The optimal salesperson uncovers the facts and the emotions from a prospect. The weather forecast calls for 2 inches of rain tomorrow. John says “isn’t that wonderful?” He has been concerned there hasn’t been enough rain and his garden is struggling. He’s excited. Mark says “isn’t that wonderful?” He was looking forward to playing softball tomorrow with the guys from the church. The guy who usually starts at third base was out of town on a business trip. Now, with the game cancelled by rain, Mark won’t get a chance to play. The other guy will be back next week. Both men shared the fact that it will rain heavily tomorrow. Both men responded to the forecast with the same words. However, their emotions couldn’t have been more opposite. It’s not enough to get the facts from a prospect. You need the emotion. Emotions are revealed by tone of voice (Mark’s sarcasm, for example) and body language (John’s smile). The only place to get those forms of communication are in face-to-face meetings with prospects, when you practice active listening.

Research, practice, and change your belief systems for success in 2016. The field of sales is changing everyday. In order to continue to be successful in sales, you must become a master of state-of-the-art techniques. The first step to becoming a master is to acquire the knowledge. What are the latest sales techniques? What skills are required for success in sales in 2016? The second step is to practice the new techniques. Use the techniques in sales situations. Examine how effective was your use of the new technique in a particular sales situation. Make adjustments for the next prospect and try the new skill again. The third step is to change your belief system to assure success. A new sales technique may ask you to do something you don’t think you can do. Therefore, you will be tempted to avoid employing the new sales skill. Your hesitation or reluctance will be a disadvantage for you in the new sales environment. You need to change any belief system you may have that holds you back from sales success in 2016. Research, practice, and believe in your new skills and enjoy sales success today.

Convince yourself first of the value of what you offer before trying to convince the prospect. Salespeople always communicate their confidence, whether they like it or not. Our body language, facial expressions, and tonality tell the truth about what we believe. If we believe the products and services we represent really aren’t the best value for the prospect, the prospect will pick up on that. When you go into a meeting with a prospect doubting the solution you have to offer, you are essentially begging the prospect to look at the competition. Get yourself excited about your offerings. They solve problems! They deliver solutions! They add value! They make a difference! What you have to offer is better than the competition! With that belief system firmly established, your body language, tonality, and facial expressions will sell the prospect, perhaps far better than anything you say.

Only real prospects are worth time “polishing”. What do I mean by polishing? Polishing refers to taking all of the proper steps to move a prospect to a sale. Imagine polishing your sneakers and the total mess you would make. No matter how carefully you apply the polish, it won’t ever look good! You’ll end up throwing out the sneakers! There are countless sales professionals and sales managers who waste time and resources every quarter on “prospects” who will never be prospects at all. The prospects never communicated a compelling reason to buy. The sales team were lulled to sleep by those deceptive “buying signs”, which I don’t believe in. They continuously made excuses for the prospects lack of action. They’ve polished sneakers all quarter. In the end, the prospects, like the messy sneakers, get thrown out and nobody is happy. Make sure you have a prospect worth polishing – a prospect who has a compelling reason to buy your products or services.

What good is a statistic if there is no context?  A player scores 92 goals in a hockey season.  Is that alot? Do the best players score around 120 goals in a year? Did the player have a subpar season?  The player’s scoring feat only has meaning if we have the context of the goal totals of thousands of other players who have played in the league. Similarly, if a prospect says that her revenues will go up 10% this year, that statement only has context if you know how her revenues have gone up or down in the past 5-10 years.  Without context, you might think – “hey, 10% sounds good.  She has the money to buy!”  However, if you asked her “is that alot”, she might tell you revenues typically go up 20% and she is concerned.  She is hesitant to make new purchases.  The Optimal Salesperson asks “is that alot” when a prospect shares a statistic.  The Optimal Salesperson knows that asking for context by asking the “is that alot” question is an essential selling skillto close sales and increase business.

Determine why the prospect would buy only from you and not the competition. A sales person asks questions of a prospect and identifies that the prospect has pain. If the sales person ends the conversation at that point, all they have done, by helping the prospect identify their pain, is to do work for the competition. The competition simply needs to come in and demonstrate how their products and services are the only solution for the prospect. Stop doing work for the competition! Discover the prospect’s pain AND THEN present why the prospect should only buy from you…before you leave their office. You need to know the competition in order to help the prospect understand that your products and services are the only viable solution in the market.

Some will buy. Some won’t. So what! Sales people let their emotions with a sales opportunity carry them away. It’s all-or-nothing thinking. For many salespeople, when they get the sale, they feel like one of the greatest sales people in the world. They reason they are so good they don’t need to make any more calls. If they don’t get the sale, they feel like the worst salesperson in the world and lose confidence to make more calls. The Optimal Salesperson is stable with their emotional responses. Somebody buys from them? They execute the sales steps needed to go out and get the next sale. Somebody rejects their offer? They execute the sales steps needed to go out and get the next sale. They don’t allow their emotions to carry them away. They are focused on the work they need to do. They remember a simple math equation = sw * sw * sw. Some will. Some won’t. So what.

Sales follow-up calls are destined to fail for those who do not plan for their success.  Success doesn’t just happen.  It’s carefully planned and the steps in the plan are executed with excellence.  Successful follow-up calls are no different.  A follow-up call must be a planned step in a larger strategy to sell the prospect.  You follow-up with the prospect to obtain or share a specific piece of information or to get them to take the next step.  Your follow-up call has a purpose.  It is Step C or G or P, so to speak, in an A-Z strategy to build a long-term relationship with a prospect.  A follow-up call is never a call to find out how they are doing!  Why don’t you know that already?  Didn’t you do your work in the previous discussion with the prospect? Asking how they are doing since your last phone call is an admission your solution is disengaged from their business.  Deliver a solution for their business each and every follow-up call.

Find out what the buyer values and then communicate how your product or service will deliver that value.  Imagine you are selling cars in a land where it rains all the time.  Every one of the cars you are selling has a sunroof because your marketing team determined it’s cool to have a sunroof.  There isn’t a single buyer in this land that wants a sunroof.  A buyer walks in the door, looking for a car that will handle well in the rain.  However, you immediately show how the sunroof opens and closes.  “It’s cool!”  You’ve lost the buyer.  He is out the door heading to the next auto dealership down the block, looking for a car that is safe to drive in the rain.  Put aside what you and your marketing team have determined the buyer should value about your product and service.  Go into meetings with prospects with a blank page and write down what they value!

A tough sales question is tough only because your belief system has made it tough. A high school boy believes he is not attractive to girls. It will be a very tough question for him to ask a girl out on a date. Similarly, if you believe you should not talk about money with a sales prospect, asking a prospect what they are willing to spend will be a very tough question indeed. The secret to asking a tough sales question is to make a question easy to ask and you do that by changing your belief systems. Your product will solve the client’s problems and is worth the price you are asking for it. You have a right to be paid for the great solution you offer. If the prospect doesn’t have the budget, why waste your valuable time? Change your belief system so that it becomes right and appropriate for you to ask the money question. The money question will no longer be tough at all. Go ask that girl out on a date because you are worth it! It’s easy.