Conversations That Sell summary

Here’s what a traditional selling strategy looks like: A client tells you about her problem, you prepare a solution for it, this solution is either accepted or declined. These days, things are different. It’s all about developing a tailor-made solution together to achieve a perfect result.

This is what’s called collaborative selling, and the first step is to understand a situation from all angles. Let’s say a company’s customer service department is unable to cope with all the requests it's getting, for example. To improve the situation, a salesperson could offer a new system to simply expand customer service. But why not ask why they’re getting so many requests in the first place? Perhaps they are not adept at solving problems the first time around, resulting in multiple requests from the same customer. With this in mind, another more valuable solution could be to improve customer service training.

Now that you know the basic principles, let’s get started. As always, preparation is key, so be ready to do some research!

Start by getting all available information together to create a fact sheet. Important surface details of the company include size, industry, business reports, and their philosophy. Next, dig a little deeper and ask what issues they’re currently dealing with. Any bad quarterly results or management changes?

We all know how important first impressions are, and giving the wrong one will shape the whole conversation, especially when it comes to trust and transparency. Whether you’re on the phone, face-to-face, or speaking at a conference, there are three things to tick off first. Introduce yourself, state why you contacted someone and the subject you’d like to speak about.

Of course, you should greet your client and state your name and company. But there’s no need to then immediately begin pitching your services. Instead mention previous contacts, a referral or any issues which are currently important for the client company.

So you’ve done your research and laid the foundations for a promising sales relationship. Now you’ve got to sustain your success by asking the right questions. What are the dos and don’ts?

Don’t ever ask about something you already know or should know. This looks quite unprofessional and will make the client suspicious.

We all know that horrible feeling when you look up in the middle of your presentation and see that your clients don’t seem to be listening anymore. Sadly, this is usually our own fault. Fortunately, it’s preventable.

As we learned in the first blink, the buyer isn’t interested in your products’ details, but in what it can do for her company. So help her see it, firstly in the way you structure your very sentences. For example, “Our repair service offers replacement within 24 hours, so whenever you need it, you can be sure you won’t suffer through any production delays.”

Congratulations, you’ve made it through the most difficult part of the conversation, the questions. But don’t lose concentration now, you’re so close to closing the deal!

Any vagueness in an arrangement won’t go unnoticed – it could even make your prospect doubt the deal and drop out. So keep things on track by ensuring everything you’ve discussed with your client is 100 percent clear. As the conversation concludes, summarize each problem and idea you’ve developed together, highlight the prosperous future ahead and ask after missing links or details.

By now, you’ve gained all the tools you need for a successful sales process. However, there’s something else that differentiates a good seller from a great seller: Will.

Your will is your inner driving force. It gives you the courage to take action and work for your targets, and sometimes, it can be even more crucial than skill. Take the Green Bay Packers football team. They had the skill to reach the Super Bowl for two consecutive years, but they couldn’t generate the strength required to win and lost each time. Why? They lacked the will.

You’ve got the skill and will to succeed in individual conversations, so it’s time to think about your success in the long term. Of course, each of us has our own set of goals, but not all goals are created equally.

The most effective goals are both measurable and revisable. As such, it’s vital to define your goals carefully. What are you aiming for, and when? Can you sum it up in one practical, present tense sentence? For example: “By the 15th of June, I will have X contracts that are worth Y million dollars.”