Sales Reps

sales prospecting mistakes

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Top 3 Sales Prospecting Mistakes (and Quick Fixes)

If you aren’t getting any response to your sales prospecting outreach, you might be guilty of making these common mistakes.

Mistake #1: Pitching in your sales outreach

It’s tempting to explain why you’re sending a prospect an email, direct message, or leaving a voicemail, but don’t! This lets your prospect scan, decide “no”, then put you on auto-ignore. It also automatically makes your message too long and your tone too salesy.

The purpose of the outreach message is to gain attention and engage – to get the opportunity to pitch, not to pitch itself. That means your goal is to make them smile, notice who you are, type a quick reply –  NOT take themselves all the way down your sales funnel and be ready to purchase (it takes time, folks).

Try sending 3-4 lines of a personal connection and a short closed-question (NOT related to your quota) instead.

READ: Sales Outreach: How to Incorporate Emails and Phone Calls Into Your Sequences

Mistake #2: Value propping in the message

Of course you want to explain who you are, what you do, and why they care, but if you’re trying, you’ve already typed too much! Like above, the outreach is to engage, and using a marketing-approved value prop probably sounds a little pitchy. 

One sure way to get more attention instead is to make the message about THEM, not about you. Try some flattery or ask a short question instead. 

Nope, don’t try to shortcut this with some social proof or other customer names, that’s cheating! Message one should NOT be about selling them, it’s about engaging them instead. You got it!

READ: 4 Time-Saving Sales Prospecting Strategies

Mistake #3: Assuming my business

A few years ago I won an award for being a top coach in sales. Since then I’ve received over 1000 sales pitches promising to help me improve my coaching business. I have a training business that uses coaching to get results, not a coaching business. 

Don’t make the same mistake by using phrases like, “I work with businesses like yours,” or “I help ____ like you.” You may be right, you may be wrong, but it irks me to think a stranger thinks they know what I need more than I do.

To correct this, you could try showing your understanding and making a hypothesis instead. Turn, “I help training companies fix their SEO problems” into, “You train B2B sales right? Would I be anywhere close by guessing you get inbound leads?”

This message showed a bit more humility and didn’t automatically assume my business NOR make me wrong. Nobody wants to feel like an idiot – especially not by a young seller.

Remember, the goal of initial outreach isn’t to close a sale right off the bat but to spark a connection and get the prospect talking. By focusing on creating a genuine rapport, asking questions that matter, and demonstrating an honest curiosity about their needs, you set the stage for a dialogue that can lead to more than just a transaction—it can lead to a partnership. So, let’s ditch the pitch, tune into the specifics of our prospects, and start our conversations on a note of authentic interest. After all, in the realm of sales, a thoughtful approach is not just appreciated, it’s rewarded.

Outbound prospecting is tough. Want to get a leg up? Take our online course, SWIIFT℠ Introductions That Work, to learn how our SWIIFT℠ methodology will help reframe your messaging to capture a prospect’s attention immediately and get them talking to you.

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Why You Need To Stop Pitching & Lead With Value Instead [Webinar Recording]

Why You Need To Stop Pitching & Lead With Value Instead

[Video Recording]

STOP PITCHING AND FOCUS ON VALUE SELLING INSTEAD

Pitching too soon? It’s time to stop and lead with value instead! By understanding core business motivators and mapping them to your buyers, you’ll learn what levers to pull to differentiate, gain attention, and propose solutions that sell. 

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How to align your messaging with what your customers and prospects care about
  • How to turn your value prop into a short, powerful, and conversational “SWIIFT Pitch”
  • How to use the various levers to get your prospect’s attention

You’ll also come away with 3 times to NEVER sell, how to get more replies to your outreach, and how to ensure you’re a trusted advisor, not a pitchy seller.

Watch the video replay!

STOP PITCHING AND FOCUS ON VALUE SELLING INSTEAD

Pitching too soon? It’s time to stop and lead with value instead! By understanding core business motivators and mapping them to your buyers, you’ll learn what levers to pull to differentiate, gain attention, and propose solutions that sell. 

