Trust Me, I'm a Salesperson

Most people have an unfavorable opinion of a salesperson.

Can you really blame them?

Shows and movies typically portray salespeople as the stereotypical car salesman. Many people have also been burnt and lied to. The world is full of snake oil salespeople. Not to mention, we are constantly bombarded with cold calls and emails all day.

So it's no surprise when prospects get contacted by us they immediately have their guard up. We're strangers to them, and they probably assume we're going to be too pushy and try and sell them something they don't need.

So with all of this negativity around sales, our fist big hurdle to overcome is gaining someone's time and attention. When you start with no trust, you're at a major disadvantage. That's why almost every conversation at the beginning of the sales journey is simply trying to convince the prospect to hear them out for just 2 minutes.

Everyone wants to know how to sell and how to capture their audience's attention. It's why there continues to be countless books and podcasts published year after year on "sales tips and tricks". It's also a reminder that there are a lot of opinions and strategies to sort through and test.

Trying to gain a strangers trust before you are ignored or hung up on is what it really boils down to. You only have so much time to show your credible, respectful, be personal, have a clear objective, all while sharing the potential benefits of your product or solution.

Let's assume you are a good sales rep and you already have your ideal buyer persona built out. Let's also assume you just pulled a list of leads and are ready to begin your outreach. Now comes the scary part... reaching out! What if they don't respond? What if they hang up? What if they yell at me? What if...

A lot of folks get caught in this stage. Fear not, there are a couple of great strategies to follow to help overcome this mindset and gain confidence.

To start, try and imagine what type of call or email would attract your attention if you were on the receiving end? Why would you continue to listen?

Also, be sure to keep your prospects time in the back of your head. Do not use this first introduction to bore them with statistics and all of the great benefits. Spend your time helping save your prospect time. This means having a clear message that is concise and to the point.

A great pitch should feel as if it is directed specifically for that prospect. Be personal. This means researching things like:

• The Prospect - job title, what their duties are, what they care about, where they live
• The Company - upcoming initiatives, articles/blogs they are featured in
• Recent Hires - new people in management positions, areas where they are growing
• Pain Points - what issues do companies like them typically deal with
• Neighbors / Peers - customers in their area / industry that you already work with
• Events - industry events you both might be attending

Don't go into a pitch blind, make sure to have a plan. Make sure you have talking points that are relevant for your ask. For instance, lets compare these two sales messages:

A) "Hi Bob, would you be interested in learning more about our widget? It can help you save a lot of time and money. We do work all over the United States. Let me know if you want to learn more."

B) Hi Bob, I was researching Acme Corp. and noticed your recent initiative to improve your supply chain process. We recently completed work for your neighbor, BizNess LLC, and were able to help save them a lot of time and stress with their supply chain. Would it make sense to set up a meeting to see if you would be a fit?

In example A, it sounds like the typical generic templates we all get. Why would anyone be compelled to respond or listen to A? However, in example B, it actually sounds like a real person. One message clearly shows time was taken to do research.

You gain trust be providing credibility. You build credibility by doing personal research and providing relevant examples.

Another important item to keep in mind during your initial conversations is to avoid bringing up features. Features are great, but they are a means to an end. The prospect only cares about the benefits to them. How does it improve their life? How does it help their company? This goes back to being brief and respectful of their time. There is a time and place for going in depth about your all of the capabilities and it's not during the first conversation.

If you have done your research and have a great plan of attack, then you will have no fear to pick up the phone or hit send on your email. Confidence is key, and your prospect can tell if you are prepared or not.

So now you know how to get their attention and build a little trust, now what?

This is where you channel your inner toddler. I'm sure we have all had interactions with children where they continually ask "Why?" While it can be annoying, it also makes sense what they are doing. They are too young to know how everything works, and they are essentially just trying to gather as much as they need in order to have a better understanding. Asking a lot of questions is key.

In sales, knowing who you are talking to, what they care about, what they are currently using, what initiatives they have, etc. are all essential in speeding up the qualification process. We need to ask a lot of questions not only for out knowledge, but it also helps the conversation move forward.

This means asking things like:

• How are you currently doing ABC?
• How is that working for you?
• Have you explored other ways to do XYZ?

Remember our ultimate goal within sales is to determine who is a good fit. This also means finding out who is not a fit so you can unqualify them as quickly as possible. This line of questioning also allows the prospect to do the majority of the talking. The less you are talking, the less it feels like a sales conversation.

So there you have it. You now have a few tips to use during your initial conversation that can help you gain confidence, build trust, and steer a conversation into a qualified lead. Once you have a qualified prospect, the rest of the sales process can begin.

In Summary

Gaining trust can be difficult, but there are many ways to sell while building credibility. You want to be brief and respectful of your prospects time. This means doing your research and getting straight to the point with a clear objective and examples. It's also important not to assume people need your solution. You must first ask questions that help drive a conversation to a point where you can qualify a potential sale. If you have done all of this appropriately, landing the follow up meeting or closing a sale will become a heck of a lot easier.

Bonus Tip

To really help increase your success rate, it's a great idea to pair your outreach with targeted campaigns. This can be via social media, nurture campaigns, or even sending items through a direct mail strategy. The more you can educate and be in front of your prospects, the better chance you will have to build awareness and trust.

Happy selling!