Closing the sales is tough, I get it. You do all the work building rapport and qualifying the lead, only to choke when it's time to seal the deal. Sound familiar?

Many reps leave money on the table because they wait until the very end before asking the big “will you buy?” question.

Talk about awkward! No wonder we avoid it. My buddy Sam would sweat bullets trying to close at the final sales meeting. But my other friend Walter takes a smoother approach by closing throughout the entire sales process. He asks micro-closing questions after each call to see if the prospect is ready to move forward. That way, there's no big scary finale – just a series of small commits.

Want to boost your commissions? Then get comfortable asking for the sale my friend! Sprinkle micro-closes throughout your calls. The more times they say “yes”, the likelier it is they'll say YES to that final purchase.

Stick around, as I'll share a the 3 simple steps to micro-close throughout the sales process.

Step #1: “Does It Make Sense To [X]?”

Alright, let's dive into the first step of micro-closing, which might just be the simplest tool in your sales toolkit.

Have you ever thought about just asking, “Does it make sense to [X]?” depending on what you're selling? This isn't just a question; it's your secret weapon. “Does it make sense for us to get this installed for you next week?” or “How about we jump on a call to sketch out a rough business case for your manager?” It's smooth, isn't it?

What's genius about this question is it's all about timing, not commitment. You're not cornering anyone; you're just checking if the stars align for a small step forward. If they hit you with a “no,” it's not about you; it's just not the right time. And that's your cue to figure out what needs to shift  for the buyer to move forward.

Why does this ninja move work so well? First off, it drops the pressure. No one's expecting a laid-back question like that. You're updating the prospect  on the process, nudging them to think logically about the next step without the emotional baggage of a hard sell. And here's the kicker: it's simple. It's about collaboration, not coercion. You're showing you care about being on the same page, building trust and rapport without even trying.

Now, if you're nodding along, thinking, “This could change the game,” you're right. But what if you get a “no”? Stick around because that's exactly what we're tackling next.

Step #2. “What Do We Need To Do To Move This Forward?”

Hit a “no” on your first micro-closing attempt? Don't sweat it. Remember, a “no” isn't a door slamming in your face; it's just a nudge towards a different path. So the prospect says, “Now's not the right time”? Perfect opportunity to pull out your next move.

Ask the question: “What do we need to do to move this forward?” This isn't just any question; it's like asking for directions when you're a bit lost. It's collaborative, not confrontational.

Your buyer is your co-pilot here, guiding you through their buying  process. They haven't shut down the idea of buying; they're just not ready to take the leap. Yet. By asking for their opinion on what the  next step should be, you're not guessing what they want; you're letting them lay down the roadmap. This way, you're not playing a guessing game; you're building a strategy together.

And if you want to notch up your game, sprinkle a little bit of social proof into your question. Something like, “I hear you. Company X was in the same boat and found that doing Y helped them immensely. Could that be a step we explore?” It's subtle, yet powerful. It shows you're listening, and it leverages the ‘follow the leader' instinct we all have.

Step #3. The Loop

Ever felt like you're running in circles with a buyer, getting “no” after “no”? Welcome to the final game-changer in our micro-closing saga: The Loop.

Here's the play: you start with, “Does it make sense to do X?” They say “no.” Cool, no panic. You pivot, “What about Y, then?” Another “no”? Alright, onto “Z sounds good, how about it?” Still no?

No problem, next you ask, “Alright, what do we need to do next to move this forward? ” It's like a dance, where every step, even a backstep, moves you forward.

This looping isn't just a trick; it's the art of staying in the game until you both agree on the next move that makes logical sense. It's about keeping the conversation flowing, avoiding that dreaded silence where leads vanish. Sure, it might feel like you're on a “no” train sometimes. But remember, each “no” is actually a step closer to “yes.” IThe sales process is a  learning curve, for them and for you.

As we wrap up, remember, those final sales meeting jitters? They're a thing of the past with micro-closing. Each time you have micro-closed throughout the sales process,  you've built up to this moment, making the final “yes” just part of the journey, rather than a bold   leap of faith. You've been in sync with your buyer all along, turning potential stress into just another productive chat.

The post Unlocking the Secrets to Closing the Sale appeared first on Salesman.com.

In today's fast-paced market, knowing how to sell a product is crucial for business success,. he truth is, the art of selling has evolved, and staying ahead means adapting. The good news? I’m here to guide you through this transformation. To sell a product effectively, you need to navigate through six essential steps we'll uncover in this video. These steps are designed to not only grab attention but convert that interest into tangible sales. Let’s begin:

Step #1: Find Your Ideal Customer Persona

Kicking off our journey into mastering sales, the first thing you gotta nail down is finding your ideal customer persona. Think of this as detective work where you're piecing together a profile of your dream buyer. Why? Because aiming your pitch at the right crowd makes everything else smoother. You're looking for folks who get what you're selling, feel the pain it solves, and basically have their wallets out already.

Now, you might be wondering, “How do I find these dream buyers?” Easy! Dive into your past sales and spot the common threads.

