Workshop: Sales SMART Selling – Strategies to Success

This sales team workshop is designed to identify factors that your team members are experiencing while proactive selling.  It addresses how the buyer looks at purchasing your product and how they want to buy in today’s marketplace.  We look at new sales tools and their effectiveness.  Additionally, we address what plans and actions the team uses to create a “road map” for success with achieving goals and objectives.  This is a highly interactive workshop to engage and produce sales success.

Defining your prospecting demeanor and process

• Prospecting stats - 42% of sales reps named prospecting as the most challenging stage of the sale process
  • It is not exciting to prospect and often postponed
  • New reality – buyers are taking over the sales process; 45%(almost half!) of prospects admitted they wanted to evaluate their needs and look for solutions themselves, before contacting any sales person
    • 94% of buyers make their own research on the internet before making purchases
• Proven prospecting strategies
  • Create an ideal prospect profile 
    • Who are your top 5 customers, worst 5 customers, most profitable, least profitable
  • Identify ways to meet your ideal prospects
    • Trade shows, seminars, referral
    • Industry events, social organizations
    • Digital presence; what social media channels, newsfeeds and other digital publications are they likely to use or visit?
    • B2B sales via LinkedIN
  • Actively work on your call lists
    • don’t underestimate the power of a phone call! Research shows that 69% of buyers accepted a call from new salespeopleand 27% of sellers admit that making phone calls to new contact is very/extremely effective.
    • pain points, needs and wishes, and most importantly – where they are in their decision process. If you can maintain an interesting conversation, qualifying leads becomes much easier.
  • Send personalized emails
    • Don’t think that email, as a sales tool, is dead - -quite the opposite – it’s alive and kicking, as 80% of buyers say they prefer to be contacted by sellers via email.
    • Don’t sent mass or bulk emails; these are dying; personalized emails run the show
    • Consider using video email product like Bomb-Bomb; https://bombbomb.com/
  • Ask for referrals
    • There is nothing better than a happy customer, because they spread the word; referral-based sale closing ratiostands at 50% to 70%
    • 73% of executives prefer to work with salespeople referred by someone they know
    • Best time to ask for a referral is immediately after a sale
  • Become a know-it-all trustworthy advisor
    • 79%of prospects want their sales reps to be trusted advisors.
    • 54% of prospects want to know your product and how it works on the first call
  • Build your social media presence
    • 91% of B2B buyers are now active and involved in social media
    • 84% of senior executives use social media to support purchasing decisions 
    • 65% of salespeople who use social selling fill their pipeline
    • 78% of salespeople using social media outsell their peers
    • Using social selling tools can increase win rates by 5% and deal size by 35% 
    • Demonstrate your sales skills in video format
    • This is hands down the most trending tip for sales prospecting and something you may not yet tried!
    • 80%of the content consumed by buyers on the internet will be video
    • simple amateur videos, where you, as a sales rep, can show your face and introduce yourself, offer information, quote numbers, and give your best sales pitch. All the usual things but done – differently.
    • Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up
    • Timely follow-ups are reliable ways to build a relationship and demonstrate your determination and trustworthiness.
    • 42% buyers admit that they were encouraged to make a purchase if the sales rep called back at an agreed-upon time.
  • Send relevant content to prospects
    • content you send should address specific situations and pain points of that prospect.
  • Demonstrate your sales skills in video format
    • This is hands down the most trending tip for sales prospecting and something you may not yet tried!
    • 80%of the content consumed by buyers on the internet will be video
    • simple amateur videos, where you, as a sales rep, can show your face and introduce yourself, offer information, quote numbers, and give your best sales pitch. All the usual things but done – differently.
  • Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up
    • Timely follow-ups are reliable ways to build a relationship and demonstrate your determination and trustworthiness.
    • 42% buyers admit that they were encouraged to make a purchase if the sales rep called back at an agreed-upon time.

Sales and storytelling

• By some estimates, messages delivered as stories can be up to 7x more memorablethan facts alone
• Creating your stories
  • Understanding your buyers persona
    • The pain points your buyers experience
    • The language they use to communicate these challenges (as well as other issues they’re facing)
    • How they see themselves
    • Their role in the decision-making process
    • Their role in the organization
  • What are the principles of storytelling
    • Character – main character gives the story focus and personality
    • Context – internal and external context must be considered
    • Conflict - your character must face relatable risks and tangible potential for loss
    • Creation – the combination of character context and conflict creates one comprehensive narrative
  • Transform positive customer experiences into a story
    • go back to the pain points you identified when working with your buyer personas and try to match them with success stories from past customers who solved similar problems using your product or service.
  • Incorporating your stories into your sales presentations
    • Sharing a story at the beginning of your presentation can capture your prospect’s attention.
    • Storytelling in the middle can refocus your targets if the energy in the room is lagging.
    • Sharing stories throughout your presentation helps support key features or benefits you’re describing.
    • Sharing a story at the end of your presentation encourages prospects to put themselves in the shoes of your character.
  • Evaluating the performance of your stories
    • You’ll immediately know if your stories aren’t working. If people are engaged, they’ll maintain eye contact, lean forward in their seats, make encouraging noises or give other positive signals.
    • If not working you’ll feel their lack of engagement in their limited responses, their shifting attention or their glances at their phone.