How to Show Value FASTER with SWIIFT℠ [Webinar Recording]
How to Show Value FASTER with SWIIFT℠
[“Sales Shot” Workshop]
Call Intros (SWIIFT℠)
Power Prospecting: Spend Less Time, Get Better Results [“Sales Shot” Workshop]
Power Prospecting: Spend Less Time, Get Better Results
[“Sales Shot” Workshop]
How to Plan for Prospecting [Cheat Sheet]
How to Plan for Prospecting
[Cheat Sheet]
5 Tips to Transition from Field to Inside Sales
There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it – virtual selling is here to stay, folks. That’s why the transition from field to inside sales is becoming more prevalent.
If you’ve spent years perfecting the art of in-person selling and are struggling (or resisting) the shift to virtual, it’s time to get on track and embrace it.
I get it – virtual selling is a whole different ball game where reaching contacts is harder, your sales cycle is longer, talk tracks are shorter, and a whole slew of other things you’re not used to.
That’s why I took 30 minutes on our recent Sales Shot to break down key virtual and hybrid work practices that will help you feel like a superstar again.
Whether you’ve been at it for a while or recently transitioned, these are tips you can start implementing RIGHT NOW to help you fill those holes in your pipeline.
DOWNLOAD: How to Sell to the CFO to Keep Deals Moving
Pick Up The Phone
Do you like baseball? (Even if you don’t, stick with me for a minute.)
Home base is closing the deal and having a happy client – but you can’t get to home base if you aren’t even on first! First base is getting someone on the phone.
Chances are, they’re not going to pick up on the first try. In fact, less than 20% will connect on that initial call. Even if it takes 12 attempts to connect – you keep calling!
Research shows that 30% of leads are never even contacted at all. That’s a ton of missed opportunity. Especially when you consider that 82% of buyers admit they bought something after a series of cold calls.
So, moral of the story: Pick. Up. The. Phone.
Always Leave a Voicemail
If you’re making all these calls, you’d absolutely better be leaving a voicemail – a GREAT voicemail. In fact, make voicemails your new BFF!
Voicemails have a few different goals. The most obvious one is getting a callback. Realistically, most of them are probably never going to get returned. But here’s what you CAN do: create a positive impression of yourself and your company, and guilt them into either picking up the phone or eventually calling back. So, get creative and make it fun!
The 4 most effective types of voicemails are:
- Lever – Drop their first name, reference one of their coworkers, mention a previous rep they worked with – something that’s going to get their attention! Whatever you do, make it about them!
- Mystery – Keeping the message short and vague can pique their interest.
- Urgency – Are you running a limited promo on a product or service? Are they losing money by the minute if they aren’t using your product? Give them a reason to JUMP!
- Value – There are 6 of them we teach (remember SWIIFT℠, everyone?), but remember that during economic challenges people tend to care most about saving money and mitigating risk.
Whatever you do, ALWAYS leave a voicemail. No voicemail = no touch. It’s like buying a billboard and leaving it blank. Yikes!
Quick Tip: Send an email right after you leave a voicemail. Your likelihood of getting a response is MUCH higher when you mix voicemail + email.
Embrace Smaller Goals
A year ago, your quota probably looked a whole lot different than today. So, take your goals and break them up into smaller, more achievable pieces!
The average successful call is now just 3.5 minutes!
Structure your calls around these 3 key questions:
- What do I need to learn?
- What do I want them to know?
- What commitment do I want to close?
Qualify Your Leads
Do NOT go through an alphabetical list of prospects and pick away at it until you get to Z.
Take the time to actually qualify your leads and call based on that score! You’ll have A,B, C, and D leads (and you can probably skip the D leads). Start with your A leads and work your way down the list until you finish the C leads.
As a general rule, here’s how often to call each lead:
- A leads = 10-12 dials
- B leads = 8 dials
- C leads = 6 dials
Build A Bridge to Call #2
If you got someone talking on the phone after a cold call, the hardest part is over. So make sure you’re taking advantage of it by ALWAYS scheduling the next step WHILE you’re on the call.
Can you schedule the follow-up call now? How about sending a calendar invite with the next meeting’s info? Have you given your cell number to get theirs?
Give yourself permission to call back by urging them to look at their calendar and confirming when you’ll be connecting again.
WATCH: Transitioning from Field to Virtual Selling
Keep in mind, the more you try out these tips, the easier it gets and the more success you’ll see. So get on the virtual train with the rest of us and start building that pipeline. You got this!
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Mastering the Transition from Field to Virtual Selling [“Sales Shot” Workshop]
Mastering the Transition from Field to Virtual Selling
[“Sales Shot” Workshop]
The Best Sales Script To Get A Buyer’s Attention
You may have heard us talk about our SWIIFT℠ Intro before, and if you haven’t, it’s an acronym we use for our sales scripts that means — So, What’s In It For Them? The idea behind the SWIIFT℠ Intro is to focus on the buyer and add value to your sales script so your prospects will stop typing their emails and start listening to you.
Once you grab their attention, you can hit them with one of the most powerful parts of the SWIIFT℠ Intro — and that’s a lever. A lever is a piece of information you have on the company, contact, industry, or history that says,
“Hey, this isn’t a cold call. I’m important and you practically already know me. Tune in!”
So, where do you start when creating the ultimate phone sales script? First things first, write an outline for what you plan to say.
Start With A Sales Script Outline
Planning out what you’re going to say is just as important as actually saying it. You’ll want to make sure you hit all the right points with your sales pitch. Keep in mind your goal is to grab their attention and plan a follow-up interaction.
