It’s a fact, all of us who are in business have to do some selling to keep our businesses growing. The thought of sales for some though, can create panic and waves of nausea. While I never had it this bad, sales had become something that I no longer enjoyed, at all.
Earlier in my career I worked for an organization that clearly valued the sale far above the customer. They definitely had a great product, but I was required to push people to spend a lot of money even if they weren’t quite ready to buy the product or it didn’t quite fit their needs. The philosophy was ABC, Always Be Closing. I got good at it, and even coached people to do it. I was always eager to blow out my numbers or to win a sale. However, the elation of a win never lasted for long. I was constantly conflicted to either push and make my numbers, or take a less aggressive approach and possibly lose my job. What started out as an exciting opportunity became something I detested doing everyday.
Fast forward some years to now, and thankfully, I have my own business, where I can choose the direction that I go in. On-going sales has been required for our company to grow, but the sales experience I had to draw from was this experience of ABC. Yuck. Selling like that was not what I wanted for my business, or for me. But how else was I going to get business and keep food on the table? I did not want to feel like I was manipulating someone, even if what I was proposing made sense for them. I stopped actively pursuing sales and business suffered.
Thankfully, as a partner agency of HubSpot, we have been afforded some new sales training that revolves around ABH, Always Be Helping, and I absolutely love it. HubSpot is all about helping and delighting and they have become my example of how to do things right for the customer. Gone are my anxieties that I might be manipulating someone, when all I really want to do, and always have wanted to do, is help! And guess what, helping sells!
If you’re helping someone uncover where they have problems, helping them set or realize their goals and showing them what’s going to help them reach those goals, there is nothing that you should ever feel uncomfortable about. You end up with happier clients, better results for them, and you sleep better at night.
So, here are a few things that you do in your exploratory calls that I learned from the 8-Week course presented by sales guru and all-around-good-guy, David Weinhaus of HubSpot.
Finding True Need.
To really help a client, you need to know if they have a true need. Without that knowledge, you’re just pitching your products & services, which are focused mainly on yourself. But remember, if helping sells, you need to be totally focused on the client.
Be naturally curious. Is it possible that this prospect doesn’t need help?
If you already assume your prospect needs your solution, then you’re not going to be able to know what the prospect’s real issues are.
Here are some great, albeit tough, questions to ask your prospects:
- Why are the goals you’ve stated important to you?”
- How will hitting your goals affect you? How will they affect your business?
- What will you be dealing with if you don’t hit your goals?
- Why not just do more of what you’re already doing?
- What other options are you considering to reach your goals?
This line of questioning is not meant to manipulate your prospect into choosing your solution, but to see if it’s possible that your solution is NOT a good fit for the prospect. You’re helping them, and yourself, to see if your solution is right for them.
Find the Gap.
Does the prospect really need our help?
First, start off by finding out what the current situation is for their company. Learn about roles, the organization and the key people involved. Next, you’ll want to be sure that you understand their goals and timing of reaching those goals.
Once you know those two things, you can help them determine if what they’re doing now is working. If not, your services could be what enables them to bridge the gap to achieving their goals. There is nothing pushy about that. You’re simply helping them see whether what they are doing now is enough to meet their goals, or if it’s not.
Dig Deeper with “Why?”
Get to quantifiable, specific & consequential information.
If, for example, you’re a digital marketing company and a prospect tells you they would like to be on page one of Google, don’t move on. Dig deeper, because there is more to the story.
You: Why do you want to be on page one of Google?
Prospect: Because then we’ll get more visitors to our site.
You: Great. Why do you want more visitors on your site?
Prospect: Because we are trying to get more customers.
You: Great. Every business needs more customers. Why now?
Prospect: We are looking to grow our revenues by 20%.
You: Great. Why do you need to grow by 20% right now?
Prospect: Because management is putting pressure on us so they can do some expansion in the next year.
BOOM! You now understand more about their needs. You are asking tough questions and so long as you come from a place of wanting to help, it’s all positive.
Just in a short conversation you can find out so much about how you can actually help your prospect or not. If you can’t help them, then why do you want to sell to them? Simply to make a quick sale? Remember ABH > ABC.