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How to align your messaging with what your customers and prospects care about
  • How to turn your value prop into a short, powerful, and conversational “SWIIFT Pitch”
  • How to use the various levers to get your prospect’s attention

You’ll also come away with 3 times to NEVER sell, how to get more replies to your outreach, and how to ensure you’re a trusted advisor, not a pitchy seller.

Watch the video replay!

improve buyer engagement

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How to Improve Buyer Engagement in Video Sales Meetings

There’s no denying that “something’s missing” when we move from in-person meetings to video. It’s true of team meetings, training, and especially sales calls. If video is part of your every day, how do you stand out from the crowd? 

The baseline of video acumen has risen since the early days of remote work. You’ve got to go beyond the basics and use video as a tool in your arsenal. Thanks to technology, we can actually measure the effectiveness of our video meetings with AI tools.

How would you rate on a scale of 1 to 10 if we asked your prospects how engaging your sales call is?

What is Engagement vs. Sentiment?

When measuring the effectiveness of your sales calls, you’ve got to watch two things: engagement and sentiment.

For quick reference, here’s how we break down the two:

  • Engagement = buyer’s attention or presence on the sales call 
  • Sentiment = buyer’s attitude or emotion towards the seller

According to Q for Sales, Uniphore’s AI-powered Sales Assistant, an engaged customer has an 83% higher propensity to buy than a non-engaged customer. When both engagement and sentiment are high, you’ve got an 89% greater chance of closing the sale. 

DOWNLOAD: THE IMPACT OF BUYER ENGAGEMENT AND SENTIMENT ON DEAL OUTCOMES

TL;DR – Get them leaning in quickly, make sure they like you, and you’ve got nearly double the chances of closing the deal.

(Take a peek at Uniphore’s AI tool, Q for Sales, below to see how it tracks sentiment on video meetings.)

Q for Sales by Uniphore

How Do You Engage Buyers (Faster)?

Nearly 29% of buyers admit to multitasking during video calls. That means that roughly one-third of buyers aren’t paying attention to you. It’s a lot harder to re-engage someone after they’ve already tuned out, so starting the call with a high level of engagement is key. 

Follow these 8 steps to ensure engagement is high from the beginning of your call:

  1. Stop sharing your screen. Engagement goes down when sellers share their screens. Why? Because sellers ask fewer questions when they’re screen-sharing. We tend to go into a monologue and talk AT the buyer, vs. carry a conversation and ask questions. It’s not about the screen, but rather our behavior while the screen is up.
  2. Share personal information. Create a quick bond with a buyer by sharing something personal about yourself. It helps you find commonality and build quick rapport with the buyer. 
  3. Review goals and the agenda. Start the call by outlining the goals and topics of discussion before diving in. Make sure you check in to see if the buyer wants to cover any other topics or has any other questions. This is especially important when selling to the C-suite. Give them the opportunity to drive the conversation by gauging what they want to cover on the call.
  4. Ask questions. As a general rule, the seller’s goal of the call should be to uncover as much important information as possible from the buyer. You do this by talking less and asking more questions. 
  5. Ask them to recap their challenges. Even if they’ve told you what their challenges are before, you don’t want to put words in their mouth – it’s a surefire way to disengage them. Ask them to share their current situation and challenges.
  6. Match their energy. Imagine showing up to a sales call on a Monday morning after your 5th cup of coffee. The buyer shows up yawning and barely even awake. You want to lower your energy level to match theirs. If they’re pumped up and high-energy, match it. If they’re relaxed and calm, match it. It’s a form of empathy when you’re able to connect with buyer by matching their energy level to build trust and rapport.
  7. Say it with a smile. Positivity is contagious. Smiling automatically has a positive effect on your buyer’s sentiment. If you want to be easier to connect to, watch your facial expressions. Do you find yourself scowling without realizing it (read: RBF!)? Then practice smiling on all calls. 
  8. Give them eye contact. It’s tough when you’ve got multiple screens with Slack, email, a presentation, and Zoom all open at the same time, but you’ve got to make sure you’re looking AT the camera and giving buyers eye contact. Tip: Put your notes underneath your camera so you can read from them while making eye contact.
How Do You Encourage A Buyer To Turn On Their Camera?

