Alternative Strategies for Achieving Sales Success

Prospects aren’t targets. They’re humans. Humans respond best when they feel understood, not convinced. The best salespeople know how to make others feel heard. When you ask a question, then another question, then another unrelated question, discovery calls can feel like interrogations. If you don’t listen and instead rapid-fire scripted questions, it feels like you’re not genuinely interested in the response but rather focused solely on your agenda of quantifying pain so you justify your solution. If people don’t feel understood, they’re not going to trust what you recommend. The way out? Ask fewer questions on discovery calls. Go deeper. Like a therapist: “What’s on your mind?” (Inbound.) “How's it going?” Mute. (Digging deeper) “Afraid to dial?” (Digging deeper) “It’s like the phone is a cactus.” Mute. (Digging deeper) “What else?” Mute. “There are so many sales trainers. What prompted you to call us?” “What's the real challenge?” (Digging deeper.) “What's your perspective on why that is?” “If you're looking back 6 months from now, what has to have happened for you to feel really happy with your progress?” (Digging deeper.) “How so?” Don't ask a digging deeper question if you're not curious about the answer. When people feel understood, you build trust. And in a world of similar products, trust is why people choose you. Seller’s don’t have the answers. Buyers do. The seller’s job is to draw them out. Learn the gentle art of making others feel understood here: https://lnkd.in/eVfUevmz

When I was a VP of Sales, I had SMB AEs making $200K+ a year. These AEs were closing 50-70% of their demos. Here are 5 techniques I taught them that you can use (even if you're a MM or ENT AE): 1. SEEK PAIN: If you don't know the prospect's: a) pain b) size of pain c) who's impacted by that pain then what the hell will you demo? They would not demo the software until they find out the prospect's pain points. So one of the questions we started asking to get to this answer as quickly as possible was: "What specific challenges are you dealing with that you think we'd be able to help you with?" 2. REJECT PROSPECTS: SMB sales is a double edge sword. You can be 'stuck' with a lot of leads & deals. Many of those deals are not a fit. So they take up space and time in your calendar. Although very hard to do, I trained them to be comfortable rejecting a lead if it didn't seem like it would close within 90 days. 3. DEMO OUT OF ORDER: Most bad demos follows a predictable demo flow. First talk about X, then show them Y, then cover Z. But many times, prospects only had 1 specific problem they wanted to solve, nothing more. And if you showed them how to solve that 1 problem you'd win them over. So a feature that would typically be saved until the end of the call was showcased right away. 4. ASK PRQs: Digging deep on discovery is hard to do (also for MM and Enterprise). Average AEs try to pigeonhole all of their discovery questions in the beginning of the call. This pissed off prospects. Instead, we sprinkled questions throughout the demo using PRQs (Process Related Questions). For example, before showing a relevant feature, ask: "Curious, what's your current process of managing your invoices today?" 5. MICRO-CLOSE: I used think closing happens at the end of a sales call. But closing is really just the sum of 'micro-closes' you do throughout your demo. At the end of a relevant feature, the AEs would ask: "Does this solve your problem of [pain]?" If prospects say YES, the AEs just micro-closed them on that. Do this throughout the call and you're compounding your close. P.s. Every top AE I trained has mastered discovery. 6,000+ AEs are crushing their disco using these 24 questions: https://lnkd.in/eR69raD4

I've watched over 2,500 discovery calls in the last few years. There's one thing I'm convinced of: Top salespeople get to the "heart of the problem" FASTER than their peers. SPEED to uncovering the 'real' problem matters. Here's why: Avg salespeople don't uncover even the tip of the ice berg until late in the call. So they never get a chance to go beyond the surface. They run out of time. Great salespeople get to the heart of the matter fast. That gives them TIME: Time to peel back the onion. Time to explore negative impact. Time to diagnose the root cause. Here are four questions (in order) that get to 'the heart of the deal' fast: 1. Tell me about your biggest challenges when it comes to X? Easy enough. Just enough to kickstart the conversation in the right direction. But not enough by itself. Customers will (almost) always give surface level answers to the first question. 2. What's going on in the business that's driving [what they shared] to be a priorty. Ask this, and your customers will CHUCKLE half the time. Why? Because you are striking a CHORD when you ask that. You're getting to the 'need behind the need.' That's where big money lives. Getting closer. 3. What metric is suffering most as a result of that? Avg sellers struggle to quantify pain. You walk into a different world when you go from expressed pain to quantified pain. Your customer's urgency ramps up. And spending money to solve the problem begins to look REAL good. 4. What's driving you to solve all this now rather than later? Ask this too early? And the answers will be weak. BUT... If you ask this AFTER those first three questions... Your customer now has the FULL CONTEXT of the problem top-of-mind. And now... their answers to THIS question will be far, FAR richer. Give those 4 questions (in order) a try. P.S. Here's 39 more questions that sell: https://lnkd.in/g-VRcCsq

