The Rules of the Game for Your Sales Team

1. Take batting practice every day – Practice that first call, how to overcome objections, how to uncover the decision-making process. In other words, pre-call plan.

2. Take what the pitcher gives you – Focus on the problem your prospect needs to solve and ask lots of questions. Leave your product briefcase and brochures in the car.

3. Swing at YOUR pitch – Just like a batter faces lots of pitches and only a few are ones they can really connect with, you will face many prospects, but only work with those you can truly help.

4. Take it base by base – When the 1st base coach is waving for you to keep going, go to second base. When you find out that your prospect has a “must-fix” problem, that doesn’t mean you should try to steal home. Go to second and make sure they have the money to fix the problem. Go to third to make sure they are committed to investing the time, money, or resources to fix the problem. Before you head for home, ensure you can score when you get there – and that means the prospect is committed to making a decision.

5. Shake it off – In the first inning, you might strike out, hit into a double play, walk to first, get hit by a pitch, or get stranded on first. You have to shake all of that off because you have 8 more innings to play. Our sales evaluation calls this handling rejection. Anything can happen as long as you keep going and getting at-bats.

In the end, selling is not for the faint of heart, nor is coaching. You and your team will withstand lots of pressure, demands, prospects who are not completely honest with you, rejection, and competition. Follow a sales process, love the process, and the process will love you back.

The definition of “psychology” is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context. When we apply that to selling, as in the psychology of selling, we must understand the specific scientific characteristics and behaviors that apply to success in selling. Certainly, we can all think of people we have encountered in our own purchasing experiences that stand out. What is it that they do that makes them excellent and unique?

We utilize a sales evaluation by Objective Management Group that provides companies and individual salespeople with a peak into the science and the characteristics of great salespeople, (OMG assesses over 75,000 salespeople, sales managers, and sales leaders annually from more than 200 industries in 52 countries and is the pioneer and leader in the sales evaluation industry.)

Based on this science and psychology of selling, the graphic below defines 3 areas that salespeople must excel at in order to be top performers. They must have the Will to Sell, the Sales DNA and the competencies or tactical skills noted utilized daily in their sales process. Of course, no salesperson has them all mastered. We utilize this evaluation to help companies hire better salespeople and develop those they have.

One trait that is not on this list but is a bi-product of mastering many of the above is confidence. Great salespeople, due to their strengths, have the confidence in three areas that they can and will help those who choose to work with them.

The Psychology of Selling: 3 Areas of Confidence

First, they are confident in their firm’s value proposition (how their firm helps businesses or people solve problems). They believe their company can do everything they say they can do. They have “proof of concept” and share that with confidence. These confident salespeople rarely, if ever, think they need to have the lowest price. They position value, and they defend that value.

Secondly, they are confident in their approach. They know that they must interrogate reality, as Susan Scott says in her book “Fierce Conversations.” They must figure out whether the prospect is truly a prospect with a problem they have to solve, the money with which to solve it, and the conviction and clarity to make a decision when presented with a solution. Confident salespeople ask lots of tough questions.

Thirdly, confident salespeople do not have to be liked for the prospect to do business with them. They do subscribe to the philosophy that people generally enjoy business relationships with people they like. But they confidently believe that the buying decision is made because the prospect has trust and confidence that the salesperson can do what the salesperson says they can do – and that is to solve the prospect’s problem. Being liked has very little to do with any of that.

In the final chapter of his book The Psychology of Selling, Tracy shares the 10 keys to success in selling, which are of course worthy of including:

1. Do what you love to do
2. Decide exactly what you want
3. Back your goal with persistence and determination
4. Commit to lifelong learning
5. Use your time well
6. Follow the leader
7. Character is everything
8. Unlock your inborn creativity
9. Practice the golden rule
10. Pay the price of success

Understand more about the psychology of selling with our free eBook! Click below to download. 

 

My observation of salespeople is that they desperately want to live at the value end of the equation but when push comes to shove, they tend to slide over to the price side to push deals across the finish line.

