Selling Power Blog

Is Your First Impression Advancing the Sale?

Today’s post is by Justin Zappulla, managing partner at Janek Performance Group.

 

As the old chestnut says, you have only one chance to make a first impression. And, in today’s time-crunched business world, your first opportunity might be the only one you have to get further in the sales process – so you need to know how to impress right from the jump. 

These are the things you need to keep in mind.

1. Research prospects and customers, and prepare well in advance of the meeting.
   
   Most of your time should be spent researching the client and the people you’ll meet. Yes, there will be a discovery process as part of an initial contact. But you want to be able to use discovery to really drill deep into a client’s needs, objectives, and situation – not just rehash the basics that are surface-level and easily available.
   
   Also, think about this: The more you come in knowing about a buyer, the more likely they are to be impressed, because you’ve demonstrated that you’ve done the hard work to get to know them as much as you can before the meeting.
   
   
2. Ascertain buyers’ communication style as quickly as you can and adapt to it.
   
   There are four fundamental communication styles – expressive, business-oriented, visionary, and cautious/skeptical. One of the keys to making a great first impression is to determine which one is predominant for the buyer and adjust accordingly.
   
   For example, an expressive communicator will enjoy small talk and chit-chat before getting down to the purpose of the meeting, whereas the business-oriented communicator will want to get straight to the point and the relevant information.
   
   The communication style speaks not only to the flow of the discussion, but the content and evidence. A visionary communicator will want to hear how your solution fits in the grand scheme and vision of the future, so imagery of what their life or work will be like after the purchase resonates powerfully with them. Conversely, the cautious/skeptical buyer will be much more likely to raise objections or challenges, and will need space to reflect on what you’re communicating to them.
   
   
3. Be authentic.
   
   Most people are able to detect when someone is being insincere or inauthentic. So it’s important to speak and act as you would in a normal situation. If you put on a pose or try to be someone you’re not, the buyer can pick up on that – and this can plant seeds of doubt as to your honesty and whether you’re hiding some critical information they need to know.
   
   
4. Rehearse the conversation beforehand.
   
   You know how comedians, public speakers, and professional athletes make their work look effortless and easy? It’s because they’ve practiced – sometimes with hundreds or thousands of repetitions beforehand – until it’s become second nature to them. While you likely won’t have the time to do that yourself for every single meeting (or even most of them), the takeaway is still the same: Run through your opening, your main points, your intended questions, and your next steps as frequently as you can.
   
   
5. Set a pre-meeting agenda and distribute it ahead of time.
   
   Even if it’s short, write an agenda and give it to the people you’re meeting in advance. Not only will it show that you’re on top of things, it will help the buyer know what to expect and allow them to perform their own preparations for the conversation (such as questions they want to ask, what they’re hoping to gain from your solution, etc).

A positive first impression sets the stage for building a fruitful, mutually beneficial relationship that progresses through the sales process and sales pipeline and continues even after the sale. Utilizing these strategies and tips will help you  achieve your objectives.

For more expert, actionable advice on how to advance your selling skills, visit Janek’s resource library and sign up for Janek’s free monthly newsletter. 

How to Close Business in a Complex World: Bring It in for a Landing

Today’s guest post is by Lance Tyson, president and CEO of Tyson Group. Lance is a recognized speaker and trainer who draws on more than two decades of sales experience training sales talent for some of the biggest names in professional sports and entertainment, including the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, New York Yankees, Miami Dolphins, Fenway Sports Management (Boston Red Sox), Tampa Bay Lightning, San Francisco 49ers, and the 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Lance is the author of the best-selling book, Selling Is an Away Game: Close Business and Compete in a Complex World. 

 

For sales professionals, there is perhaps no single word more enshrouded in mystery than “closing.” If you check out the descriptions for sales jobs, you’ll find that companies are always looking to hire closers. There’s a kind of mythology built around closing that implies a rarefied skill possessed by only a few elite salespeople. 

But, in reality, closers are like pixies or leprechauns – they don’t exist. That’s because there’s no special skill required to close business.