🚀 Revolutionizing B2B Sales: Beyond Names and Titles to Genuine Personalization 🚀 1️⃣ True Personalization: It's not just about using names and titles. To truly connect and stand out, delve deeper into understanding your clients' unique challenges and goals. 2️⃣ Avoid the Generic Trap: Sending emails that only use surface-level info like names or titles is often seen as self-serving. It's crucial to position yourself distinctively and avoid being just another sales pitch. 3️⃣ Lesson from a Lost Opportunity: A sales team's transactional approach failed because they lacked personalization. They treated their client like any other, missing the chance to connect on a deeper level. 4️⃣ The Power of Preparation: Do your homework! Reading a client's annual report, industry news, and understanding their challenges can transform your approach from generic to genuinely engaging. 5️⃣ High-Stakes Email Strategy: One company's bold move of emailing the C-suite with researched, relevant content paid off. This shows the value of understanding and addressing the client's specific needs and challenges. 6️⃣ Why Your Emails Get Ignored: If your emails are all about you and your product, they're likely getting deleted. Shift the focus to your clients - their goals, their company, their needs. 7️⃣ Enter ValueMail: Instead of standard sales emails, use insights to create emails that offer real value to your clients. Show that you understand and can contribute to their goals. 8️⃣ Be the Expert: In the evolving world of sales, being informed and authoritative is key. Know more than your clients and competitors. Let your knowledge and personalized approach be your edge. 🔍 Research is Key: Dive into your client's world - read their reports, understand their industry, and know their competitors. Show them you're not just selling - you're a partner in their success. 🌟 Elevate your sales game by embracing true personalization. It's not just about winning a sale; it's about building lasting, meaningful relationships. 🌟

Average sellers ask questions to gain information. Standout sellers ask questions to release emotion. Here are 4 examples to help you make this shift ⤵ 1/ Confidence: This feels like, "Oh wow, they really know their stuff." → For prospects feeling inexperienced, like they’re in over their head, and don't know where to start. Q: “Most people often overlook X, which always turns out to be key, so I'd say we start there. How have you explored X in the past?” 2/ Empathy: This feels like, "Finally, someone who gets me.” → For prospects feeling misunderstood, standoffish, and more guarded than transparent. Q: “Is there something about this issue that others you’ve explained it to just don’t seem to understand?” 3/ Curiosity: This feels like, “Oh really? Say more…” → For prospects feeling bored, low-energy, and just not interested in engaging deeply. Q: “Oh really? Interesting, because I’d have guessed it’d be the opposite. How could we explore that some more?” 4/ Calm: This feels like, “Ah, I can finally catch my breath.” → For prospects feeling rushed and anxious, like they’re always falling behind. Q: “Oh wow, you’re actually further ahead than what I’m used to seeing. What have you already tried, that seems to be working here?” We could go on, but the idea is to always begin with emotion. Release a negative emotion, and replace it with a positive one. 1/ What’s happening in my prospect’s life? (e.g. layoffs inside their team) 2/ What negative emotion is this causing? (e.g. anxiety, fear, uncertainty) 3/ What’s the opposite, positive emotion? (e.g. hope, indispensability) Then, ask accordingly. Release & replace, it's one of several champion-building strategies I broke down for pclub.io here: https://lnkd.in/gpCU5gw3

