Article

Enhancing the Critical Preparation Phase of Selling

Effective preparation in sales goes beyond what is expected to elevate and differentiate your conversations.

Originally contributed by Mike Esterday for Top Sales Magazine

What does it take to engage in a successful sales conversation? Mastery of specific kinds of selling techniques? An endless well of product information, features and benefits? Clever banter?

Sure, all of that can be helpful. But none of this gets to the heart of what buyers repeatedly tell us they want out of a conversation with a salesperson. Buyers want conversations that help them buy, not conversations that help the salesperson sell. Above all, they’re looking for a salesperson who can bring them value. That’s why some of the biggest determinants of an effective sales conversation happen long before the actual discussion takes place.

It may be tempting to put in the bare minimum and rush through the preparation work before you engage with a prospect, but doing so will ultimately lengthen the sales cycle, at best. At worst, you’ll be wasting everyone’s time. Thorough preparation in sales is one of the most important steps to having a conversation that’s productive and successful, from your perspective as well as the customer’s.

Effective preparation in sales goes beyond what is expected to elevate and differentiate your conversations. This is particularly important today, as many customers are what you might call “reluctant buyers,” hesitant to move forward on a decision for reasons ranging from budget freezes to uncertainty about the future to fear of the unknown.

Their fear and the risks they face are real. And they need salespeople more than ever to help them think through a solution from all angles. They are looking for conversations that help them come up with ideas they may not have considered, or to change their perspective so they can move past where they are now to where they want to be.

Let’s look at a few ways you can enhance the critical preparation phase of selling.

Adopt a Researcher’s Mentality

Curiosity is one of the hallmarks of any successful salesperson. The more you sincerely want to know and seek to understand what’s going on in your customer’s world, the better you can engage in conversations that resonate, build trust and create value. The online world is a goldmine for the salesperson ready to spend some time digging and learning. Where to begin?

• Start with commonalities: There’s a chance you share a connection — an organization, a cause, an interest. Find out where your networks overlap to build initial rapport. Shared connections provide a degree of legitimacy and a way to start a conversation beyond “I’m here to sell you something!” Search online, find out what they’re writing and commenting on, perhaps videos of them presenting or being interviewed. These have the additional benefit of giving you clues about their behavior style.
• Dig beneath the surface: To make it immediately clear your intent is to create value, not just sell, you have to do more than comment generally about the economy or rehash what you’ve read on a home page. Identifying trends is important, but which are a high priority to your customer? Go deep on the industry so you can be an invaluable source of information to these decision-makers. If your customers have customers, who are the end users of their products, and what are their challenges and needs? You are most valuable to your customer if you can enhance the way they provide value to their customers.
• Know the competition: What are their strengths and weaknesses? If there isn’t a significant difference, be honest with yourself; it will motivate you to look for other ways to talk about value. Sometimes you’re competing against indifference. Be prepared with questions to help the customer realize why they should care. This might also mean telling the customer something they don’t want to hear, which takes a healthy level of sales confidence. Preparation gives you that confidence.
• Prep your team: Any knowledge expert you invite to a meeting is going to be excited to talk about what they like to talk about — the great product. It’s up to you to synchronize them with the sales process, not just the subject matter. Conduct pre-call meetings to brief technical and brand experts on what was covered in previous calls. Share with them priorities that need to be addressed and the strategy for engagement.
• Get in the right mindset: Self-talk is powerful. Take a few minutes ahead of each meeting to visualize a successful customer interaction (beliefs influence outcomes) and think about how customers are going to benefit from using your product.

Wow Your Customer by Being a Different Kind of Salesperson

More data, research, case studies or testimonials on their own don’t translate into better conversations with customers. Particularly with reluctant buyers, you need to connect with clients on an emotional level. Conversations need to move beyond questions about their current state and show the benefit of change and risk of the status quo. There’s a difference between asking, “What’s your greatest challenge?” and asking, “What might be the ripple effect if you could increase productivity by 20%?” Empathetic, values-based conversations like these take practice, preparation and supportive coaching by a manager.

Of course, you can’t prepare for every circumstance. When faced with the unknown, remember the essential thread that runs throughout every successful sales relationship: listening. Listen to your clients’ fears, listen for opportunities to uncover new information, listen to the conversation in your head and listen to your team.

Mike Esterday is co-author of the book Listen to Sell: How Your Mindset, Skillset, and Human Connections Unlock Sales Performance. Learn more about the book here, download a free preview, hear podcasts with the authors, find links to order your copy and more.