You ask them to turn it on. Easy, right? Yet 83% of sellers don’t do it. And, it’s so much harder to connect with someone when you can’t see them. 

Need more of an incentive to ask? Let’s break it down with stats…

  • Less than 10% of the message in a conversation is verbal
  • Between 30-35% is in the tone, speed, or pitch
  • But a whopping 50% of the conversation is visual (hello, body language)

So if you don’t ask them to turn on their camera, you’re missing more than half of the conversation.

If you need a little help asking them, try any of these out on your next sales call:

“Hey, if it’s not too forward, are you OK sharing your camera so we can talk face-to-face?”

“OK, camera bullying time! No hiding! Unless you’re literally naked, please pop it on. Thank you so so much. It’s hard talking to myself.”

“I promise I didn’t get dressed up for this meeting and there’s zero judgment! Would you mind terribly going on video so we can have some eye contact?”

How Can You Tell If A Buyer Is Engaged?

They’re showing signs of active listening and attentiveness by:

  1. Smiling
  2. Leaning forward
  3. Nodding
  4. Looking at their screen
  5. Showing their hands 
  6. Chatting, clapping, sharing emojis, etc.
How Can You Tell When A Buyer Is Disengaged?

They’re actively not paying attention and are distracted by something else. If someone is disengaged, they might be:

  1. Looking away 
  2. Leaning back 
  3. Showing a negative facial expression 
  4. Visibly reading their emails
  5. Playing on their phone
  6. Off camera
How Do You Quickly Reengage A Buyer?
  1. Notice or mention something that could be common ground – “I see that gorgeous picture in your background.”
  2. Share something first – “I am an avid sunrise photographer. Although, I don’t see them enough lately!”
  3. Ask a closed & follow-up question – “Did you take that yourself? It’s so beautiful! Where is it?”
  4. Ask an open question – “Tell me about it?”

TIP: TAKE OUR CLASS “AUTHENTIC (AND QUICK!) RAPPORT BUILDING”

You’ve got to master the art of active listening in order to effectively engage (or reengage) buyers.

Here’s how to be a great listener:

  1. Listen actively – No interrupting, look at the camera, nod your head
  2. Acknowledge – “Yes”, “Okay, got it”, “Mm-hmm”
  3. Restate (with empathy) – “OK, what I heard was that you’ve tried this many times already and it may be a little frustrating now.”
  4. Check-in – “Did I get that right?”

TIP: TAKE OUR CLASS “EXPERT AND EMPATHETIC LISTENING”

What Do You Do When A Buyer Disengages?

The first thing is to stop screen sharing. That way you can talk and pivot the conversation. Try some of these scripts to get your call back on track:

“I’ve been talking like 5 straight minutes, and I think I lost ya’ll. My bad. NAME, what’s the next most important thing we can cover for you?”

“Hey, I think I went off track. My bad. Let’s go back to the agenda. Is this still what you want to accomplish? Quick show of hands if you’d like to move on to XYZ item?”

“Let’s take a beat here to check-in. Could you please give me a thumbs up if you’re tracking with me 100% or a hand raise if you have a question? If I lost you completely, sit very still…”

TIP: TAKE OUR CLASS “DEMOS THAT DON’T SUCK”

How Do You Build Trust With Buyers?

Let’s talk about trust. According to Hubspot, only 3% of people trust salespeople. 

“Trust is not something you can ask for, you need to earn trust. It takes hours, weeks, and years to build it, but seconds to lose it.” Sylvain Tremblay, CRO, Uniphore

Since trust is earned, that means we all start at the bottom of the trust scale, at mistrust. Luckily, we don’t start at distrust, that’s when someone knows us and has actively lost trust in us.

Mistrust means that they aren’t sure of our character based on the fact that we’re a salesperson and their fear that we’re going to try to force them to purchase their product.

