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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

The Proper Way to Start a Business Conversation

The Proper Way to Start a Business Conversation

The best way to fall flat on your face in a business conversation is to start the conversation talking about business.

Cultivate the art of small talk, and chances are good that once you do get around to bantering about business, the conversation will be meaningful.

Topics: Needs Analysis prospecting

Prospects Do NOT Care About Your Features and Benefits

Prospects Do NOT Care About Your Features and Benefits

Here is a truth bomb that might just revolutionize your sales strategy. Brace yourself because I'm about to tell you why your meticulously crafted pitches about features and benefits are falling on deaf ears. 

Yes, you heard that right. It is time to shift gears and move beyond the traditional features and benefits spiel.

Topics: Needs Analysis sales strategy

Uncovering Real Needs Leads to Long-Term Client Relationships

Uncovering Real Needs Leads to Long-Term Client Relationships

The goal of any discovery meeting is to truly learn about the needs of a prospect or client.

So why doesn’t it happen on every discovery call?

Why do some meetings end without a clear understanding of the business results the account wants to achieve?

Topics: Needs Analysis discovery meetings

Five Tips for a Successful Digital Needs Analysis

Five Tips for a Successful Digital Needs Analysis (1)

So, you've successfully secured an appointment with a promising prospect! Now, it's time to prepare for a comprehensive digital needs analysis to ensure that all the effort you invested in getting that meeting bears fruit.

The key to success lies in conducting a thorough needs analysis because understanding your prospect's business, their specific needs, challenges, and expectations is paramount when crafting a solution that truly aligns with their goals.

Topics: Needs Analysis Digital

Don’t Let That Stop You: Overcoming Objections in Discovery Meetings

Overcoming Objections in Discovery Meetings

One of the most important, and often most fun, parts of the sales process is discovery meetings. These are often referred to as “needs analysis meetings,” and their main goal is to uncover the desired business results of the prospect or client.

The success of these meetings lies in both the setup and the execution.

It’s important to:

  • Prepare yourself and the prospect or client by sharing an agenda and expectations for the meeting.

  • Create psychological safety to help prospects and clients let their guard down and open up for a more honest discussion, whether in person or with a shared screen remotely.

  • Master the art of asking questions to uncover key information.

  • Use a Needs Analysis process to uncover desired business results, prioritize the most important needs first, and confirm next steps.
Topics: Needs Analysis discovery meetings

7 Signs You Might Be Doing Your Needs Analysis Wrong

7 Signs You Might Be Doing Your Needs Analysis Wrong

It takes a lot of work to get a first meeting with a prospect.

While connecting with a prospect and getting a meeting is a series of events and second chances, that’s not the case with your needs analysis or discovery meeting. The discovery meeting is your one chance to gather information critical to creating a proposal the prospect will be interested in purchasing.

Let’s look at seven signs that you might be doing your needs analysis wrong.

Topics: Needs Analysis successful sales meetings

No.1 Reason Why Your First Sales Appointment Went Downhill Fast and 3 Ways to Avoid

using a valid business reason when getting the first appointment

Have you ever met with a prospect for the first time and felt like the entire conversation was like pulling teeth?

Maybe they took a couple of calls or answered some urgent emails while you were waiting to ask your next question. Maybe you couldn’t meet in person, and you could sense they were distracted and not focused during the little time you had. 

In these situations, it's common to leave the appointment with little to no valuable information, no follow-up direction, and when you look at your notes it feels like a waste of your valuable time.

Not all first meetings go well, but you can prevent the train wreck first appointment with better pre-planning.

Topics: Needs Analysis successful sales meetings

The Importance of Asking Quality Questions in B2B Sales

The Importance of Asking Quality Questions in B2B Sales

Have you ever experienced having to answer the same questions twice during a doctor's appointment?

It’s frustrating, but it can also make us reflect on the questions we ask our prospects. Are we asking the right questions to make us think deeper if it were our own business?

Even the most experienced salesperson can overlook the importance of being highly prepared for the initial needs analysis. To address this, you can start implementing "The 5-Phase Hourglass Needs Analysis" for all new business calls and existing clients you want to grow.

Topics: Needs Analysis sales performance

The One Question You Haven’t Asked (But Your Client Wishes You Would)

The One Question You Haven’t Asked

Most salespeople prepare very carefully for every client interaction. Your preparation will dictate whether you are granted face time for that first appointment (and subsequent appointments), and it will dictate how much information you are allowed to gather in a needs analysis meeting.

But the nature of sales often leads us to focus on our own objectives when preparing; we want the appointment, or we want to learn about a specific objective a client might have that we know can translate into a selling opportunity.

If your customer-focused approach is sincere, there is one question—a simple question that can be asked in a multitude of ways—that can help you gain even greater respect and revenue from this customer.

Topics: Needs Analysis sales process

Where to Find Great Needs Analysis Questions in Preparation for an Appointment

Where to Find Great Needs Analysis Questions in Preparation for an Appointment

So, you've got the appointment for your Discover meeting. Good for you...now what? The Discover meeting is a critical part of the selling process, so “winging it” should never be your strategy. 

Most sellers understand that the goal of the Discover meeting is to uncover an urgent need that they can help solve, and then leave with an assignment. To accomplish this, you must ask great questions.

By “great” questions, I mean ones that: get the wheels turning inside their head, make them glad you asked, allow them to talk about what’s hot from their point of view, and make you seem valuable. Remember, every question you ask will either enhance or detract from your credibility.

Topics: Needs Analysis getting appointments