To Close More Sales, Prepare to Lose Sales 

A few weeks ago, I was conducting sales training for a major NBA team. At the break, one of the sales reps approached me and asked for some advice on how to become a better closer. I asked him to clarify what he meant by that, and he said, “I want to close more sales.” 

My response back to him was: “Are you also ready to lose more sales?” He gave me a look of pure confusion. So, we walked over to the door of the training room, which was standing wide open. I said, “See this door?” He nodded. I slammed the door shut as hard as I could. “Now it’s closed.”

My point was not to act like a jerk or make the sales rep feel small – I was simply trying to illustrate that the act of closing business means bringing the deal to its final conclusion. As long as that door stands open, the deal is still a possibility. 

As human beings, we tend to accept extenuating maybes because they allow us to keep the door open indefinitely. But clinging to “maybe” actually prevents us from closing the deal.

The Toughest Question in Selling

If you want to close a deal, you have to be willing to ask the toughest question in sales – “Are you in or out?” And, before you do that, you have to accept the fact that you might not like the answer. Because sometimes this question serves as a catalyst to help us close business. In other cases, it means walking away so we can find another, more suitable prospect.

That’s why I believe there’s no specialized skill to closing. You simply have to decide whether you are ready and willing to shut the door. 

Is the timing right to close? To find out, ask yourself these four questions. 

1. Have you successfully established a rapport with the buyer? 
2. Have you done your homework in evaluating and diagnosing the problem? 
3. Have you offered a carefully considered prescription? 
4. Have you had a frank dialogue about objections? 

If your answers to these questions are “yes,” then the timing is probably right to close. 

Successful sales reps need to be confident – or at least act confident. Don’t be willing to live in a world of perpetual maybes. It’s okay to let the cake sit on the table and cool down a bit, but at least be ready and willing to ask buyers if they want a slice.

A Few Strategies for Closing

I travel about 50 times per year, and I still marvel at the fact that a 60-ton piece of steel tubing can thrust itself through the air at a speed of hundreds of miles per hour and manage to stay up. By contrast, landing makes sense to me. After all, we have gravity in our favor – inevitably, the plane will come down. 

Closing business is like landing a plane – at its core, it’s simply the act of bringing the deal to its natural conclusion.

That said, there are a few strategies for closing, and it helps (before you hit the runway) to choose which one you want to work with:

1. The Direct Close. I always prefer this approach, which can be summed up in the words of Nike: “Just do it.” In this variant, you just ask the question directly, “What are your thoughts on this – do you want to do it?” At the very worst, the answer may mean walking away from the deal. But, if you’ve taken the other previous steps in the sales process, chances are that it will move you more quickly toward a positive resolution and closure.
   
   
2. The Alternate Choice Close. In cases where the direct close seems too presumptuous or risky, you might opt for the Alternate Choice Close, where you offer a couple of options, e.g., “Do you want to go with the three-year contract or the seven-year contract?”
   
   
3. The Minor Point Close. If you encounter a situation where the buyer’s position is opaque and they claim to still be thinking about it, you could try the Minor Point Close. Ask how the buyer feels about a particular section of the contract (or some other minor point) to gauge interest and move the dialogue forward.
   
   
4. The Next Step Close. When we are setting up a sales training at a hotel, often the sales rep will actually show us a room and ask us, “What are your thoughts on this?” They are literally helping us see beyond the close to the next step, which can be quite effective.
   
   
5. The Opportunity Close. Often, organizations will pressure buyers by giving them a limited time frame – telling them that, if they act now, they will get a discount. Infomercials and timeshares are notorious for this type of close. Be careful with this one, however, because it’s the most manipulative kind of close, and it can backfire. But sometimes it works like a charm.
   
   
6. The Balancing Close. In this approach, the sales rep helps buyers weigh the pros and cons in order to make an informed decision. There’s something to be said for taking the higher ground and helping someone go back through their consideration process to make sure they will be happy with the outcome. It helps build trust and can produce great results.

Remember: Closing is based on the momentum you have already established during the course of the flight. How quickly and smoothly you bring the deal in for a landing is just a matter of how well you direct it toward the runway.

To learn more about how to gain a competitive edge through the six-step selling process, contact Tyson Group at https://tysongroup.com/contact/.