Our job as salespeople, through empathy, engagement, and rapport building, is to move up the trust scale as fast as possible. Folks, you’ll never make it to the top of the trust scale in a call or two. It takes time to build trust. The goal is to simply move up the scale faster.

trust scale

How Do You Build Rapport Quickly?

We’ve all heard that people buy from people they like, but the truth is that people buy from people that are LIKE them. We’re hard-wired to connect to people that are like us. That’s why small talk was invented; to help us find common ground with others. 

The key to building authentic rapport (and quickly), is to let people get to know you faster.

Here are a few tips on what you can share with buyers to build rapport:

  1. Introduce yourself at the beginning of the call
  2. Get your resume off LinkedIn & share something about your experience
  3. Connect on LinkedIn with a personal message 
  4. Send a personalized video 
  5. Share some (personal) background 
  6. Add something funny 
  7. Make fun of yourself (pratfall effect)

If you want to connect to your buyer, you’ve got to give to get. Give information about yourself and you’ll get an authentic connection to your buyer. 

Want more tips? Watch our 30-minute Sales Shot to learn how to improve buyer engagement in video sales meetings.

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3 Cold (and Warm!) Call, Email, Voicemail & Intro Scripts That WORK [Webinar Recording]

3 Cold (and Warm!) Call, Email, Voicemail & Intro Scripts That WORK

[Video Recording]

TOP SALES SCRIPTS FOR CALL INTRO, EMAIL, AND VOICEMAIL

Whether your outreach is warm or ice-cold, the competition for your prospects’ attention is FIERCE and the space is noisy. We’ll kick the year off right by sharing email, voicemail, and sales call intro scripts that WORK to get replies and talk time. 

Factor 8 regularly helps clients achieve nearly DOUBLE seller talk time and increased conversion rates over 100%. And we’re giving away the goods in this 45-minute, tip-rich Sales Shot.

What you’ll learn:

  • The psychological phenomenon that hijacks your prospect’s brain and gets them to focus on YOU
  • What most outreach does WRONG
  • Two ways to guarantee you’ll never hear back
  • Actual scripts to steal – email, voicemail, and our world-famous “SWIIFT℠ Intro” 

If you could use some help crafting cold call scripts that get prospects talking, you don’t want to miss this free session!

Watch the video replay!

TOP SALES SCRIPTS FOR CALL INTRO, EMAIL, AND VOICEMAIL

Whether your outreach is warm or ice-cold, the competition for your prospects’ attention is FIERCE and the space is noisy. We’ll kick the year off right by sharing email, voicemail, and sales call intro scripts that WORK to get replies and talk time. 

Factor 8 regularly helps clients achieve nearly DOUBLE seller talk time and increased conversion rates over 100%. And we’re giving away the goods in this 45-minute, tip-rich Sales Shot.

What you’ll learn:

  • The psychological phenomenon that hijacks your prospect’s brain and gets them to focus on YOU
  • What most outreach does WRONG
  • Two ways to guarantee you’ll never hear back
  • Actual scripts to steal – email, voicemail, and our world-famous “SWIIFT℠ Intro” 

If you could use some help crafting cold call scripts that get prospects talking, you don’t want to miss this free session!

Watch the video replay!

sales referral 01

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How to Ask Existing Customers for a Sales Referral

Did you know that 83% of customers are willing to offer a referral after a positive experience? It’s true! So, why aren’t reps getting more sales referrals? Honestly, many are too afraid to ask. It’s time to change that!

 Let’s start out by covering the 3 key benefits of a referral:

  1. Safety: With an average of 6.8 people involved in each sale, getting additional referrals within a company should be smooth sailing. The number one benefit for the inside referral is safety. These additional contacts protect your account in the event your initial contact decides to leave. As an added bonus, they can also lead to new business from another department or division! 
  2. Win Rate: The stats don’t lie. Customers referred by a friend are 4X more likely to purchase AND have a 69% faster closer rate. So, by asking just one little question you could be closing more business in less than ½ the time!
  3. Value: Referral clients stay longer and churn less! Overall, referral clients have a 16% higher chance of becoming a lifetime customer. They also have an 18% lower churn rate. 