• What job titles keep popping up?
• Which industries?
• Any patterns in company sizes or locations?

This detective work helps you sketch out a buyer persona that’s not just a shot in the dark but a targeted blueprint of who you’re after.

Now, why bother with all this profiling? Because knowing your ideal customer is like having a treasure map. It leads you to sales gold. Once you’ve got this down, crafting a killer value proposition becomes a piece of cake. That’s what we’re diving into next. Step #2: Build A Value Proposition

Step #2: Define Your Value Proposition

Alright, you've got your dream buyer in mind; now let's chat about your value proposition. Imagine you're at a party, and someone asks, “So, what do you do?” Your value proposition is that killer response that has them saying, “Wow, tell me more!”

Instead of looking for the nearest exit. It's your sales pitch's secret sauce, promising your buyer why you're their best bet.

Think of a value proposition as your business's pledge to your customers,

minus the fluff and filler. It's where you spell out the perks of choosing you over the guy next door. But here’s the twist: it’s not just any promise; it’s a laser-focused, jargon-free promise that shows you get your buyer’s needs like no one else.

Why’s it a big deal? Because when what you’re selling fits like a glove with what they’re itching for, it’s like magic. They’re more likely to say, “Where do I sign?” This alignment is crucial, and it’s your job to broadcast it loud and clear.

Crafting this golden message isn’t something you leave to chance or pass off to a marketer who’s never chatted with your buyers. You've got to roll up your sleeves and build it yourself, with insights gleaned from understanding your audience inside out.

A good structure to present your value proposition is – I help X person, solve Y problem, by doing Z thing.

For me selling sales training to B2B salespeople and small business owners at Salesman.com I might say – I help B2B sellers, find and close more deals using proven, step-by-step frameworks.

A rock-solid value proposition isn't just a nice-to-have. It's your secret sauce when we get to the last step: Closing. That's right, stick around because, in our last step, we’ll dive deep into how this all comes together to seal the deal.

Step #3 Use A Cadence

So, you've got a killer value proposition. Now, how do you get it in front of those dream buyers? Welcome to the world of sales cadence—a fancy way of saying “a killer follow-up plan.” Without a plan, you're just throwing darts in the dark, hoping to hit the bullseye.

Here’s the deal: winging it in sales is like trying to bake a cake by guessing the ingredients. Spoiler alert – it doesn’t work. A structured sales cadence is your recipe for success. It simplifies your outreach, lets you scale without turning into a spam monster, and gives you insights to tweak and improve.

The endgame of your sales cadence? To get your ideal customers to book a call, not to seal the deal right off the bat. Here's a pro tip: open a “curiosity loop.”

Highlight a problem they might not even realize they have, tease them with the possibility of a solution, and make them understand that the only way out is through a call with you. If you spark enough curiosity about solving their issue, they’ll be dialing your number in no time.

The final thing to do with your sales cadence, when you’re happy that you’re sparking enough curiosity to book a meeting is to systematize your outreach.

Stick to a predefined series of sales activities, group them together into daily plays and then finally stick to the same message across multiple days to share the different angles of value that you can potentially offer the prospect.

Now that you’ve got the gist of a sales cadence, stay tuned. Next up, we’ll dive into how to uncover and diagnose your buyer’s real challenges. Ready to become a diagnosis detective?

Step #4: Diagnose Their Issues

After setting the stage with your sales cadence, it’s showtime: the diagnosis call.

We’ve lots of content on how to run a diagnosis call on this YouTube channel. There is also a full chapter on it in the Selling Made Simple book which you can download for free from Salesman.com.

Something to think about within your diagnosis call though is to ease into your pitch with a smooth transition rather than diving straight into it.

Imagine saying, “I think we can help. Would you like me to explain how?”

When they say yes (because who wouldn't?), you've just earned the green light to share your solution. It’s like asking, “Mind if I show you a trick?” And everyone loves a good trick.

This approach is gold. Why? Because it feels less like a sales pitch and more like you're offering a helping hand. You're asking permission, turning the whole conversation into a two-way street. It’s a game-changer, breaking the pattern of those pushy sales calls we all dread.

Now, for the grand finale: moving towards closing without making it awkward. Picture easing into it with, “Does it make sense to take the next step?” It’s smooth, it's respectful, and it opens the door for them to say, “Yeah, let’s do this.”

Now it’s time to learn how to follow up!

Step #5: Follow up

When you're following up and hitting a wall of objections, it's time for a reality check. First, sketch out where your buyer currently stands. Ask them to lay out the facts—the real numbers showing where things are at. Then, dive into how this problem is actually affecting them. Are they pulling extra hours? Missing out on personal goals? How's that making them feel? Stressed? Overwhelmed?

Next up, paint a picture of what life could look like if they solved this issue. . Get the prospect to imagine hitting those sales targets, feeling the stress melt away, and regaining confidence.