4 Key Differences

Seth Godin calls discounting price the “race to the bottom.” He has said it is a race you can’t win and that it is a race you don’t want to win. Here are four keys to having success selling value and staying out of the race to the bottom:

1. You must have table pounding conviction in the value that you and your firm provide. You can’t think it might be true. You must know it.
2. You must remember that value it is never meant to be communicated. It is meant to be demonstrated. Said differently, you can’t be going around talking about value and telling prospects how good you and your company might be. You must demonstrate it by having conversations with your prospects that your competition is not having. Remember, if you must tell people how good you are, there is a chance you are not all that good!
3. You must be willing to walk away when your prospect makes it clear that their buying decision is going to come down to price. I have a name for prospects like that – I call them “nonbelievers.” They do not believe in, nor do they have any appreciation for the value you bring to the table. Why spend a ton of time with nonbelievers?
4. Finally, none of the above will work unless you prospect with the appropriate intensity. You must take a “Seven Eleven” approach to hunting, meaning you are always open and working to fill the top of the funnel. It is hard to walk away from an opportunity if you don’t have another opportunity to walk towards.

And no offense to Walmart by the way. It is a fine place to shop. Just don’t try to sell like they do. It is hard to “out Walmart” Walmart!

 

These three qualifying questions will help salespeople sort all of their new business opportunities into two piles. Over on the left is a pile of opportunities that they want to go after. They believe they've got a good shot at winning the business because they are in their niche and in their market, so in the sweet spot. And over here on the right is another pile of opportunities. These opportunities are opportunities that they should walk on by. They're good folks, good men, good women, good businesses, but they are unlikely to leave the provider they're using today and move the business to their firm. 

The problem is of course, weak pipelines make cowards of us all. If there's not much or anything in their pipeline, then salespeople will be content to talk and work with whatever comes their way. It is the equivalent of going grocery shopping when hungry, everything looks good and almost everything makes its way into the shopping cart. So, let's start by looking at these three qualifying questions that will help engage more of the right prospects.  

3 Questions to Ask if You Want to Engage with the Right Prospects

Question #1: Do I want to win this business? 

The question every salesperson must ask themselves is, do I want to win that deal? Do I want that business? Do I want this firm or these people as a client or a customer? Are they going to be easy to work with? Are they going to be loyal to me? Are they going to be a believer in our value proposition? Are they going to have the wandering eye when every other firm offers a cheaper option? Do I want the privilege of working with them? 

That is one of the best things about a career in sales. You get to pick your clients.

 Question #2: Can I win this business?

The answer to this question is largely a function of whether or not the incumbent relationship is breakable. A salesperson must consider, can I win it? They can't win unless there are two things present at the same time. The prospect has a problem, a challenge, an issue that they have to fix. They’ve got to be in front of a company or an individual that has a problem that they absolutely have to fix. They're not kicking the tires. It has become a priority that they have to fix. 

And secondly, they have to be able to leave the incumbent provider. They have to be able, at the end of the sales process, to do what some would consider to be very tough. Does the problem hurt that much or would they rather live with it? The prospect always wants to avoid that difficult conversation of calling Mary or Matt at the current provider and saying, you're done. We're moving over here to another company. A salesperson can't win the business unless they have a prospect with a problem they have to fix. And they're willing to say, Bye-Bye to the incumbent.  

Question #3: How do I win this business?  

Question 3 is a matter of sales methodology and sales strategy. When a prospect says to a salesperson, “I've enjoyed our conversation. I'd love to see you put into writing what you think you can do for us.” That request might be fine, but let’s discuss the evolution of an opportunity. The prospect must have a compelling problem that must be fixed and be willing to leave their current provider. Two steps in the sales process.  But a salesperson must find out if they have the capacity to deal with it – meaning do they have the time, money and resources to take action.  And then a salesperson must make darn sure they are in front of the decision makers and if not, how and when can they meet with them. The how about engaging with prospects is the great pipeline cleaner.  Strong salespeople know that the best time to lose a prospect is today. There are more steps to this stage-based sales process, more than can be covered today.