Okay, now that we understand WHY referrals are the golden goose of the sales world, let’s talk about how to prepare for the ask! There are 3 things we need to have ready before we ask for a referral…

  1. The Win: Think back to the client’s original specific request. What are the details? How did you help them deliver on those elements?
    • Which of the 6 SWIIFT℠ values did we deliver on?
      • Time
      • Money
      • Ease
      • Making them look good
      • Freeing them from risk
      • Giving them power or control
  2.  The Timing: When is the right time? This is not a one-size-fits-all answer. Instead, this is specific to you, your product, and the customer implementation. Here are a few good questions to ask yourself:
    • Has the customer received the product and had time to use it? If the answer is no, then let’s wait a little while longer. 
    • Stay away from busy periods (end of the month, quarter, year, etc.). Would you call an accountant in April? No, so let’s be smart about when we reach out to our customers asking for favors.
      •  Think: Does your client operate on a Fiscal Year or a Calendar Year?
    • What is the customer’s feedback cycle? Are they able to review it upon receipt or is the product offered to a 3rd party after your client receives it?
    • What are the client’s usage rates? Is this something they will use often, or something they may use sparingly? 
  3. The Ask: Before you make this call let’s understand who you are really looking for. Take the time to imagine the perfect client in your mind. Can you describe the job title, duties, or the situation the potential client might be in? We want to be specific and use descriptors to help your client think of possible referrals.
    • Asking a client if they know of anyone else who is looking for training might leave you with an awkward silence. On the other hand, asking a client if there are any other SVPs in their company or network that might also be onboarding new team sales reps might provide one (or more) specific names. 

Next, now that we’ve discussed the benefits and we’ve prepared for the ask… it’s time to make the call. Let’s talk about the 4 steps to a foolproof referral! 

Step 1: Bring it Up

  • Did you speak with this client originally? If so, let’s use that as a jumping-off point, “I remember when we first spoke, you were looking for help with _________”
  • Were you not their original point of contact? Speak with their original point of contact and get all of the details. Use the client’s original specific reason for working with you to lead the conversation. 

Step 2: Get a Rave

  • Let’s find the thing that gets them talking. Check your CRM notes, check with their customer service rep, find the challenge that your company answered, and use it. If we can get the conversation flowing, switching to the ask will be easy. 

Step 3: Repeat the SWIIFT℠ Value

  • Don’t be afraid to talk about their original specific reason again if you aren’t getting some excitement. Sometimes it can help to gently remind them about the pain of their situation prior to stepping in and helping them get to the payoff. 

 Step 4: Ask for a Specific Referral

  • Be ready with the specific title, job description, or situation that you are looking for. Being a bit specific can help guide your client to thinking of a real live name! “Are there any other Directors of Sales in your company or network that are looking to increase their closing ratios?” 
    • Be careful not to be too specific though, creating too narrow of a window can also leave you empty-handed.
      • Pro Tip: Use the Rule of 3 to help them see
      • When forming your ask, bringing three options to the ask will make it easier for your client to think on their feet. “Maybe a customer care team, inbound demand generation, or a sales development team?”

One little bonus tip, if you ask for a name you will only get a name… so ask for more! 

Once your client has offered you a name, the final step is to confirm with your client what their level of comfortability is when referencing them to the referral.

Level 1: Permission to use the contact’s name as a lever

Level 2: Would they be willing to e-introduce you, copying both you and the new contact?

Level 3: Would they be willing to call the new contact personally and tell them about you, prior to your reach out?

Level 4: An in-person meeting or live joint introductory call! 

Okay, I know this is a lot of information. But once you put these rules into practice, I PROMISE you will see amazing results. Now let’s go out there and start raking in those referrals! 

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Build Phone Confidence With Quick Voicemail Tips

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Quick Sales Voicemail Tips to Build Phone Confidence

Whether you’re new to phone sales or a seasoned pro, if you’re looking for tips to build phone confidence, then keep reading.

