September 2021

24
Sep
B2B Sales  ·  Sales
Are you singing the song which your prospect likes? Part-2

If you’re a salesperson and you’re wary of meeting a new prospect to try to sell to them, this article is for you! Every prospect you meet is different and an individual has their own ways of arriving at a purchase decision. These ways sometimes depend on their intrinsic nature, perhaps the way they communicate interpersonally and some of it may also be biased by the success and failure of their past decisions.

We’ve come up with this second installment of helpful tips on how you can know which kind of prospect you are meeting in the first few minutes of your conversation. Tips that will help you decipher what could be your prospect’s most important decision filters, their decision-making process, and how to best tackle their questions & objections. Read on.

The “Indecisive” prospects

If you’re a salesperson, it’s no secret that managing indecisive prospects sounds like a nightmare. It can be difficult enough to keep track of your established clientele, let alone try to work with prospects who don’t know what they want or when they want it.

But before you give up on these potential buyers, remember these tips for dealing with indecisive prospects so they do become clients.

1. Check your approach

The first thing you may want to look at is your own selling style.

For example, are you in a hurry to make your next sale? Do you get impatient with prospects who ask too many questions? Your approach is going to be crucial for success with Indecisive prospects, so have adequate information about your buyer and be sure to have the right sales persona.

2. Slow down the process

Another thing you might try is slowing down the sales process so that it doesn’t get rushed or hurried through. The more the prospect like what they are hearing, the more they want to buy. Allow them to question and be patient.

By taking things slow, you can save yourself from getting into an adversarial position that you didn’t even want to begin with.

3. Know your buyers

Another way to deal with indecisive prospects is to learn more about your potential buyer so that you can better tailor your messages and presentations. For example, if you are selling a product to a prospect who is likely to be buying for an outdoor sporting or recreational activity, speak to their interests or hobbies that they will find easy to relate to. Simply put – tailor your messaging..

4. Be flexible

Another thing you should try is being flexible with your presentation methods and strategies. It might be visual or aural or in person – you need to know which works best with these prospects and ensure that you use that approach.

5. The “obnoxious” prospects

There are lots of different ways to deal with obnoxious prospects, depending on what you are selling, the prospect’s style, and the kind of results you want to have. Below are just a few different strategies that are often successful.

There are two types of people who fall into this category for customers–the ones who are just rude and the others who may be going through a genuinely one-off bad day. Both can be frustrating and they both present their challenges in the sales process, but there are differences in how you go about dealing with them.

Here are a few tips to deal with obnoxious prospects.

  • Be empathetic

The Art of Empathy is the key to successful client relationships. Once you recognize what the other person wants & feels, try to put yourself In that position. This ability helps create the connection and the foundation of trust.

  • Acknowledge

Sometimes agreeing with a prospect may add fuel to the fire, but If you acknowledge their position and shift the conversation to the resolution, you may shift away from the ranting and toward a solution for their given complaint.

The “Big Shot” Prospects

Do you have a big-shot prospect in sales? How do you deal with them? Here are some great ideas on how to go about it.

To start, it is important to identify what your goals are and set the tone of the meeting. In most situations, the big shot prospect is looking for a solution to their problems. That is what you have to focus on. If they have a particular problem or issue, use that as an opportunity to get yourself in front of them. The big shot will be thinking about how your company can help them solve their problem so listen carefully and offer ideas on how your company can help them out. That way you can get a better idea of what they are looking for. Hence, the meeting will be more productive and beneficial for both parties.

Secondly, it is imperative to have a strong presence. To have a great presentation, it has to be unique and original so your prospect will pay attention to what you have to say. You don’t want them zoning out or falling asleep because that would mean that you wasted your time and theirs too. Also, the presentation should be polished and professional so there are no errors in grammar or spelling.

Conclusion

Have you found yourself frustrated with prospects who can’t commit to your company or for that special someone that just isn’t into you? The truth is, they aren’t the problem. You probably just need a new approach.

That’s why we’ve put together this blog post which covers 3 different types of prospect conclusions and what you should do if they happen to pop up in your business. We hope you find it useful.

Happy Selling!

by Ramya S


11
Sep
Sales  ·  Virtual selling
3 Sales Habits for the Virtual Selling World

There is always light at the end of the tunnel. And we can today say with a good degree of optimism that the worst of this pandemic is over. It is about now for us to challenge the realities. It has left us with and grabbed the opportunities it has opened for us. Let’s discuss virtual selling.

The sales profession has probably seen the most significant changes with the pandemic forcing us to meet only virtually. We have of course made sure that we don’t let become any showstopper in the growth of the businesses. Most of the reviving economies & businesses have accepted the virtual selling challenge and making sure they convert that into more opportunities. The world becoming further flat!

As sales professionals, we have a learning curve on our hands to learn new tricks of the sales trade which will be more suited for the virtual selling world. And the best way to do this as always is by picking up a habit or two which is specifically for the virtual context. We here highlight three habits that may be more suited and can give great results in the virtual world.

Here Are 3 Habits for the Virtual Selling World

1. Keep researching & knowing your prospects more & more

Building a relationship in a “virtual call” environment is much tougher. And one of the best ways you can make that happen is by connecting with the customer more empathetically. This can happen if you know your prospect as close as possible.

