Sales organizations want to deliver a fantastic sales experience for all of their customers. But what does that mean, exactly? Being sold to doesn’t always have the best connotation, but we instinctively know a good salesperson versus a bad one, even if we can’t quite grasp what the extra something they have is.
But we want to know what that extra something is. In our new series, we’re going to experts around the world who we think have that extra something and asking all about that crucial last mile with a prospect: the in-person meeting.
This week’s expert
We got a chance to ask Deb Calvert, President of People First Productivity Solutions, about how she approaches sales. Deb is a keynote speaker, Top 50 Sales Influencer, instructor at UC Berkeley and bestselling author of the DISCOVER Questions series.
Deb’s early career included inside, outside and major account sales positions. After that, she was a Corporate Training Director for a Fortune 500 Media Company. Since founding PFPS in 2006, she has helped companies boost productivity through their people with like sales training, team consulting and leadership programs.
Her unique mix of senior-level sales, human resources and operations experience gives her a unique perspective on the sales experience. In her own words, here’s what makes a great one.
What kind of prep do you do for the first meeting?
Deb: 81 percent of buyers rate time with sellers as “not valuable” (Forrester). What makes a meeting valuable is a seller’s preparation and, surprisingly, that preparation doesn’t need to take hours and hours. The amount of preparation should be proportionate to the sales opportunity—a potential $100,000 sale deserves more prep time than an opportunity worth $5,000. The “Effort = Opportunity” equation will help you manage your time. For all first-time meetings, though, you need to put in enough effort to make a good impression and learn what the size of the opportunity will be. Here’s a 5-step prep that will set you up for success:
- Comb the client’s website. Look for goals, priorities and values. Scan the executive summary of the annual report and the “About Us” page to get this information.
- Do a search using Google News and the date range of 3-6 months. This will give you insights about the recent changes and plans announced by the company. If there is a long time window between setting the appointment and getting to it, set a Google Alert so news about the prospect is pushed to you as it breaks.
- Look up the decision maker and others attending the meeting on LinkedIn. Find out what you have in common and what they care about.
- Get the internal history. You don’t want prospects telling you about experiences they’ve had with your company. They expect you to know this already.
- Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. If you held that job in that company, what would matter to you? What would you want from a seller? Don’t make assumptions, but do show empathy and awareness.
Finally, remember that first impressions count. Be on time, be professional, be focused and be yourself.
What not to do? For a first meeting, don’t push products before you know about needs. Don’t rely on a canned presentation of irrelevant features. Don’t focus on selling before you focus on understanding the client. Prepare to bite your tongue and delay the selling until after you’ve developed rapport and established need.
How would you describe your meeting style and approach?
Deb: Come prepared to offer information, insights and solutions. But don’t dominate the conversation by pushing it all AT your buyer. Instead, create a two-way dialogue. After all, your buyer has information, insights and ideas about solutions, too. And when buyers participate in creating their own solutions, they are basically selling themselves—what they say will always be more compelling to them than anything you can say. Facilitate a two-way exchange by asking quality questions and showing genuine interest in what your buyer has to say. Be curious. Be comfortable with a natural flow and don’t worry if the conversation strays away from the play-by-play you imagined.
As long as you’re asking questions and have your back-up preparation in place, you will stay in the driver’s seat. And your buyer will be a willing and eager navigator, right there in the seat beside you instead of sitting in the back thinking “are we there yet?” and growing impatient with a monologue presentation.
How do you track questions to inform future interactions?
Deb: First, let’s address the myth that note-taking in meetings is rude. It isn’t. What’s rude is wasting your buyer’s time by gathering information you won’t remember or use. What’s rude is forgetting and failing to follow through. What’s rude is asking for the same information a second time. Note-taking is respectful and makes people feel important, dignified and heard. Here’s a simple way to take efficient notes that won’t bog you down.
Divide your paper into 2 columns—the left one will take about one-third of the paper’s width. This is where you jot down your questions—just one or two words because what you say doesn’t matter much. Your left-hand column would include questions like this “Q3 goal?” and “Priority?” and “Obstacles?” The right-hand column has more space because it’s where you’ll capture key points offered by your buyer. Key points, not full sentences. Exact quotes about top priorities, goals and obstacles—these will enable you to create compelling proposals using the client’s own words.
Use this T-Bar note page to do the following: Highlight all action items and follow-ups needed, make links between stated needs and solutions offered, capture history and preferences (add these to your CRM), stay on track during the meeting to ask natural follow-up questions. It’s easy! Like anything, though, this takes a bit of practice. Try it on phone calls and in internal meetings or 1-on-1s with your sales manager so it feels more natural when you take it to client-facing meetings.
How do you keep conversation with the prospect fresh?
Deb: To differentiate yourself and leave a lasting impression, ask and don’t tell. All the other sellers are doing plenty of telling, sometimes crossing the line and doing the “show up and throw up” routine that is such a turn-off for buyers. Even when you have a lot to say, hold back. Try this instead. Ask thought-provoking questions that stimulate buyer participation in the meeting and will resurface later to maintain buyer interest and engagement even after you’ve left. Buyers respond favorably to these kinds of questions and rate time with a seller as “high value” when that seller makes them think.
What’s the most challenging part of in-person sales meetings?
Deb: Your adrenaline is pumping. Your mind is racing. Your clock is ticking. And your sales goal is looming large. No wonder it’s so challenging to maintain focus during your meetings with clients. “Staying in the moment” and fully present and engaged makes a big difference in sales effectiveness. When you turn off the mental distractions, you’ll be more attuned to your buyer’s subtle signals. You’ll earn trust and reciprocal focus from your buyer. You’ll also become more efficient in moving through your sales process with ease.
Easier said than done, but with practice you can minimize your own distractions and “stay in the moment.” Instead of mentally rehearsing your responses, you’ll stay fully focused on hearing all your buyer is saying. Instead of getting swept away by the adrenaline rush and accompanying thoughts (especially in anticipation of an objection), you’ll lean in and dedicate even more attention to what’s happening in live time. You’ll set aside thoughts about the next meeting, the big deadline, the quota and all those other distractions. Challenging, yes. But so worth working on if you want to be the seller that gets invited back again and again.
You can follow Deb on Twitter and catch her at the Sales Innovation Expo, where she’ll be speaking this May in London.
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