Start by setting yourself a call goal and stick to it! Always make that many calls per day.

Now, you and I both know that 80-90% of calls are going to end up in a sales voicemail, so be ready to leave one.

I cannot stress this enough: ALWAYS LEAVE A VOICEMAIL. It doesn’t count as a touch, if you don’t leave a voicemail.

And make sure it’s a “good” voicemail. If you’re not sure what that means, here are 3 traits of a good sales voicemail:

  1. It’s under 10 seconds
  2. You said their name like you know them
  3. You motivated them to call you back using urgency, mystery, value, or a lever

DOWNLOAD: 4 Voicemails That Get Returned [Script Samples]

Never, ever, ever pitch or sell in a voicemail. Odds are, you’ll never hear from the contact again.

So, why leave a voicemail? Well, good voicemails can lead to 3-5x more returned calls (vs. bad or no voicemails). That means that if you leave 10 voicemails every day, I promise you’ll get 3-5 more calls returned. That might not sound like great odds, but those are 3-5 more conversations that you weren’t getting before.

(Psst! Take our sales training course, Messages That Get Returned, to help you craft winning voicemails.)

So, set your call goals, take the time to craft a really strong voicemail, leave it every time, and put those notes in your CRM so you know which voicemail you left.

There’s no better way to build phone confidence than to see it work and actually get prospects and customers to call you back.

Watch the video below to see LB break down the 4 goals for leaving a sales voicemail.

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Overcoming Sales Objections

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Quick Tips on Overcoming Sales Objections

If you’re a BDR or SDR, you’ve probably heard your fair share of sales objections. And chances are, you’re likely NOT a big fan of them. I’m here to change your mind. Why?

I LOVE objections.

They’re proof a prospect is actually listening, and at some level, they’re even considering buying. I see objections as a challenge to understand prospects better and to showcase the SWIIFT℠ value of my product. 

Ready to love objections? Let’s get started.

First, let’s understand the difference between a brush-off and a sales objection. If you’re hearing things like “I can’t talk right now” or “I’m not interested,” what the person on the other end of the phone is really saying is “I’d rather be doing anything than be sold to right now.” In these cases, you are experiencing a brush-off. These are typically heard at the beginning of the call and have almost nothing to do with your product or solution. Brush-offs require their own set of solutions, we’ll get to those in another article.

On the other hand, an objection sounds like “we don’t have a budget for XYZ” or “it’s too expensive” or “this isn’t our top priority.” Prospects with true objections are informed. They know who you are and what you are selling. Their objection is directly related to what you have presented to them (i.e. “We don’t have room in our 2022 budget for XYZ right now”).

Now that we understand the type of push-back that we’re solving for, let’s talk about overcoming objections in sales. Think about sales objections in terms of dating. You’ve poured your heart (your “pitch”) out to this potential customer and they’re quickly trying to show you the door. It’s only natural for us to take it personally. But let’s think about it this way, would you rather hear why a prospect is rejecting you, or be ghosted and left wondering why you weren’t a great fit? If you’re anything like me, you need to know “why?!”

So, let’s go over the 4 easy steps to sales objection handling so you can find both a solution and the answer to that “why?!”

SPOILER ALERT: Most sales reps only follow one step and the majority are unsuccessful! The most important thing to successfully handle an objection is to complete ALL 4 steps! 

#1 Acknowledge 

When you first hear an objection, you and your prospect are like two people on opposing sides of the table. You need to move to the same side in order to work together. Start by listening closely to what your prospect is saying to help identify the truth behind the objection and to LOWER defensiveness. Be sure to use your active listening skills here, folks. Nodding your head saying “mmhmm” or “I get that” are all useful cues to let them know you hear them. Go a step further by rephrasing their objection to show that you were truly listening to their thoughts. 

Skipping this first step will leave you sounding defensive to someone whose guard is already up. That is not a recipe for success. So, let’s listen and acknowledge before moving to step 2.

