Welcome to the Sales Playbook Sales Tip of The Day. Our tips are here to provide insights and ideas to sales professionals of all levels and can be implemented into all stages of a sales pipeline and used within any team.
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When most people talk about customer stories and testimonials they generally think about marketing, but these are highly important tools for sales professionals to leverage in their customer conversations and outreach to prospects. If someone recommends a restaurant to you, especially if it is someone you know, then you’re more likely to give it a try. This unconscious rule applies to your products and services as well.
During outreach to prospects you want to leverage the achievements you have had with the same or similar companies in their industry. Pull specific details and bullet point these to give them enough data to peek their interest and set up a next action, like a video call or in person meeting and go a little deeper into how you can do the same for their organization. Triggers and industry news are also important and can give you a great way of not only personalizing your approach, but also making your outreach more relevant to them. Maybe the company has just received some additional funding, your prospect has been promoted, or you have seen job boards for new hiring expansion.
Be sure to leverage all relevant aspects of your business and theirs. Personalize where you can and always be relevant to them! – Ben James
Open-ended questions are essential for sales success. They allow a sales professional to better understand their prospects and/or customers pains, needs, wants and desires. Using the fives Ws and How framework when constructing your questions is a great way to make sure you’re opening up conversations and getting your prospects to explain their answers in more detail. Here are a few examples:
Who – “Who else is involved in the decision making process?” “Who is responsible for these metrics”
What – “What challenges are you facing with X, Y, Z?” “What is your timeline for achieving these goals”
Where – “Where does this rank in your priorities?”
When – “When the solution is in place, when would you like to see results?”
Why – “Why is this a priority for your business?”
How – “How many people are involved in your buying process?”
By including the five Ws and How in your questioning you will ultimately learn more about your target audience! – Ben James