Conversations That Sell Book Summary - Conversations That Sell Book explained in key points

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Conversations That Sell summary

Name: Conversations That Sell
Rating: 4.4 (27 reviews)
Author: Nancy Bleeke

Nancy Bleeke

Collaborate with Buyers and Make Every Conversation Count

4.4 (27 ratings)

16 mins

What is Conversations That Sell about?

Conversations That Sell (2013) reveals the changing nature of sales as its focus shifts away from waxing lyrical about a product to demonstrating a commitment to the needs of the buyer. From preparation to problem solving, these blinks guide you to a winning sales conversation and a strong sales career.

Table of Contents

Conversations That Sell
summarized in 9 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 9

What’s in it for me? Master the conversations that will close sales.

Our stereotypes about salespeople are way out of date. We think of a slick salesperson with a shiny suit pitching prospects and talking them around until they bite and buy whatever’s for sale.

Nowadays it’s different. As you’ll see in these blinks, selling has transformed into something that is as much about you as it is about the products you’re selling. In short: Great salespeople today know that in order to sell their products, they have to work closely with prospects, and have two-way conversations.

That means less pitching and waiting to hear yes or no, and more working together to find solutions that work for both sides.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how to set up, moderate and close successful sales conversations;
why you shouldn’t smoke before meeting a prospect; and
why you don’t want to be like the Green Bay Packers.

The most important thing in selling is you, so show your strengths.

Remember what salespeople were like when you were a kid? Pushy and slick?

Things are dramatically different today. For one, the stakes are higher.

Most products or services in today’s businesses look fairly similar, and are priced similarly too. Because of this, the one-to-one pitching approach won’t cut it anymore. Buyers aren’t looking for someone to just talk about a product and its features. They’re looking for someone that can make positive and lasting changes to their company, and above all someone who understands their concerns and ideas. Companies don’t need salespeople. They need differentiators.

So what makes a good differentiator? Three things: preparation, transparency and self-confidence.

Prepare yourself by ensuring you fully understand your client’s situation. Collect as much information as possible not just beforehand, but throughout the process, too. The main thing is that you focus on them.

Don’t see yourself as a salesperson trying to make a pitch, but a salesperson who guides the process, helps their client to overcome obstacles and outlines opportunities – so be open and trustworthy!

This in turn will allow you to build a valuable relationship with your client, which is vital for a successful sales process. To further strengthen this relationship, let your personality and its strengths shine through.

When she was new to selling, the author had a mentor who recommended focusing sales conversations on the product. But after a few early failures she realized that when she put her own personality and creativity on show, companies trusted her more, making her more likely to close the sale.

Collaborate with your clients.

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.

First, you need to prepare carefully.

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?

The way you start a conversation is crucial.

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.

Ask the right questions to get the information you need.

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.

When presenting your solution, focus on the buyer.

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.”

Close the conversation in a productive way.

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.

To be successful, you’ll need the skill and the will.

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.

Now take aim and get ready.

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.”

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Best quote from Conversations That Sell

You are an essential component of what you sell.

—Nancy Bleeke

About the Author

Nancy Bleeke is the founder and president of the training and consulting company Sales Pro Insider. She is the developer of the Genuine training courses.

Who should read Conversations That Sell?

Anyone in sales looking to accelerate their career
Salespeople who are fed up with traditional sales strategies
Managers of salespeople or people setting up sales teams

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Marketing & Sales

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