No solutioning during discovery? Yes, Salesforce teams must understand the why behind the ask and the business outcomes before jumping to conclusions about the how. But if you take this too literally, you miss critical conversations. Discovery is a dialogue, not an interview.  It’s okay to consider possibilities and discuss what-ifs.   Paint a vision. Explore ideas. Gauge interest. Assess business value. Confirm understanding. Collaborate with your stakeholders.   🗣️Sample Talk Tracks ✔️ There are multiple ways we can accomplish that. Let’s talk through a few options to explore if and how they would add value to your team. ✔️ I’d like to show you something we created for the Customer Success team last year when they had a similar need to see whether something like that would address your needs. ✔️ If I understand correctly, it sounds like you’re envisioning something similar to this. How does that compare to what you're thinking about? ✔️ Options for solving this run the gamut from quick hits to very robust features. I’d like to run through a few scenarios to get a sense of the right-sized solution. ✔️ Imagine if you had a tab where you could easily manage all the details about those things. How would that fit into the process as you’ve envisioned it?   Note: These conversations do NOT equate to a commitment to develop, build, or deliver anything. Frame the conversation as an exploratory discussion and communicate that you'll share their input with the team and then circle back with a recommended solution. What say you, Salesforce peeps? 👇🏻 Agree that discovery is a two-way conversation and that sharing concepts can be a valuable part of the exercise? Any tips or caveats to share? PS) Someone here once suggested the term “𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨” instead of “𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨,” and it perfectly sums up these kinds of conversations. I wish I could remember who said it so I could give credit! #SalesforceAdmins #SalesforceBusinessAnalyst

Never ever take a brain picking call. That’s what they tell you. While it’s unsustainable to do too many of these, they're not without value. I once took a brain picking call from a young guy in marketing at a new startup simply because he asked; and you never know who you might be able to help and who might be able to help you. Yesterday I talked to Chris Orlob again for the first time in awhile. He moved from marketing to sales and helped grow Gong from $200k to a $7.2b valuation in five years. I’m sharing his top 17 SaaS sales tips here because they’re gold: 1. Money follows pain. Stop selling benefits. Start selling pain relief. You'll close more. 2. WHO matters more than WHAT. If you're talking to the right person: But you have bad sales technique? You can still win. If you're talking to the wrong person: And have great sales techniques? You lose. 3. Don't multi-thread. Single-thread with multiple people. Break people out into 1:1 meetings. Stole this from 👩🏻🏫 Krysten Conner 4. Don't multi-thread too much. Looping in the wrong people can kill your deal. Get the blend of people just right. No, IT doesn't always need to be involved. 5. Great cold emails don't talk about your product. They talk about pain. They look like a page from your buyer's diary. 6. Follow up. Fast. Some sellers take days to follow up. They don't want to seem desperate. Stop it. This isn't dating. Speed sells. 7. The secret to enterprise deals: Pick the deals you can win; then win the deals you pick. 8. Build your business acumen. It makes your sales techniques 2x as effective. Without acumen, you're hollow. 9. Don't seek approval. Seek to solve problems. Big difference. Don't grovel. 10. Buyers don't buy because of ROI. ROI doesn't drive purchases. Emotion does. They simply need ROI to justify the purchase. 11. There are two winners in each deal: The seller who won. The seller who ejected from the deal early and didn't waste time. 12. "Continuity of power" is the ultimate metric. Getting access to power is one thing. Getting a 2nd or 3rd meeting with power is entirely different. Only sellers with sharp acumen get the latter. 13. Great sales calls start with planning. Don't wing it. 14. Voice tone matters. Stop inflecting up. Inflect down. It sets an equal tone. 15. Become a master wordsmith. Words trigger mental pictures. Mental pictures trigger emotions. Emotions trigger actions. Actions close deals. 16. Don't negotiate price too early. It should be the last thing you do before the deal closes. Anything else is too early. 17. Talk about money like it's nothing. Quote a $600,000 proposal with a straight face. That's a superpower. The best salespeople have a casual attitude about money. The worst salespeople freak out when they talk numbers. P.S. Here’s a free list of 39 questions that sell that Chris put together:  https://go.pclub.io/list

