So how do you “sell” without actually “selling”?
Well, the fact is that people who don’t consciously ‘sell’, are the most successful.
When you think of a salesperson, what comes to mind?
I often ask this question during my programs: I want to get into the salesperson’s head and see how they view themselves.
Do they see themselves as persuaders or talkers to get a sale, or as educators and helpers to solve a problem?
Salespeople tend to commonly overlook connections and default to immediate selling.
When people feel they are being ‘sold to,’ they ‘switch off’ – physically, emotionally, and mentally.
The key lesson on ‘how to sell without selling’ is to avoid being pushy.
If you are under pressure, it will lead you to act desperate. Customers can detect desperation in the same way that dogs can smell fear from afar.
Yes, they know. As a result, they view the engagement as merely ‘transactional.’ No relationship is formed with you built on trust and loyalty, and they will most likely pressure you on price, delivery, or other inclusions to get the ‘best deal’.
It’s vital to remove all pressure from the sale. How often do you notice someone trying to pressure sell to you? There is probably a good reason for this sense of urgency: they need to achieve their monthly sales target and possibly their bonus. It’s glaringly obvious, as the engagement is all about them (the salesperson) and not you (the client). They are pushing their wares. The salesperson does way too much yapping and too little listening. This is a sure way to ruin the relationship.
Traditionally the whole selling process used to be called the “ABC of Selling”: Always Be Closing.
This became the premise of a movie called “Glengarry Glen Ross”*, depicting determined salespeople focused on closing at every step of the way.
The ‘hard’ sell era gave sales professionals a bad name.
Thankfully, ABC evolved into a more customer-centric model, from Always Be Closing to Always Be Connecting. Remain close and in touch with your customer.
However, let me clarify: if you’re contacting your customer to merely say, “I’m just ringing to check in with you,” you are wasting their time.
The current landscape has progressed beyond just connecting to Always Be Helping, and Always Be Adding Value.
(ABH and ABAV just do not have the same ring, so we’ll leave the acronyms there!)
Why should we always be helping and adding value?
If you are not helping, you are simply peddling wares. If you’re not adding value in some way or another, then you are not investing in the client, not helping them with their problems, and not moving the sale forward in any way, shape, or form.
In previous blogs, we’ve discussed our sales funnel and how prospects are now coming to you.
For most businesses, your client’s first interaction with you is likely halfway or deeper into the sales funnel. They have been on your website, watched videos, and possibly studied Google reviews. They’ve already made 57%, or according to HubSpot, even 70% of their buying decision by the time they contact you.
So when they engage with you, the magic now lies in what you can bring to the table. How you act, behave, and communicate. How invested you are in their issues.
A sale isn’t something you pursue. It’s something that occurs while you’re busy helping your customer. So, how do you get busy helping your customers and add value?
Start the phone call with ‘the reason for my call today is’ and quickly highlight whatever that value might be.
We need to give value by educating and advising, which seamlessly moves the sale forward and toward the best client outcomes.
Be an industry expert: Know your clients’ issues, problems, and concerns. Be a trusted advisor, know how to listen first, and talk later.
Know your solution.
Be 100% sold on what you are selling, and be confident of its abilities as a solution. Then, when you authentically connect with your client, you build empathy and understanding of their situation. Discuss their problems (not your products and not your problems).
Be investigative by asking good open-ended questions to determine what they need, where they are at, and what they have tried. Skilfully uncover other problems they face and even those they are still unaware of, all of which will enable you to put forward your tailored proposal/solution in a way that is much more on point.
The sale is a natural outcome of solving their issues, by helping and adding value.
Take your time with the conversation (‘presenting’ if you will). Take it slowly. It may be the first time your client hears about your product/service/solution or has had such an in-depth conversation with someone. Be sincere. You may be used to saying the same information over and over, hundreds of times, knowing it back to front and upside down, but your customer doesn’t. It’s likely to be a first for them.
Whatever you do, don’t dive straight into the sales pitch. “I’m here today to talk about XYZ.” Spoiler alert: this doesn’t build rapport, empathy, or trust, nor does it educate or bring value.
Genuine empathy and rapport are critical elements that eliminate pushiness and organically facilitate ‘selling without selling.’
We work on a 90/10 ratio for a first interaction: 90% of the time, it’s the client talking, and only 10% is you, mostly asking questions.
Many a sale has been ‘undone’ by an overly talkative rep who unwittingly talks a client out of a sale.
Open questions will help you understand more.
What are open questions? They are questions that cannot be answered by a mere ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Open questions encourage clients to ‘discuss’ and ‘unpack’ their needs and reveal how you can potentially help.
Focus on their problem and not the bells and whistles of your product. It’s about what problem you are solving with your solution and why they should buy it from you.
So, let the prospect do the talking. Help them be comfortable talking to you.
How do you make them feel comfortable?
Recently, I was talking with a medical rep who calls upon lots of nurses. He schedules his visits during their coffee break and brings donuts. Consequently, they immediately feel comfortable, as well as no longer hungry! It becomes a relaxed setting, allowing the conversation to flow naturally. The pressure is off.
Sales, after all, is just a conversation where you discuss a situation and brainstorm solutions that will solve it. It’s a two-way interaction.
Use humour.
Humour’s excellent, but tread cautiously. It can also be your downfall.
Let me highlight.
Avoid humor if you’re not naturally funny.
A friend of mine does a lot of public speaking. Frequently, she asks me to come along and critique her speech afterward.
On one occasion, on the drive home, she mentioned how there was a flat spot after about five minutes into her speech. I said, ‘Yes, it’s when you told that joke.’
Ensure your humour is relevant.
A few weeks ago, I was at a conference about using technology to increase productivity. The speaker got up and told a very funny joke.
Imagine 400 people bellowing with raucous laughter. Later on, that evening, while socialising, people recalled the joke. It’s all about hitting the mark with the tone, content, punchline, timing, and everything else, right?
When I queried the group about the details of the speakers’ presentation around technology and productivity, they couldn’t remember. So, while the joke was hilarious, it wasn’t relevant to his presentation; instead, it overshadowed.
Remember, the journey with your customer is going to be a long one.
Always have an ‘ask’ at the end, even if that’s just the next meeting – have some type of agreement. This action keeps the sales process moving forward.
So, there are lots of ways to sell without selling.
The key is to develop an ‘add value’ mindset rather than a ‘selling’ one.
I repeatedly see how we successfully transform salespeople into helpers, guiders, nurturers, and educators, engaging more meaningfully in order to help more clients. This approach creates delighted clients and reps whose sales go through the roof.
*The phrase ‘Always Be Closing’ was popularised and coined in the 1992 film, “Glengarry Glen Ross” starring Alec Baldwin, Al Pacino, and Jack Lemmon. The movie, written by David Mamet, was based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play. It emphasized the darker, cutthroat side of the sales industry. The ABC phrase was actively used in sales until about ten years ago.
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