking up to someone at an event, the principle is the same – you need to make an impression quickly and get their attention.

So how to do it? Well, the key is to make a big impact, quickly. First impressions are created in the first 10 seconds so in that time you need to GRAB their attention, and you do that by saying some great things and saying it in a way that makes them sit up and listen.

What to say: of course, there’s the basics – who you are, your company, and what you do. But it’s the reason they should talk to you that’s the clincher. It has to be relevant, different and interesting. What you do, where you’re based, how many of you there are – don’t make the mistake of thinking these are interesting, they’re not. It needs to be an opinion, or a realisation you’ve had, or something you think or know that nobody else does because of the unique position you’re in. Ideally it should in the past have resulted in some great success.

How to say it: Confidently, like you believe it (make sure you do believe it), with a snappy delivery, with emphasis, in a strong tone and at the right pace, with some variation. Don’t overdo  it but bring it to life.

And your demeanour – be yourself. Be your best friendly but professional, personable, engaging self, with a touch of enthusiasm and confidence thrown in. If you’re a talking head, people will know – and you’ll come across like wallpaper. The you from the pub but in professional mode is far more engaging and interesting, and has valid views that people want to hear.

Contextualise it and make it about them if you can. ‘We’re a design agency’ isn’t as interesting as ‘I’ve been a designer for 20 years and I love sites like yours, especially how you used parallax design in a new way’

Last thing – keep it short – if it’s not interesting people will get bored after 10 seconds. If it is interesting, don’t take more than 30 seconds before you ask about them.

2. What Questions Should I Ask?

Getting to know people is about getting to know their story. It’s no different in a business environment than in real life. The old (old – I hate using cliches) adage that people buy from people is still true. Yes there’s social to help find suppliers and vet them, yes the sales funnel is largely defunct as a buying process, but the fact remains that if you sell high value services to businesses you won’t sell a brass farthing without a conversation and that conversation has to build trust and rapport, and to do that you need to learn about your potential client.

So, ask about their story. Ask about the history – what have they done in the past, how has it worked and why. Ask about their aspirations – both for their company and themselves professionally. Ask about their challenges and problems, their goals and objectives, their KPIs – both theirs and the company’s. ask about their opinions, views, fears, expertise, responsibilities, internal conflicts, frustrations.

The world is a rich and varied place and the possibilities are endless. Of course you can’t become someone’s best friend in 5 minutes, but people are people and it’s only through engaging with people that you build the trust that leads to new professional relationships.

So, that’s it – if you’re off to an event or reaching out to new contacts, start the conversation. Lots of them won’t go anywhere but the ones that do will be worth it.

Feel free to get in touch with Icebreaker.  We are a strategic new business agency who focus on you winning through 3 key areas - proposition, outbound prospecting and inbound marketing.