#2 Ask Questions

The end goal of this step is to truly understand the prospect’s objection. Often, the initial objection is superficial. So, let’s use questions to isolate and clarify before we attempt to handle it. Taking a breath and approaching the questions with a calm tone can really help as well. Below are a few examples of defensive questions vs. calm, open-ended questions. 

“What do you mean by that?” vs. “Sure, I get it, tell me more?”

“How could you say we’re too expensive?” vs. “I totally understand. Can you explain more about the cost?”

“You honestly think you don’t need this?” vs. “I hear you. So, what’s your solution to this problem?”

The most important part about this step is asking questions until you fully understand what the roadblock is. 

#3 Overcome! 

This is the step that most salespeople jump to. Reminder: If you skip steps 1 and 2, you are very likely not getting to the root of their objection and are coming off as defensive. This will lead to an aggravated prospect who will likely hang up on you. 

Now let’s talk about addressing the true objection and providing a solution. After years of handling objections, we have found three tactics that show proven results! 

  • Value:
    • Find the SWIIFT℠ value that the client’s objection embodies and use it to explain how your solution will overcome the objection at hand. (New here? Don’t know about the SWIIFT℠ values, yet? Check out the details HERE)
      • Money Example: “You know, if we implement this right now, our solution will help save about five times this investment! And that’s just in the first year. Our projections estimate at least $50k in savings right off the bat! I know it’s scary, but the savings are worth it!”
  • Felt/Found: 
    • This tactic explains the cause and effect of your solution in the context of a previous client or clients.
      • Example: “I get it. Honestly? At least half of my current customers have FELT this way. It’s scary to invest upfront. But, what each of them has FOUND is that the cost savings more than make up for it – and does so quickly!”
  • Story: 
    • This is similar to the Felt/Found tactic but goes into more detail. It’s important to remember that this can be a true story that happened to you or one of your co-workers, it could be a story pulled from a research report (with the names and details adjusted to your specific company), or it could be a story based in truth, with a few exaggerations. 
      • Example: “I get it. It’s a totally normal reaction. You know from the beginning, you’ve reminded me of Bob from Spokane. He was shopping for the same solution – although he picked the XYZ model. He hesitated to pull the trigger too, and he has already recouped 75% of his original investment. That was literally just last month!”
    • When you’re sharing a story with a prospect, remember that good stories have these components:
      • Time
      • Place
      • Main Character
      • Challenge
      • Goal
      • Series of Events (aka Plot)
      • Outcome
      • Details (1-2 fun embellishments or random details)
  • Insider Tip: facts are 20 TIMES more likely to be remembered when they are part of a story! Stories release dopamine to the brain. Which, in turn, causes a deeper sense of emotional engagement with what is said. The brain automatically goes into curiosity and receptive mode (instead of defensive mode). Cool, right!? So, get your clients to drop their guard a bit with a good story! 

DOWNLOAD: 4-Step Process To Overcome Objections

#4 Check-In & Close

In this step, you’ve got to confirm that you’ve answered your prospect’s questions and concerns. After confirming, we push the deal forward to either the next steps or to a close. Only about 10% of customers will close themselves. This means 90% of deals will stall out if you skip this step! Check out the image below to see 5 different types of closes. Which one feels the most comfortable for you?

BONUS! Here are a few additional tips to use after you’ve mastered the 4 steps above:

  • Always run through the proposal live with your client. If you are only emailing a quote you will lose a larger percentage of business. 
  • If you are getting pricing objections from a lot of clients, you are probably selling on features only. You’ve got to include those SWIIFT℠ values! 
  • If you don’t know which questions to ask, then remove the objection. Example: “Suppose you didn’t have ______? How would the situation be different?”
  • If you don’t know what to ask, then ask “why”? Example: “I’m sorry to hear you feel that way. I would like to understand your concern. May I ask why you say that?” 

If you master the 4 steps above, you’ll find those sales objections turning into deals in no time!

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Prospect Discovery Questions

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How Pipeline and Prospect Discovery Questions Are Different

Sales discovery questions are drastically different from pipeline discovery questions. In fact, you should never use pipeline questions with a prospect. 

