The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

I think most sales managers would agree that coaching their salespeople to get better at their craft is a good investment of time. I talk to scores of managers in my practice, and there seems to be near universal agreement that coaching is important, and most sales managers do invest some time and energy to make it happen. That said, what constitutes coaching?

When I talk to salespeople and look at data from structured sales campaigns, it’s clear that the number one bottleneck in the sales process is getting appointments. And it’s seemingly getting tougher, not easier, despite all the digital avenues available to most salespeople for pre-call research and preparation of a Valid Business Reason that should, in theory, evoke a response from the prospect. So, why is it so tough to get that appointment?  

Do you read online reviews? Of course you do. Most people check out customer feedback before committing to buy a product or service these days. There is an entire industry dedicated to reputation management. The question is: what are you doing to manage your own reputation as a sales professional? Here is one simple method that can help you.

I have sat with hundreds of salespeople who tell me stories about what their customers have told them in various conversations. Things like how valuable their ideas were, how much they appreciate their outstanding service, how much they understand about their business, how valuable they are as a partner—the list goes on. The tragedy is that most often, those comments are never seen or heard by anyone else. Too bad. If only prospects who don’t know you very well knew what it was like to work with you, they might be quicker to accept an appointment.

. . . you just help enough people get what THEY want. I heard this truth many years ago from the legendary Zig Ziglar. It’s so simple and so powerful, it should be the basis for everything a sales professional does. But, simple and easy are two different things. Most sales professionals are so wrapped up in their products and services that nearly everything that comes out of their mouths sounds either like a monologue about features and benefits or a manipulative question designed to get the prospect to say they have a need which the salesperson’s product magically fills. 

But, what if you made this statement the basis for every move you made? If you really believe you can get anything you want in life if you just help enough people get what they want, how would that change… 

As a sales manager and a sales consultant, I have witnessed literally thousands of sales calls with competent and hard-working salespeople—professionals who have done their homework on the prospect, prepared thought-provoking questions that make it obvious they know something about the prospect’s business, and who pose questions with a genuine interest in hearing the answers. Sometimes it is magical and they help the prospect clarify a specific problem that needs to be addressed or an opportunity on which they would really like to capitalize. And, sometimes, all they do is get their questions answered and move on. Too bad. 

What makes the difference between an interactive conversation that engages the prospect and one that is rote and turns into simply an information-gathering exercise? Follow up questions. Good follow up questions are never scripted. Good follow up questions show you were listening, that you are interested, and that you really need to learn more about the headline the prospect has just shared. Some simple open probes can reveal a lot of context and detail you need to know about a problem or opportunity—information you will probably never get if you simply move on to your next beautifully-crafted question. For example:

•  That’s interesting. Tell me why you say that.
• What do you mean by that? 
• Really? Tell me more about that.

In today’s sales world, it’s apparent that most companies have mastered PowerPoint or Prezi to compose absolutely gorgeous proposals. In fact, many companies have dedicated teams or specialists to create seemingly-compelling, graphically-rich proposal pages that go onto a shared drive, making it much easier for salespeople or the support people they work with to simply grab some of those pages and assemble them with a minimal amount of customization necessary. One could argue this approach saves countless hours for the sales operation and puts presentation elements in the hands of those who build such things every day. On the surface, this appears to be a breakthrough akin to Henry Ford’s assembly line. But there is problem, and I bet you know what it is.

I have read about 300 proposals in the last year in my consulting practice, and nearly all of them were, indeed, beautiful. And nearly all I read looked alike – a reference to mostly generic needs that most prospects could have, pages and pages of product information (more than anyone would read), and some boilerplate information about the company offering the proposal. Just imagine you are a professional buyer or business owner who sees multiple proposals of this type every week. It would be an effective organic cure to insomnia, for sure. The number one complaint I hear from salespeople is that they put out a proposal to their prospect and then never hear anything again. Is it any wonder?