But here’s the clincher: measure the gap between their now and that brighter future. If that future doesn't seem worth the leap, it's your cue to amp up the appeal or dial up the pain of staying put.

Your goal? Make that gap look like the Grand Canyon. They should feel like they’ve got no choice but to jump to the other side—with your help, of course.

This can be the basis of the majority of your follow up communication with the prospect. You both agreed that they have a pain and they know you’re the right person to fix it in the previous diagnosis call. All you have to do now is make the pain of not taking action so great that they get the contracts signed.

Step #6: Close

Getting agreement that you can help doesn’t mean anything until the buyer pays the cash and your product is delivered.

To do that we’re going to use the Salesman.com closing framework.

Lots of sellers get stressed about the closing process. They think it’s this big, crazy, magical moment where you ask for the business and the buyer… maybe gives it to you.

There is a better way of closing in sales. Follow this two-steo process –

• Ask the question “does it make sense to…” It could be, does it make sense for me to send over the contracts or does it make sense to get this wrapped up today.
• If the buyer sales “yes” then congrats, you just closed the sale.
• If they say “no”, then you ask “No worries, what do we need to do to move this forward?”

That’s it. Closing the sale shouldn’t be scary, it’s as simple as that.

The post How To Sell A Product: 2024 Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Salesman.com.

In this video we cover 5 strategies to increase sales no matter what you sell or the industry you sell within.

Strategy number one is to make your value proposition more specific.

1: Specific Value Proposition

The more specific your value proposition is, to the needs of your specific buyer the more meetings you’ll book from your prospecting and the higher your closing percentage rate will be.

Most sellers try and aim for a broad value proposition during their cold outreach thinking that if they cast a wider net, they’ll hook more prospects onto a call.

This isn’t how it works in reality.

Imagine you need to get rid of a body. I won’t question why you have a body that you need to get rid of… but it needs to be gone ASAP.

Lets say you get an email that offers to get rid of whatever waste you have in your home. Well that is somewhat compelling. But if you were to get an cold email that shares a new way of getting rid of a body, when they need to be disposed of FAST, then obviously that’s the one you’re going to reply to.

You have to be bold with your value propositions when engaging with potential customers.

You have to avoid playing in the zone of indifference. Push the fact that you can improve or solve a specific problem to get out of this zone of indifference in the middle that most sellers play within.

Next up, I want you to stop talking about features and benefits.

2: Features, Benefits, Desires

Stop talking about the features and benefits of your product. Literally, nobody gives a shit.

Your widget or software has this button? Comes in this colour? Does this thing?

Nobody cares.

Instead, focus on the buyers desires.

Think of the buyer's desires being at the very core of their decision making process.

Let me give you an example:

• Feature – com Academy has step-by-step training videos.
• Benefit – The training videos will help you better implement our frameworks.
• Desire – We will remove the stress and overwhelm from executing an effective sales process and achieving your financial goals.

This third layer of value that we call desire should be the focus of 90% of your communication to the buyer. This only shifts towards the end of the sales process when we might communicate more of the practical features of the product as the prospect justifies their emotional purchase decision with logic.

Next let's take a look at how we can put the right desires in front of more of the right prospects.

3: Refine Your ICP

If you are booking meetings, then you should constantly be refining your ICP or Ideal Customer Persona.

B2B sales becomes way easier when you put the right message, in front of the right person, at the right time.

Once you’re booking a steady stream of meetings from your cold prospecting each week, it’s time to sit down and refine your ICP.

Look at all the people who booked a meeting with you and see what they have in common. It could be:

• Job titles
• Industries
• Locations
• Company size
• Specific goals
• Target pain points
• Current solution
• Buying process
• Technologies leveraged

Your goal becomes simple: Find more of the people who buy big and buy quickly.

Stop wasting time with the wrong prospects. Start spending more time with the people that actually want to work with you.

Once you have a better idea of your ICP it’s time to start building a step-by-step sales cadence.

4: Step-by-Step Sales Cadence

Most salespeople live in what I call the roller coaster of sales. That is, some weeks they prospect, other weeks they don’t. Some days they cold call, other days they chase their tails with another random task.

That leads to an up and down, boom and bust cycle of results and failure.

This is stressful for both you and your sales manager. Your sales manager wants to work with sellers who are foracastable. They value reliability in their sales planning almost as much as they do new revenue generation.

That is what you need to implement a step-by-step sales cadence.

You remove so much of the stress from the sales process and you’ll get your sales manager off your back if you can show them that when you put 100 prospects into your sales cadence, you book X number of meetings out of the other end of it.

Having a proven, systematic prospecting system means that if you’re ever slightly behind on your numbers you can add a few more prospects at the top of the funnel. Heck, if you’re ever miles ahead of your numbers but you’re feeling close to burning out, then you can titrate these numbers down too.

This allows you to work within your “stretch zone”.

Working within your stretch zone feels good. You’re pushing yourself but it’s still fun. You feel challenged but not overwhelmed.

Your stretch zone is where you’ll earn the most commissions, for the longest, most sustainable amount of time.

