Two reasons why it is important to make it about the prospect

I describe how making it about them can have a big impact on the pipeline. At the end of the article I have a free guide for those interested.

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...Don't hate me for saying it - "Prospects don't care about you and your amazing products". They do care about having their challenges solved.

Two real-world scenarios that highlight the importance of understanding the prospects position:

1.   Last year Jane X, Head of Sales for a fast growing tech Start-Up, told me about her innovative product and how her Sales Development Representatives were all bright & motivated however did not always hit their numbers.

This was a significant challenge for her and the business as they were key to making sure the pipeline was full for the senior salespeople to close opportunities SDRs uncovered.

One of the issues was an over-focus on the Value Proposition and Unique Selling Points.

Missing target cost the business ￡350,000 each quarter and made for some difficult conversations with investors.

This is not an unusual situation and we actually hear a similar stories time and again. SDRs are sometimes not overly experienced and can end up talking a lot about their proposition and USPs (features) of the product/service.

Typically SDR conversations are opening doors and happen near the start of a sales process. Talking too readily and overmuch about their ‘stuff’ doesn’t build great rapport and can even bore the prospect.

The good news is by having a 'prospect-focused' approach that involves effective questioning technique we allow the prospect to do most of the talking. This way an SDR quickly learns how to establish a bond and actually listens to them rather than regurgitating company strap-lines, just like everyone else.

As they allow the prospect to do most of the talking (making it about them!) they are more effective at understating problems ('No Pain No Sale'), qualifying the lead, and are more likely to close the next step.

Jane's team surpassed their ambitious targets for Q1 2019 for the first time in four quarters.

2. Scenario two is about that other key component of a successful sales professional: Time Management.

Reyansh is a senior salesman in the London office. Despite years of experience his numbers have not been good and he is concerned for his job.

Like many professional salespeople Reyansh has perhaps been too charitable with his time. Often he mistook questions prospects pose, about his company and service, to be positive buying signals. This is sometimes called ‘Happy Ears’.

The issue with ‘Happy Ears’ is that when asked to come in to demo or present, Reyansh was quick to get it booked in the diary and travel an hour+ each way. Almost all of these ‘leads’ ending up as free consulting and waste of his time.

Again, the good news is by 'making it about the prospect' we can avoid inefficient use of our time and get out of the free consulting buyer/seller dance.

When asked to come in for a meeting, or send an email, or write a proposal, Reyansh now stands his ground much more with the prospect (which a real prospect respects). He wants to be sure not to waste their time (or especially his own!) by sending the wrong material or a proposal not optimised to the prospect's situation. By effectively managing these requests Reyansh is able to ask more questions and really understand ‘why’ the prospect would like these things from him. In this way he makes it more about the prospect. This helps to disqualify those just trying to learn about his industry or pump him for a quote that they will use to negotiate with another supplier.

Reyansh now only takes meeting with real prospects that, by making it about them, have convinced him they are worth his time. He takes less meetings but his close rate is much higher, he is more confident and is 30% up on his sales than this time in 2018.

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If you would like a copy of a free guide with "Three Questioning Strategies to help close more sales" Type "Yes" in the comments below and I will send it to you. (Page 3 particularly helps to make it about them)

 *Limited to the first 100 responses from London based professionals.*