Are You Overwhelming Your Prospects?

Remember the acronym KISS? Keep It Simple Stupid. It is not a really emotionally intelligent way to coach a salesperson on how to improve their sales approach so remove the word stupid and you will find that KIS is a strategy top sellers are using in their sales approach today.

Fact. Most of your prospects are overwhelmed. They are being bombarded with information all day long. The internet, social sites, texts, emails, phone calls, hallway conversations, television and you can add a few of your own to this list.

The new challenge for sales professionals is figuring out how to provide the best and right solution to clients and prospects without overwhelming them with meaningless conversation, data and solutions.

Simplify your sales approach and stop overwhelming prospects.

1.??????Simplify your value propositions and sales messaging. Evaluate your current messaging to see if it demonstrates empathy and expertise. This integration helps prospects cut through the clutter of what you sell and problems you solve.

Empathy. I understand the day in your life and the challenges you are facing. (Who the heck is going to buy from someone that does not “get them?”) ?

Expertise. We have the solution to those challenges. (Who wants to waste time meeting with someone that does not demonstrate competence?)?

Apply the EQ skill of delayed gratification and put in the work of creating sales messaging that cuts through the fluff and emotionally connects with your overwhelmed buyer.

2.??????Discovery meetings. Take a lesson from Gary Keller, author of The One Thing. His provocative question and often quoted question from his book, is a great sales question. “What’s the one thing you, Mr. or Ms. Prospect can do and such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”?

This question or a similar form of it helps your prospect focus and think. Great salespeople provoke thoughtful conversation. They ask pointed questions that help prospects navigate through information overload.

Another simple question that facilitates focus is, “Does this business problem fall into the need to solve bucket or nice to solve bucket?”?In this world of FOMO, fear of missing out, all of us can fall into the trap of chasing shiny objects that really are not going to provide a return on investment. Help your prospects eliminate their own FOMO by facilitating a conversation around their need to have versus nice to have’s initiatives.

3.??????Solutions. At this point of the sales process, salespeople like to present a a lot of data and options. But the question that must be asked is:?Are you presenting the right data at the right time the right way? For example, if you come in with your preloaded excel file showing costs savings, the data might be right but it is being presented the wrong way.?

People believe their own data. A better approach is a collaborative process where you and the prospect decide on the data in your cost saving tool or template.

For many years, I was taught to give prospects three options with the idea that they would often select the middle option. I am finding that three options are the beginning of glazed eye syndrome and “Let me think it over..”

Today, by conducting focused sales conversation, I often present one recommendation with the understanding the prospect and I can add, tweak or delete the ideas recommended.

KIS.?Keep It Simple and you will help your prospects avoid decision fatigue and overwhelm.? Learn More #sales #leadership #salesleadershipdevelopment