And that leads us into the final and maybe most important sales strategy in this video, to micro-close more often.

5: Micro-Closing

Micro-closing is when we confirm where we are within the buying process with the prospect throughout each of our conversations with them.

It might sound like, “OK, sounds like we’re a good fit, if I can solve X, would you commit to Y?” during a discovery call with a potential customer.

Or even just asking “Does that make sense?” regularly during a sales demo.

The most important thing is that you’re consistently micro-closing throughout every, single interaction with your prospects. This is because your buyers are human and humans are easily distracted.

Micro-closing narrows the focus of a conversation. It can be used to pull a buyer back on track if they’re unsure what the next steps of the buying process is.

Additionally, mico-closing keeps you informed as to if you are on the right track too.

Lots of sellers don’t micro-close until the very end of a call or even worse until the end of the entire sales process. They then get hit with an abrupt objection or paniced rejection from the prospect.

Micro-closing as you go throughout your conversations with the buyer allow them to tell you if you're helping them move along their buying journey.

If not, you can ask them “OK, no worries, what do we need to do to move forward?” and if you have enough trust with the prospect, they will coach you on how to close them.

The post 5 Strategies to Increase Sales in 2024 appeared first on Salesman.com.

If your buyers don’t have a reason to move forward in their buyer’s journey, then they will stand still.

This leads to 26% of all deals that are forecasted as a likely win, to turn into a “no decision” according to CSO insights.

That is a massive amount of revenue that you’re leaving on the table every quarter. It could be the difference between hitting quota or not.

So, let's take a look at why this happens and then what we need to do to create too much urgency in our buyers that they get the deal done, quicker than ever before.

Pain of Implementation

The main thing that kills urgency in B2B sales is the “pain of implementation”.

This is where the buyer has casually come to the conclusion that the pain of implementing the solution and then seeing the benefits, is more painful than just plodding on with the issues they are currently facing.

For example, lets say someone is dramatically overweight. They might come to the conclusion that even though the benefits of losing the weight and becoming healthy would be life changing, they don’t want to go through the effort of dieting and exercising to get there.

Outside looking in, everyone else can see that this is dumb. But for that individual, it makes sense in their brain. They’re thinking short term, rather than long term.

In a business context, lets say that the prospect is struggling to use excel spreadsheets to complete all their financial reporting. You offer them a new software solution, designed specifically to fix this issue, it seems like a no brainer for them to get started working with you, but they don’t.

It’s likely that the prospect feels the pain of learning a new tool and then getting the benefits of that software don’t outweigh the small, niggling pain that they’re in right now where excel crashes once every couple of hours.

You’ll know if you’ve a lack of urgency in your deal because of the pain of implementation if you get hit with objections like:

Which begs the question, how do we turn these objections on their head, add more urgency to the deal and get it over the line?

To do that we need to re-enforce the “reality gap”.

The Reality Gap Method

If the buyer doesn’t have a clear understanding of their current reality and their future reality then they can trick themselves into a state of procrastination.

Alternatively, if the prospect truly knows the risk of staying where they are and the upside of taking action to move to the bolder, brighter future reality they could be living in, then the amount of urgency to make the change increases.

It’s our job to coach the prospect to better understand their current and future realities with questions like these.

Current reality:

• You shared that this problem takes X time each week, what is the financial cost of that to the business?
• What is stopping you from solving this yourself?
• When does this problem need to be solved?
• What happens if it doesn’t get solved by then?

Future reality:

• If you could stop this issue happening in the future, how would that make you feel?
• What would be the knock-on, positive consequences of this being fixed?
• What’s stopping you from getting started with this today?

These questions need to be asked constantly, throughout the entire sales process. This is because buyers get distracted easily.

Sure, right now you are their main priority but tomorrow something else is bound to break. The next day, their wife is threatening to leave them. The next week they’re not even sure if they want to be working for their current employer at all.

Buying Temperature

So, urgency needs to be managed at all times. If you haven’t spoken to your prospect for a couple of weeks, their buying temperature will decrease.

So, urgency needs to be managed at all times. If you haven’t spoken to your prospect for a couple of weeks, their buying temperature will decrease.

The prospect might have been past the “activation energy” of getting a deal done last time you spoke with them on the phone, but since then a bunch of other crap has been dumped on their desk.

That means you must keep reinforcing the pain of their current reality and the pleasure of their bolder, brighter future reality regularly.

That is how you build massive urgency and that is how you get the buyer to leap over the initial pain of implementation so that they receive all of the benefits you know that they will receive from your product.

The post Creating Urgency in Sales (Obliterate the Status Quo) appeared first on Salesman.com.

Want to find better buyers and weed out the crappy leads that only end up wasting your time? Then be sure to ask the 9 qualification questions we’re talking about in this video on each of your discovery calls.

Diagnosis calls are slightly different to traditional discovery calls because they cover discovery, qualification, product positioning and micro-closing in a single call rather than spreading all of this out over multiple engagements.

