The Sales Conversation (Part One)
Getting Their Permission
In a world where your product, brand, and service is the same as everyone else’s, it’s only your sales process that differentiates you.
The Challenger Sales Model
The first step in any sales call is passing The Test of the Amygdala. When you first call a client, their brain’s amygdala makes a snap decision: is this person a threat? In this person going to hurt me? Should I be worried? And that’s why very technical people don’t do well in sales; they’re so excited about technical information that they never get past the first step.
Just Give Me The Main Points
Appeal to the Crocodile Brain aka Amygdala in order to market and sell.
Recognize that salespeople represent threats to target buyers; this must be embraced and overcome.
Pass the Test of the Amygdala to gain permission to ask questions.
Utilize the Challenger Sales Model to differentiate yourself when everyone has the same product, brand and service.
Make the most of every call and interaction because time is of the essence.
Solve a problem that’s important to your client for the highest probability of success.
Why Should I Care?
You can make a lot of money in sales. It’s probably why there’s so much mythology and fake news about it.
Sales is a process of problem-solving. If you can solve a problem that’s important to your client, you’ll give yourself the highest probability of success. Sales can be a numbers game, and so it’s important to make the most of every call and interaction you make. Most people quit sales because they can’t get someone to say yes. It’s emotional, and that’s why the career is so lucrative.
The Problem With The Opportunity
The problem is, when you call a prospect, you don’t have their permission to ask them about their problems. After all, why should they trust you?
When I first started out in sales, I didn’t know how to start the call. I didn’t know what to say first. I’d just call and ramble and slur my words and talk to fast and they wouldn’t hear anything I was saying. In truth, I was afraid. I was afraid that I wouldn’t know the answers to their questions and seem like an idiot.
Once I found a script that made me comfortable with calling in the first place, things got A LOT EASIER.
Gaining Their Permission To Ask About Their Problems
Here’s a script that worked for me the other day.
Hello,
My name is Michael - we haven’t spoken before so I’ll take some of the mystery out of my call.
I represent a company that upskills Electronic Security Techs.
But before I say anything else, this is a sales call, so I don’t want to just assume I have your permission to continue.
[WAIT FOR ANSWER]
For me, I always avoided sales calls because I didn’t know what to say in the beginning. Once I found a beginning that worked for my personality, one that involved an interaction instead of a monologue, things changed for me. I no longer felt uncomfortable wondering if the other person was about to hang up the call…and I was always afraid of them hanging up on me.
The Next Step
Once you have their permission to ask them questions, you can begin taking the next steps in the sales process. Sales is a process of problem solving, and we’re going to dive into the four-step sales problem solving process to rank order their problems in terms of costs and revenues in the next post made popular by Rackham called SPIN.
Gimme The Science
When you make a sales call, you put yourself in the position where you’re offering an opportunity to your client. The problem is, when your prospect answers the phone, you’re represent a THREAT.
The reason that you’re perceived as a threat is because most salespeople waist their client’s time. The client gets calls all day long, one interruption after another. So, clients are naturally apprehensive of taking a risk on yet another failed promise.
When the client first hears your voice, they’re not in a position to understand your technical arguments because they’re trying to figure out why you’re a threat. That’s why very technical people don’t do well in sales; they’re so excited about technical information that they never get past the first step…which is passing the Test of the Amygdala.
When you first call a client, their brain’s amygdala makes a snap decision: is this person a threat? In this person going to hurt me? Should I be worried? And that’s what you have to overcome when you start the call.
