Understanding how to skillfully navigate sales conversations, moving from a casual conversation to one that generates business is essential for any small business.
Failure to develop these skills leads to one of two outcomes:
- Show up and throw up - This is an outright pitchfest. You're so concerned with getting the sale and winning the business that you forget to act anything remotely resembling a normal human being. It's an "all about me" approach and a race to the bottom as you try to detail every product benefit and feature you can think of and convince the person they can't live without it.
- Nice but ineffectual - Also a race to the bottom, but this time an "all about you" approach that is ineffectual and weak. You are so concerned about not coming across as pushy or "salesy" that you never really get down to business. You patiently wait for the person to ask you about your product but for some reason, they don't. The person could massively benefit from what you do but instead, they walk away thinking, "Nice guy but I probably won't do business with him."
What you need to do is walk the line between those outcomes. Confidently engage with your prospect and lead the conversation into how you can be of service to them. It's not about sales. It's about being a solution provider.
To discuss this topic today I turn to B2B sales expert, Chad Sanderson.
Improving Your Sales Convesations with Chad's ValuePrompter®
During the interview, starting around the 23 minute mark, Chad takes you through the tool that he uses during sales conversations. This tool is called the ValuePrompter® and you can see a copy below.
Chad breaks it down during the interview but as you can see it's pretty easy to understand anyway (which is the mark of a great tool). The trick is in getting comfortable with the framework and that means practice.
What you'll notice most about this approach is that the client that is giving you the information. You don't define their problem - or even the solution. They do. In this way you avoid friction, get to the real issues that matter and uncover solutions. Chad sums it nicely when he says:
Note: Some of the resources below may be affiliate links, meaning I get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.