1) Uncovering Pain

Is your prospect dealing with a problem? And are they in enough “pain” to drive the right amount of urgency to buy?

A “yes” to both is downright necessary. And to get to the bottom of it, you can ask two questions in particular…

“You booked this call with me today, what led to getting this call booked in?”

What’s the main reason they’re talking with you right now? You’ll have to do a bit more digging of course. But even in the most tight-lipped buyers you’ll still uncover at least a kernel of truth.

“What’s stopping you from solving this issue yourself?”

One of my favorite follow-ups to the previous question. Not only does this question uncover any roadblocks to implementation you may hit down the road. But it also gives you a clearer idea of how big this problem really is. Because if it really was a problem, the buyer should have been working to solve it themselves.

2) Timeframes

Not all timelines will line up. And one of your chief concerns when qualifying is whether your prospect’s timeline matches your own.

When do they want this problem solved? Today? This quarter? Next year?

As a rule of thumb, the buyers you want to work with should all want to solve their problems quickly. Because if they don’t have urgency, they won’t be compelled to act. And that might mean feet dragging, ghosting, and an overall waste of your time.

“When does this issue need to be solved by?”

This straightforward question gives you no-bullshit timeline you can use to assess if your timeframes are a match.

3) Confirming Fit

And for this category, you actually need to ask yourself…

“Do I have the solution for this buyer’s problem?”

Honesty is key here. The best reps don’t oversell their product’s capabilities. Why? Because they know a dissatisfied and duped buyer ruins reputations, doesn’t provide referrals, and never ever comes back to buy again. So you need to think long and hard about whether your solution will really make the buyer’s problem a thing of the past.

4) Calculating ROI

No matter how big or how small, every new solution takes effort to implement. Buyers need to change vendors, hire new staff, train on novel systems, or fight for a change to the budget.

The question is, is the value your solution provides worth that discomfort?

How much will they have to change to accommodate it? And when all is said and done, will they look back on the investment as a good purchase or one that ate up too many resources?

You can start figuring that out by asking…

“How would things be different if we solved this for you?”

What will actually change for the buyer once they implement your solution? Is it a simple quality of life difference? Or does the switch lead to real change for the business on a fundamental level? This one’s key because no matter how well you think you understand the industry, every business is different. And asking the buyer outright will give you better insight into the real value your solution offers.

5) Understanding Process

Be sure your buyer is willing to adapt to your process before working with you. Check to see if they’re willing to stop working with current vendors, put in the necessary time for training, and whatever other “musts” need to be done to get maximum value from your solution.

To get to the bottom of this one, ask…

“When your organization has done similar projects in the past, what process needed to happen?”

This question gives you a clearer idea of what lies ahead should the buyer be a reasonable fit. How much work will they have to put in to overhaul their system? How much work will you have to put into training and getting their team up to speed? Basically, is the work required reasonable or out of line?

6) Agreeing Budget

As Experiment 27 Founder Alex Berman told me in our interview…

“Find the right people because if your buyers have a budget and they're ready to buy, it's very easy to close them.” – Interview with Alex Berman, Founder & Chairman of Experiment 27 [23:35] – Salesman.com Podcast

Budget talks can be touchy subjects, it's true. Which is why you may want to avoid the topic until later in the conversation.

But on the other hand, you need to be 100% clear on whether your prospect has the funds to pay for your solution. Otherwise, what are we talking about here?

“How are projects like this funded?”

Not all projects fall under a clean and uniform budget. Sometimes they’re spread over multiple teams and departments instead.

With this open-ended question, you’re getting a better idea of how many hoops your buyer will have to jump through to get proper funding.

On top of that, you’ll have a better idea if they’re the final decision-maker or if they’ll have to loop in other department heads before settling on yes or no.

7) Identifying the Champion

Your buyer’s decision is going to be influenced by other individuals in the business. It could be heads of other departments, higher-ups in the C-suite, or even influential team members below them.

That’s why it’s important to figure out who these other individuals (or “champions”) are before you decide the buyer’s a fit. And is there someone else you should be talking to here?

“If you were to make a purchase decision, who else would help with that process?”

Without asking the question directly, this subtler approach will help you uncover any other decision-makers that may influence the passing of the deal. It also avoids hurting the buyer’s pride. After all, no one wants to feel like they aren’t in charge here.

8) Getting Agreement

It’s up to you to get your buyer’s verbal commitment on the call. Otherwise, they’re liable to walk away after days or even weeks of your hard work. So when you’ve determined that a buyer is a solid lead, don’t end the call before asking the discovery call question below.

“You’re a good fit to work with us. If we can solve X, will you commit to Y?”

This time-tested formula has it all—validation, a hint of flattery, results anchoring. By asking this question, you’re tying your solution to a specific result. And equally importantly, you’re influencing the buyer to commit to that solution, provided you can achieve the results you promise. After that, the only thing left to do is nail down the specifics and sign the papers.

So there you have it, 9 probing questions you should always be asking in your discovery calls.