Why? Because prospects are somewhere between cold and lukewarm. They’re not eager to be there and they’ve made no commitments about their time nor attention. Therefore prospect questions are being asked on tight timelines and to someone resistant to being sold. It’s like throwing balls at someone with their eyes closed and getting them to catch one in under thirty seconds (be clear, they don’t want to play).

Pipeline discovery is with someone who has already agreed to a meeting and shown some level of willingness to learn more. We’re talking lukewarm to hot. OK, now we have a shot of really playing some catch! We’ve booked 30-60 minutes and they’ve agreed to play ball! 

So how should we change our discovery questions accordingly? Let’s stay in our game. If you have a minute to win it by getting a “catch” with an unwilling participant, lob easy balls that aren’t too painful when they hit – like ping pong balls. Fast, light, not too painful. 

A willing catch partner will tolerate something weightier like a baseball, basketball, or even a bowling ball! They’re ready to catch and they may even be impressed with the ball you throw. 

Wait. What? A bowling ball question? Yeah, you know, the big ones. “What’s it costing you to leave this unsolved?” or “What’s the worst-case scenario if this goes wrong?” The heavy stuff.

Prospect ping pong questions are light, easy, and non-threatening. Some are probably your sales qualification questions. Their short answer, rote answer, and easy answer. “How many reps do you have?” “What are you using now?” “What do you like about it?” “I can handle these no problem!”

Ever seen the guys in airports trying to sell travel credit cards from a kiosk? Most of them are yelling benefits like “10,000 free miles!” or “Free travel!” It’s not unlike most sellers. They’re billboarding instead of engaging. They could (and maybe should) literally be replaced by a sign. A sign may actually do better because we’re not afraid of being pitched by a sign.

Wouldn’t they do better if they asked engaging questions and got us into a conversation instead? Ping pong questions like, “Fun trip or work trip today?” “Headed to the beach?” “Is today the Hawaii trip!?” 

These are non-threatening, right? Maybe they’re obvious (is she wearing vacation clothes?) or even funny (is he wearing a suit?). Point is, they get me to answer, maybe even smile. I’d lower my defenses and engage. Now you follow up with a better question like, “Where do you WISH you were going?” or “So, what’s next on the bucket list?” and now I’m in a conversation about desired travel. Soon we’ll be swapping stories and practically smelling the coconut oil…

Now if they threw bowling balls they wouldn’t get too far. Questions like, “What’s the APR on your current card!?” “How many free trips did you earn last year?” “Would you like to earn free miles on every flight?” OK, maybe these aren’t as heavy as bowling, but each requires some thought on my part, right? Each screams sales pitch coming!?

Ping pongs are non-threatening, non-sales questions. Perfect for prospecting.

Bowling balls are obvious sales questions and/or cost me more effort to answer. Yuck.

So stop leading with the bowling balls friends! If you’re a student of Factor 8’s SWIIFT℠ Intro, you’ll remember that the secret sauce is the SWIIFT℠ Questions at the end. These closed questions get prospects talking before they realize it and now you’re on first base with a conversation. NOW you graduate up to baseballs for second base and round home with the bowling balls. Admittedly my metaphors need work. 

So reframe how you approach prospecting discovery. Prospecting questions have 3 very clear goals:

  1. Get me talking
  2. Make a connection and build some rapport 
  3. Find a teeny tiny edge (P.A.I.N – problems, avoidance, improvements, and newness) 

Pipeline questions have very clear goals as well:

  1. Find a need, challenge, or opportunity to improve
  2. Uncover what the customer’s values are
  3. Prove I can be a match better than others

Pipeline questions will dig deeply into priorities, challenges, preferences, competition, and experiences. These are not going to help someone with their eyes closed decide to play ball with you. Unless they’re actively looking for your solution right now, your superbly crafted pipeline questions will simply guarantee I keep my head down and rush for my flight. So keep it light and save pipeline questions for pipeline prospects.

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