There are enough information sources today available to find out what your prospects’ interests & needs are. Researching the sector of your prospects’ business will give you more insights into what are the kind of challenges they are facing. Making this a habit of sorts will make you feel more connected to them. As a result, when you talk to them you’re more likely to establish a rapport with them.

During your virtual selling conversations as well, not just focus on selling your product, but pay attention. Being more inquisitive about your prospect will enable you to relate to their problem statements and accordingly make your pitch tailored to their needs.

2. Maneuver your sales pitches to have a more solution oriented discussion

In today’s scenario, business economics & models are changing rapidly. Even customers sometimes do not know what exactly they need and how best they should approach it.

In a virtual call environment and with more research time on their hands, this gives an opportunity to the salesperson to extend their hands further and make sure they help the customer solve some of their own puzzles. Salespeople with a more “solution mindset” that is realistic and customer-focused plow seeds of building long-term relationships with their prospects. 

Good relationships are based on trust and reciprocity. As a salesperson, you must also understand that there is no such thing as a “one-time sale”. And you should never be afraid to talk about future products or even any unrelated products and use your experience to educate their prospects on how they can be used in their businesses.

3. Being in touch with your prospect more often

A virtual selling environment may not establish the same level of presence in a prospect’s mind as in a physical meeting over a handshake. Also with the significant increase in the number of people prospect meets today for making their purchase decision, it would be extremely difficult for him to recollect you if you have not followed up, especially in longer sales cycles.

Hence, making a habit of reflecting through your past week or month’s meetings and reaching out to them to maybe just say a ‘hi’ will be quite helpful. Also, you need to use all channels of communication available to you to keep yourself up on your prospect’s mind.

Sending a thank-you email or minutes of the meeting can sometimes make a big difference. Following up immediately on the action points from your side is also a great way to establish your credentials further. Further, using social media channels to connect informally with your prospect will give you that additional space in his mind over your closest competition.

Conclusion 

So, which one do you like the most? Pick the one which appeals to you and follow it diligently by keeping a reminder on your laptop or mobile. You will very soon realize it becoming a habit. And for sure turn out to be one of your biggest sales strengths in this virtual selling world.

Times are changing, we need to get more prepared. But we know how to do this, let’s go for it. Happy Virtual Selling!

by Ramya S


03
Sep
Sales
3 ways your CRM can boost you the same as your cuppa coffee

Your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a gold mine that you have in your hands! It can always give you something more to think about your customer, a new prospect to speak to or follow up with, and something to make your sales pitch better. You can actually open your CRM whenever you feel the need for a coffee, and it might give you the same boost your cuppa coffee gives you. Our tip: Do both together and notice the energy it gives you.

It is however really important how you use your CRM to make it do wonders for you. Here are 3 best practices to make the most of your CRM.

1. Make your pitch personalized to your prospects using your CRM data

A CRM system gives you the knowledge of who your customers are, where they belong, and what they need, by telling you what products or services they’re interested in, which in turn gives you deeper insights into the problem statements they might be facing, and accordingly personalize & make your sales pitch more need-based.

This however is only possible once good data is collected on CRM systems. It is extremely important that sales professionals try to capture every nuance of information they get by speaking to or meeting or researching a customer to make sure it returns the same value back when you need it the most. There are various sales automation tools that can also come to your advantage here.

A CRM is the “key to future deals” and should be a part of every day’s to-dos. Whether you put more data in it or mine it more, you will see both making a lot of impact on your daily sales reports.

2. Make logical grouping of your customer base to target & prioritize your prospects better

CRMs give you huge power to make groups of your customers in a way that you can tailor your sales pitches & material and also prioritize setting meetings with those who have a higher propensity for conversion.

You can use your CRM to segment your customers into logical groupings which could be basis their company size, work locations, employee strength, what kind of product need or problem statement they have indicated, etc. This will not just help you ensure that you identify the prospects who will best benefit from your product or service but also makes sure you prioritize all your leads in an order where your conversions can be faster & better.

Some CRMs and sales technologies also help you assign a propensity score to a lead basis of the parameters & weightage you want to assign. Using this as a tool really works to your advantage when your lead inflow is high and you need to prioritize the best ones faster.

3. Use your CRMs to maintain a constant touch with your prospects

CRMs keep track of every call or meeting you had with the customer, over a period of time. This provides you with very specific details on how many meetings you have had with the customer. And how long it has been since you had the last meeting. When you match this data with the prospect propensity score, you can make sure you don’t lose or miss keeping in touch with any prospect who had a good potential to convert over a period of time.

Your customers will look forward to how you engage with them over a period of time. And how you keep updating them with the product updates & your offers regularly. Hence staying connected and engaging with them regularly is really important and always improves the chances of conversion.

Final Thoughts

In a world filled with data, it’s surprising how few companies & sales professionals focus on making use of it to their best advantage. A CRM system not only gives you access to all your customers’ information. But it makes your prospects convert to opportunities and deals much faster than you can imagine. Try spending your coffee time with your CRM and see the difference yourself. Good luck & wish you a lot of happy conversions today! 3 ways to boost your CRM.

by Ramya S