Do you have a cookie-cutter sales approach?
Many salespeople lose the business during the first five minutes of the sales meeting because of their inability to read, relate and adapt their approach. They approach every buyer the same way and as result, leave money on the table because they don’t connect with half of their prospects.
The effective salesperson is highly focused on the other party, studying what they’re saying and doing. She adapts her approach to match her prospect or customer style. Good salespeople observe, adapt and personalize each interaction.
• Questions: Before going into an appointment, have you prepared a list of questions or a presentation? If you have a presentation but no questions written down, you’re running a cookie-cutter sales meeting. How can you possibly have a presentation prepared when you haven’t even had a good dialogue with your prospect?
If you do have questions prepared, what kind of questions are they? Are they customized to the potential buyer and industry? Or are they the same questions you ask of all your prospects?
For example, let’s say your solution works for a variety of industries and your buyer is the CFO. Do you have specific questions prepared for the CFO of a manufacturing company that are different than the questions prepared for the CFO of a technology company? Are your questions cookie cutter or customized for your prospects?
• Value propositions: This is the weakest selling skill in most organizations. Typical company value propositions are yawners, touting their features and benefits. Benefit language is commodity language and adds no value to the conversation. Most look and sound like your competition.