Bonus Questions:

Another unwritten rule is that salespeople must get very good at talking their prospect’s love language. Their love language revolves around the problems they're having and the potential you have to solve them. What are the future growth opportunities that they might see? That's what they think about all the time. Any executive, any owner of a company, the men and women who put their sweat equity into building something - they're concerned about a lot of things. But at the top of their list are the problems and the things that threaten their business today. And as they look down the horizon around the corner into the next quarter or the next fiscal year, what are the potential opportunities that they would like to seize or take advantage of? These are the questions that will help you engage with prospects. 

In summary, all salespeople are going to lose deals they probably should have won. But there's one thing that is inexcusable and that is not being properly prepared for a sales conversation. That is not a matter of skill, that is a matter of discipline and being accountable and making the decision to pre-call. One way to engage with more of the right prospects is to have a prospect scorecard. A prospect scorecard will put a little bit of logic and methodology to the process.

 

 

 

 

1. Must have a USA: This acronym stands for Unique Sales Approach. How are your salespeople distinguishing themselves from the competition? Have you heard and seen their first call approach by phone and in person? The 80/20 Rule applies to most salespeople and proves out that the majority of revenue comes from about 20% of clients. In order to have a USA, producers must spend time defining their profile and determining how to go about finding and reaching more of them.
   
   Working with clients over the past 30 years, we know that if a salesperson is an expert in a particular area, their ability to open doors, have compelling conversations and serve/sell to a particular segment is more successful. What specific types of clients are your relationship managers best at working with? Focusing on a segment allows salespeople to develop deep domain expertise in an area and that experience provides them with stories and an understanding of the challenges faced by that client type. Credibility grows as prospects and clients recognize that this salesperson is different. In fact, they are advisors with a particular set of skills that can truly help them and their company.
   
   When your salespeople are experts, their messaging will resonate on first calls and in social selling platforms like LinkedIn, Google, at association meetings.  Top salespeople are always gathering industry information about their target client and building their acumen in their expertise. Spend time with your team listening and helping them refine their Unique Selling Approach to help them develop a truly competitive sales strategy.
   
   
2. Must follow an ESS: This stands for Effective Selling System. According to our partner, Objective Management Group, the pioneer and leader in sales evaluations, an effective sales system measures an individual’s ability to follow a proper sequence of stages and milestones of a structured sales process. An effective sales process evaluates a salesperson on sales-specific attributes such as if their process has key milestones, and if their process yields consistent results. When a salesperson excels at sales process, opportunities will be consistently defined in their pipeline. When a salesperson is weak on Sales Process, their pipeline will have inconsistently defined opportunities, creating longer sales cycles and pipeline bloat.
   
   To demonstrate just how critical having an ESS is in developing a competitive sales strategy, you can see on the chart below the correlation of Sales Process to Sales Percentile. 87% of elite producers follow a sales process, while only 20% of weak salespeople do so. Which category do you want and need your salespeople to fall into? Make certain that your company has, follows and inspects a consistent and effective sales process.

 

3. Make sure to ABP: One last acronym for you, this stands for Always Be Prospecting. The skill and habit of prospecting relates directly to your producers’ skills and commitment to hunting. One of the findings on the sales evaluation we utilize includes the specific skills that top prospectors have mastered:

• Will prospect & prospect consistently
• Has no need for approval
• Schedules meetings
• Recovers from rejection
• Maintains a full pipeline
• Not a perfectionist
• Reaches target clients
• Gains referrals from clients and networks
• Uses social selling tools
• Attends networking events

Your best salespeople schedule time on their calendars to prospect as part of their competitive sales strategy.  And today it is even more important that they do so. Here is a sobering statistic about the world of modern day selling: the average number of attempts to reach a prospect has increased to 16-18, but most salespeople quit after less than 5 attempts. Maybe they think that, “in the good old days,” people used to return calls but the world has changed. Prospects are a hard fish to catch. Make sure that your team has persistence and a commitment to ABP as a key to developing their competitive sales strategy.