If you ask each of these questions, you’ll have all the intel you need to know if the prospect you’re talking with is a picture-perfect fit or a fish you should throw back to sea.

The post How to Weed Out Bad Clients – 9 Discovery Call Questions appeared first on Salesman.com.

If you want to consistently win at sales then you need to be strategic in your approach.

It’s not good enough to randomly be connecting with prospects and hoping that they will buy from you. You need to implement step-by-step systems that allow you to find and close business like clockwork.

And that’s where the three sales strategies that I’m going to cover in this post come in.

Right Message, Person, Timing

The first sales strategy is designed to rapidly improve your prospecting.

It’s deadly simple. For every prospecting activity you do, ask yourself if you’re sending the right message, to the right person, at the right time.

If not, then don’t send it.

This simple framework forces spammy sellers to stop spamming and it encourages sellers to share too much information to pull back.

When I’m coaching the students in my Salesman.com Academy program I find that most prospecting issues come down to the fact that the individual isn’t:

• Sending a message that is going to leave the prospect in a position where they are excited to book a call.
• Connecting with the real decision maker that can move a deal forward.
• Communicating at a point in the buyer’s journey where the prospect has enough urgency to get a deal done.

Critique every single step of your sales prospecting cadence against the criteria of; right message, right person, right time and your meeting booking conversion rate will sky rocket.

Which leads me to the next sales strategy of understanding “buying temperature”.

Buying Temperature

Understanding the required buying temperature for your prospects to commit to getting started is integral to sales success.

Think of your sales process as needing a certain level of temperature put into the system before it hits an “activation energy” where the deal happens naturally.

Your goal as a seller is to increase this buying temperature with every single interaction you have with the prospect.

Every time you send a crappy email like, “Hey, not heard from you, just checking in?” The buying temperature decreases.

Alternatively, every time you share an insight, build trust or create curiosity in the fact that your product is likely to help the prospect solve a painful problem, you increase the buying temperature.

As the temperature in the system increases you go from the prospect thinking “I don’t care”, to “OK, I’m interested”, to “Let’s do this!”

It’s only at the point that the prospect commits to becoming a customer. The sooner you can help them make that psychological shift, the shorter your deal cycles will become and the easier it is to increase deal sizes.

So remember to ask yourself, “is this going to increase or decrease the prospects buying temperature” every time to attempt to interact with them.

And that leads us into our third sales strategy. This strategy is how you practically increase your prospecting buying temperature by leveraging the “curiosity loop”.

The Curiosity Loop

The curiosity loop is essential when prospecting to book your first meeting with a buyer and when you’re trying to get a deal over the line.

When you implement the curiosity loop you eliminate the risk of oversharing which is a trap most sellers fall into.

Most sellers try to explain the problem that they solve and then how they solve it in their communications to the buyer.

This often leaves the buyer with the feeling that they know the “how” and so they can then go and resolve the problem themselves. Of course nine times out of ten, they don’t solve the problem and continue living in pain.

A much better way to increase buying temperature whilst keeping the attention of your prospects is to open a curiosity loop and then only close it on the next meeting.

For example, in your cold outreach you might explain that you hypothesize the buyer has a problem. You share that you might just be able to solve this painful issue for the buyer.

But rather than tell them how you will solve it, you ask them to jump on a quick call to see if you might be a good fit to work together.

If you’ve sent the correct hypothesis of pain (right message), to someone who has this specific pain (right person), at a moment of time where they have the budget to resolve the issue and the power to make that final purchasing decision (right timing) then this person would be crazy not to jump on a quick call with you.

Humans all, naturally have high levels of curiosity. When you can pique it and then give them a logical next step to fixing an issue, you’ll see your calendar get flooded with new meetings.

The post Winning at Selling: The 3 Best Sales Strategies appeared first on Salesman.com.

Ever feel like your sales strategy hit a wall? You're not alone. Many struggle with methods that just don't cut it anymore, leaving you frustrated and questioning what's missing.

But what if you could turn it all around? Today, we're breaking down the ‘4 Rules of Sales' that'll transform your approach and skyrocket your results.

Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, these insights are your key to unlocking a whole new level of success.

Rule One: Treat Sales Like a Game

Let’s start with the first rule of sales: Treat it like a game, not a chore.

Now, before you roll your eyes and think, “Games are for kids,” hear me out. What makes a game? Inputs, variable outcomes, and feedback loops.

Think about it. In a game, you make a move, see what happens, and adjust your strategy. Sales are the same.

In sales, your inputs are the calls you make, the emails you send, and the presentations you nail. These are your moves on the chessboard. But here's where it gets interesting – not every move wins the game.

You'll face rejections, and guess what?

That's your feedback loop. It's the game's way of saying, “Try a different move.” And just like in any game, outcomes vary. Some deals are your bonus level, easy and rewarding, while others are that boss battle you prepare for, strategize, and maybe even struggle to conquer.

Now, think about this. What's the real cost of losing a round in this game? Zero. Nada. Nobody's getting hurt if your pitch doesn't land.