As a VP of Sales, I've heard hundreds of cringey sales calls -- here are the 4 keys to making discovery NOT sound like an interrogation: 1️⃣ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 Horizontal questions constantly change the topic: - How do you do X - How do you do Y - How do you do Z But vertical questions use the previous question to build the next? - How do you run comp reviews? - Typically when comp's on spreadsheets that means X or Y, which is it for you? - Sounds like Y is a problem. When'd you realize that was a problem? These not only demonstrate that your listening, but get you into 1 DEEP problem instead of 3 SHALLOW problems. 2️⃣ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝟐+ 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬 This often happens when you ask "why'd you take the call?" and they barf 3 random problems at you. Playback the 3 problems so that they know you're actually listening. Then isolate the 1 that matters the most first. 3️⃣ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 "𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐞-𝐨𝐧𝐬" 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 A pile-on is when your prospect shares a problem and you take it a step further, like this:   --> Prospect (Problem): Ugh, these employees don't realize that we pay so much money for benefits and it's not just about salary! --> Rep (Pile-on): I know. I remember the first time I got a cobra letter... it was freaking $800 a month for my own health care. --> Prospect (Elated): I KNOW!!!!! Do it right and they'll think "finally, someone gets it!!!" 4️⃣ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 "𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬" 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 It doesn't matter if your prospect is writhing in pain at the end of the call if they literally have no idea how you can help them. A parallel story is the most powerful form of a "pitch" Once you get a painful story from your prospect, trade a story from a customer that you helped (and your solution will be implicit). *** If you hate cringey discovery calls as much as I do, I broke down each of these tactics in this week's noozy. There's a button below my name -- go check it out there :) #sales #saassales

Most sales are made during discovery, NOT at the closing stage of a sales cycle. So rather than pitching your product or scheduling a demo early on, pitch your discovery process first. When a prospect agrees to let you into their world and show you how they are doing things today, they expect you to come back to show them a better way. The key components of a discovery process include: 1. From start to finish, how do they do it today? 2. What systems and processes are used? 3. Who are the people involved? 4. What are the exact steps from start to finish? 5. How much time does it take? 6. What are the challenges of doing it this way? 7. What’s the impact of those challenges? Most importantly, if you are positioning discovery to a Senior Executive, get them to introduce you to somebody on their team who can get you everything needed for discovery. Once discovery is complete, come back to them and show them a better way and the business value of making that change. If you can’t improve their situation, walk away.

Offering more choice to your clients isn’t the answer; in fact, it’s creating confusion and hurting your sales growth. There’s a tipping point between choice and confusion. Fewer choices can instill higher trust with the client because it shows how well you’ve listened to and understand them. You’re also empowering them to make an informed decision. How can sellers and sales organizations use this idea to improve their sales results? Here are tips to apply from a strategic perspective. 1) Clients don’t want more, they want better. Take the opportunity to move from more choice to better innovation. Retailers are finding when they’ve reduced underperforming products and overwhelming choice, they can free those resources to use on innovation. I define innovation as taking something and making it better by making it different. It can be a small change that makes a big difference. These are some questions to consider before embarking on innovation: Does it need to be improved? What is one small way to improve it that will be material to a client? Can we test that idea with a prospect or a client? Is that client or prospect willing to provide us with input along the way? 2) Take the view that you’re differentiating by offering less choice. Focus on being different, not on doing or offering more. This isn’t to say that you don’t have the offerings, it’s the mindset of being intentional about what is offered. It’s the mindset of clarity and confidence that comes with being laser focused on what’s offered and not offering everything in the hopes that something is a fit. 3) When it comes to your sales strategy, what’s one thing you can remove? Give yourself permission to delete what isn’t working or isn’t optimized. Too many sales leaders and CEOs pursue strategies that aren’t working, because they already have significant time, resources, and finances invested, or they see the competition pursuing a similar path. 4) Use Voice of the Customer to learn what they really want. How many offerings make it to market where the customer wasn’t truly considered? How many processes are in your organization that make it more difficult for your clients to work with you? Voice of Customer processes can help you to learn what’s truly on the mind of your clients, improve their experience with you, and help you weed out solutions that are costing your company time and money. In a world where we’re conditioned to always go for more, it’s counterintuitive to offer less. It can feel vulnerable to offer fewer choices because it’s not what our competition is doing. It can feel uncomfortable to write fewer proposals because there’s a false sense of security in doing more. What do you think of this approach? #modernseller #sales #salesstrategies #salestraining #salesleadership