When creating the outline, think about who you’re calling and how you can get them interested in what you have to say. Planning out the people you’re going to reach out to along with the times will also allow you to be as productive as possible when you finally make the sales pitch.
Personalize every outline you make depending on the person or their role and change it up a bit according to what works.
Next, Figure Out The Best Levers For Your Sales Script
As we mentioned before, levers are the most effective way to grab their attention, and you’re going to want to use them to your advantage once you make your sales call.
There are plenty of different options to use for levers — such as buying history, shared experience, shared external contact, or even events.
Here are some sales script examples that use levers:
- (external name) Looks like we both know John pretty well
- (company history) We’ve been providing your security licenses for the past few years
- (internal name) I work closely with Kathleen in marketing
- (experience) I see we both attended the AA-ISP conference this year
DOWNLOAD: SWIIFT℠ Intro Training Guide
The best lever, however, is a name — preferably one in their company (e.g. their boss or an executive):
Bob! Lauren with Factor 8.
I talked to Larry Reeves yesterday. He asked me to give you a call and I promised him that I would.
Tell me something, are you guys expanding your sales force this year?
What’s different about this lever statement is that the “why” is completely up to the contact’s imagination. It immediately generates Bob to pay attention and ask himself something like, “What’s going on?!”
It’s also important to notice that we didn’t launch into a background story when we used the name-drop technique. This is something you should avoid:
I talked to Larry and he said that he isn’t the right contact and that I should call you.
This just screams sales pitch! But, it’s what we hear most often. Don’t get into a long explanation of why he wasn’t the right contact because more than likely — the prospect doesn’t care. Instead, just call the person like you promised you would!
Use Your Script & Make The Sales Call
Once you’ve figured out which lever to use, you’re one step closer to having an effective sales script that will ultimately grab your buyer’s attention. Your final step is to make the call! With this guide and the right levers, you’ll be sure to reach your goal.
READ: Phone & Video Prospecting Tips To Crush It
And remember — don’t leave out the SWIIFT℠ question at the end of your intro. This is what will get prospects to stop thinking about how to get you off the phone and start thinking of the quick and easy answer to your question. That’s what will get them talking!
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Beyond the Keyboard: Tips for Prospecting via Phone and Video [“Sales Shot” Workshop]
Beyond the Keyboard: Tips for Prospecting via Phone and Video
[“Sales Shot” Workshop]
Thank you to our sponsors!
Human-Centered Communication [Digital Book]
Human-Centered Communication
[Digital Book]
What Is the SWIIFT℠ Selling Methodology?
Every 2 years there’s a new airport sales book, am I right? The longer I’ve been around, the more I’ve watched them cycle through. Ask questions! No, share insights! Add value! Wait, actually challenge instead. I don’t think I’ve read one I find incorrect, but I’ve also never aspired to be an airport author.
To me, the methodology is always secondary to the process. Also, the sales methodology only addresses the decision-maker conversation, and in virtual selling, the conversation is less than half the battle.
I take pride that Factor 8 content helps sellers find the right people, capture new contacts, figure out who to call, how to get (and keep) their attention, and get a call back – and all of that is before conversation one! (and yes, you can buy a tool to help with nearly all of that, but trouble ensues when tools replace strategy – that’s a different blog).
All that said, we don’t have a sales call where we aren’t asked about our methodology, and this is fair. You don’t want us teaching your people something counter to your culture, your process, or your existing methodology.
So for the first time in 15 years, I’m finally defining Factor 8’s methodology. It’s called:
SWIIFT℠ Selling
No, it isn’t a typo. SWIIFT℠ stands for, “So, What’s In It For Them?” and it’s the opposite of WIIFM (“What’s In It For Me”, in case you needed help with that one 😉 ). And although nobody purposely teaches reps to use the WIIFM methodology, it’s what happens in sales calls when we don’t teach them not to.
If you’re unsure what I mean, check your inbox. 99.9% of sales messages are about the rep, the company, the product, and what they want.
“I wanted to check in with you to see if you were getting enough leads because my company is helping others get leads and we’re the leading provider of leads and we’re doing an event about leads…”
Enough!
This is what happens when we onboard reps with company and product information only. They go out and parrot that information. Instead, SWIIFT℠ Selling teaches sellers to always first ask, “So, what’s in this call for them?” And to re-focus a message, a call, a value prop, or a call intro into one that leads with value for the customer.
If you’re thinking, “wait, I thought value-based selling is dead,” just try letting your 24-year-old rep lead with a challenge. Ouch! Also, SWIIFT℠ Selling doesn’t mean it’s ONLY about value, it means we use value and customer centricity to get and keep attention for our discovery call and our product demo, and our closing call.
Of course, SWIIFT℠ Selling also implies speed. Bingo! This is absolutely critical in virtual selling.
- If my email is too long OR all about me, we’re dead in the water.
- If my intro is too long or all about me, we’re dead in the water.
- If my discovery is too long or all about me, we’re dead in the water.
You know I could go on, right? Voicemails, value props, solution proposals, objection handling…
I can’t think of a single place where keeping our focus on speed and what the customer cares about hurts us in sales.
Wait, maybe there’s a book in this after all.
Wondering what customers care about? Watch our video on Factor 8’s SWIIFT℠ Selling Six below!
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Win Sooner. Earn Faster. Stay Longer. [Live Event Recording]
Win Sooner. Earn Faster. Stay Longer.
[Live Event Recording]