No prospect is out there plotting revenge because your product didn't dazzle them. The stakes might feel high, but in reality, you're just playing a game where the worst outcome is a “no,” and the best? Well, that's the big win, the high score, the dream house.

But here's the kicker – it's not just about playing the game; it's about mastering it. How? By understanding that success in sales, much like in any game, comes down to how well you play. Your tools are simply words and strategy.

Your reward? More than just bragging rights – think bigger, think a house with a view.

And remember, while you're playing this game, you're not alone. You're competing, sure, but every player has their eye on the prize. And that’s what I’ll reveal in the the fourth rule of sales. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

For now, let's focus on mastering the game in front of us. Because, at the end of the day, in the grand game of business, there's room for just one winner.

So, as we gear up to reveal more rules of this game, think about how you've been playing so far. Have you been making moves without seeing them as part of a bigger strategy? Stay tuned, because we're about to take this game to a whole new level.

Rule Two: You’re Not Selling a Product

Rolling into the second rule of sales, and this one's a mind-bender: you're not just selling a product; you're selling a bridge.

Imagine for a second, your buyer's living in their own version of reality, right? But it's not where they dream of being. That's their current reality.

Now, there's this sparkling, shiny future they've got their eyes set on—that's their future reality. And what are you offering? You're the savvy guide handing them the map to cross from here to there. This is the Reality Gap Method in action.

It's like you're holding the key to a secret passage that leads them to their treasure chest of dreams. Every product, every service you sell, it's not just an item or advice; it's a ticket to their future. The whole economy's running on this fuel—people chasing better realities.

So, when you're talking to your potential buyers, it's not about the specs of what you're selling. It's about painting that picture of where they could be and showing them how what you offer is the bridge to get there. Once they see that vision, selling becomes as easy as connecting the dots.

Remember how we talked about the game of sales? Think of this as unlocking a crucial level where you help players navigate from point A to B.

Rule Three: Get the Meeting

Jumping into the third rule of sales: the key to closing a sale is getting that meeting.

It's all about the perfect blend of A, B, and C. A is your killer message, the one that turns heads. B, your ideal customer, exactly who needs to hear your pitch. And C, the timing, hitting them when they're most receptive.

This is the essence of your strategy: Value Proposition, Ideal Customer Persona, and Trigger Event.

Prospecting is your initial test, a mix of guesswork and strategy, honing your approach as you learn. It's about finding that sweet spot where your message, the right person, and the perfect time intersect, leading to that all-important meeting.

Once you're in, it's diagnosis time. Are these the right variables for your buyer? If not, it's quick pivot time—tweak your message or find the real decision-maker.

Closing hinges on aligning your value proposition with the buyer's needs, ensuring they're the decision-maker, and pinpointing a trigger event that compels action now.

Hitting a snag? Reflect on these:

• Is my message impactful?
• Am I engaging with the decision-maker?
• Is there an urgent reason for them to act?

Master these elements, and you're not just playing the game—you're strategizing for the win.

Rule Four: It's a Zero Sum Game

Now to the fourth and final rule of sales, and it's a game-changer: sales is a zero-sum game. Picture this—only one victor, no runner-ups, no consolation prizes.

In the cutthroat world of B2B sales, it's win or go home.

But the truth is you don't need to be a sales superhero; just being 1% better than the rest can clinch the deal. If your rivals are lagging, you're already ahead.

The power's in your hands.

Struggling against the competition?

Time to level up by that crucial 1%. That's how you turn the tables and start winning big.

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The best way to start a sales discovery call is with a “pre-frame”.

A pre-frame is an influence technique used to limit the scope of a conversation to drive it towards a specific outcome.

I start all my pre-framing on calls with:

“The way these calls usually go is…”

And then outline the quickest process to get through qualification, discovery and the close.

The best way to think about pre-framing is to “act like a Doctor”.

The Doctor Mindset

The best metaphor for the mindset behind a successful diagnosis call is to act like a doctor.

When you visit a doctor, they ask what the problem is. You answer.

Then, before they tell you the solution to your painful problem, they ask more questions. They send you for a scan. They sit in their white coat, emotionless, making notes, and then quiz you on a couple of related points that you hadn’t even considered could be tied to your acute pain.

The Doctor makes a formal diagnosis and offers a solution only when they have the full picture of the diagnosis.

Can you see how this is literally the opposite of most sales calls?

On an average sales call, if the buyer mentions any pain whatsoever, even the slightest of niggles, the seller usually shoves a product pitch down their throat and tries to close the deal.

Talk less, ask more, diagnose, and you’ll close more deals.

So, to diagnose your buyer like a doctor, you must think like a doctor.

Let’s tie this into our pre-framing that we covered at the top of the video.

When you go to visit a Doctor, you know that you have a problem. You also trust that the Doctor has seen this problem many times. You’re not there to argue with them, you’re there to get a solution.

