Like you, I’ve been through countless sales training’s. And I’ve also trained a lot of sales people through the years. And virtually all sales training’s involve some sort of “system.” Now, at this stage of my selling career, I’ve come to some conclusions with which I’d like to challenge you.
Let’s look first at the positives of “selling systems.”
- Selling systems give us a road-map for each sales call. It helps us to organize our thoughts and how we will diagnose our prospects needs.
- Selling systems give us a platform from which to present our solutions.
- They give us the structure we need to come across as organized and professional.
- They keep us focused on our goals and make the time we spend with our prospects more efficient.
All good stuff right?
So let’s now consider the downside of “selling systems.”
- In general, selling systems are manipulative. And when prospects feel like they are being manipulated, you’re done.
- Selling systems are overly rigid. My skin crawls to think of a sales person sitting in front of prospect thinking to himself, “am I on step 4 or step 5? Did I miss step 3?” What a nightmare!
- Selling systems are about the sales person and their goals and not so much about the PROSPECTS goals. Which is why you are there!
- Selling systems detract from the kind of quality interaction and genuine dialog that leads to a beneficial outcome. You’ll notice that I did not say, “leads to a sale.” Whatever outcome is best for your prospect is what you want to make happen. Even if that means they don’t buy your stuff.
So what’s the best way to run a sales call? Have a system or not?
Anyone who has sold with me or has been trained by me knows I’m a huge fan of constant learning regarding selling. And I study and believe in “selling systems” because they all have something good about them. I just feel that systems are overused. People think too much about the system and not enough about the prospect. It kills rapport and sales.
So let’s agree to use a word other than “system;” let’s use the word “guidelines.”
Selling guidelines give you all the positives of the various selling systems while avoiding the downsides. The following guidelines will indeed give you the best of both worlds:
- Have a well thought out, client focused selling system (guideline) that works for you, but be willing to change it, or abandon it completely, based on how the sales call is going.
- Prepare you butt off the day/night before your appointment. Going in with a huge amount of pre-call intelligence will not only bolster your confidence, it will allow you to connect more effectively with your prospect. Be the most prepared sales person they’ve ever seen!
- For each call, take your guidelines and think about how they will be used based on what you know about your prospect. You do know about your prospect, right. Type A’s don’t want to be led down a path, while analyticals will be more at ease with a little structure in the call.
- Develop a “call plan” that serves as a starting point until you get into rapport with your prospect. Then make their needs the absolute center of your universe. They’ll feel your sincerity.
- Never forget that the prospects needs and goals come first. Your selling guidelines should support that in every way.
- If you find yourself thinking about your guidelines/system during the call, STOP IT. Just be yourself and focus on the prospects needs.
- If you have not mastered your sales call process, work a little bit into each call. Just enough to stretch you without taking your mind off the prospect. Call it a “system” or a “guideline”, unless you can use them innately and modify them on the fly, don’t use them at all!
Just remember, being genuine is more powerful than any sales system. But being genuine AND using selling guidelines/structure flawlessly is UNSTOPABLE! I know it sounds like a contradiction, but it’s a fact. Great sales people have a plan for every call. But they can pivot on a dime and change strategies as needed. Be prepared, be focused, have a plan, but don’t let any of that get in the way of you being you!
Onward & Upward
Ben