So our pre-frame in this context might sound like –

“The way these calls usually go is, I’ll ask you a few questions, we’ll see where your teams sales performance is against the data I have on your industry and if I think I can help, I’ll share a few ways we might be able to work together. Sound good?”

Notice the “sound good?” at the end of the statement.

This is what is called a micro-close. You can learn more about micro-closing in my free book, Selling Made Simple that you can download for free over at Salesman.com.

But what we’re doing is getting a small commitment that the prospect agrees to our process of conducting this call. When they verbally agree, they’re more likely to act like a patient rather than pester you about price before you’re ready to share it for example.

That leads us onto the biggest mistake that sellers make during the beginning of their discovery calls and that is that they try and tell the prospect what they want rather than truly discussing their issues.

Telling vs. Discussing

Telling the buyer the pain theyʼre in is not as motivating as allowing them to tell you instead.

Why? People donʼt like to be told how to feel. They will rebel against it, even if youʼre highlighting the truth.

So, how do we get the buyer to tell us what their current and ideal future realities look like? We ask questions.

Think of each of the questions in your Diagnosis call being a three-step process:

The post This is How You Start a Sales Discovery Call (Perfect Agenda) appeared first on Salesman.com.

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Want to go from loser to rich?

Then you need to learn how to like, heck, even love doing things that other people find hard.

I used to avoid doing hard stuff. I’d procrastinate on everything. I used this 4 tricks to get over it and since built a 7-figure sales training business, run two YouTube channels, and am now more productive than ever.

How did I start liking doing hard stuff?

I killed my lizard brain. 

The Lizard Brain

What is it? Well, this is the part of your brain that’s leftover from your pre-human ancestors. It’s focused only on the now. It doesn’t understand the future or the past. And it just reacts according to your most basic needs.

On the other side of things, you’ve also got your “human” brain. This is the rational side of you. It can use the past to predict the future. It can plan. And it can choose to avoid pleasure now in exchange for greater gains in the future.

But for as advanced as the human side is, it doesn’t deal well with abstraction. If it can’t find a clear pathway to completing a task, it gives up control to the lizard brain.

And the lizard brain’s go-to method for dealing with a problem is good ol’ fight or flight.

The problem is you can’t fight abstract goals like “increase revenue this quarter” or “boost commissions by 10%.” So the lizard brain chooses flight. It runs. It procrastinates. And your human brain finally swoops in to justify all the reasons not to start in the first place.

The good news is you aren’t trapped in this cycle. You can kill your lizard brain and stop procrastinating for good. You’ve just got to do a bit of brain hacking to get the job done.

And there are four techniques to do just that. Number one…

Goal Priming

When you’re faced with a daunting task like spending hour after hour prospecting, it’s hard to find the motivation to get started. But that’s because you’re focused on the difficulty of the task. So instead, focus on the end result.

How will your work pay off? What will your life look like after you’ve achieved your goals?

If you’re focused on boosting your commissions but hate cold calling, think about what that extra money will mean for you. What will having an extra $50K a year do for you and your family? What about the career opportunities that will open up as a result?

The more you think about the rewards, the less you’ll think about the costs.

Overload Reduction

Technique two, overload reduction.

There is such a thing as having too much choice. It’s called “Choice Overload Bias.” And it’s the documented phenomenon of people having a harder time deciding when they have more options. Worth noting is that they’re also less satisfied with their choice when all is said and done.

If you find yourself struggling to get a task started, take a step back for a minute. Are you deciding between 3, 4, 5 ways of doing the task? That’s your problem.

Instead, limit your options. Cut down your choices. And just get started. Don’t worry too much about making the right choice. You can always pivot later on. What matters here is moving forward.

Deconstruction

Next up is deconstruction.

The bigger the goal, the more intimidating it’s going to be. When you’re dealing with something as huge as earning $50K more this year in commissions, it can seem like there’s no way to start making headway.

That of course kicks your lizard brain into high gear. And it makes you 10X less likely to ever get started. But here’s a trick. Break your giant goals down into smaller, more achievable milestones. Shooting for $50K extra this year? Okay, that boils down to $12,500 a quarter or about $4,200 extra a month. How many sales does that mean you have to make in a month? And given your current success rate, how many cold emails do you have to send or cold calls do you have to make to get there?

Then you can start chipping away at that larger goal day by day.

Instead of earning $50K more this year, you just have to spend an extra 30 mins prospecting each day. And that’s a lot easier to swallow.

The 5 Minute Rule

The last technique we’re talking about is the Five Minute Rule. And it might be the most immediately powerful.

See, the hardest part of most tasks is getting started—the initial hump. But if you can get past that, the momentum you build along the way will usually be enough to carry you through to the end.

So instead of avoiding that task that takes you 30 minutes to do, commit yourself to just five minutes.

Hate cold calling but need it done? Just do five minutes.

Can’t stand updating your CRM? Give it five.

Always miserable while learning product specs? Cinco minutos mi amigo.

Five minutes is all it takes. So at the next sign of procrastination, just commit to five minutes. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you get the motivation to keep it going.

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