If you are like any TRUE sales professional you are constantly looking for new ways to be more effective with your sales presentation. Working for a guy like @GrantCardone we are constantly trying new strategies out and refining the way that we present. I gotta tell you, sometimes when I hear some of Grant’s ideas, I find myself thinking… is this going to even work??? 99% of the time, he is spot on.
Sometimes we try new things looking for ways to eliminate mystery and be more transparent, other times the goal is to provide a way for our sales team to get more altitude in the presentation, and sometimes we simply inject questions to get a gauge of how deep the hook is set with the buyer.
Here are 3 things that we do on every call that have dramatically increased the confidence of our sales team and ultimately our conversion rates.
1.) Trial close frequently
Trial closes are great ways to get communication from the client on where they are in their information gathering /decision making process. Now depending on your sales cycle, sales model, and possibly your product, these may vary. So here are a few that we use that can accomplish different things.
“What do you like about what you have seen up to this point?”
“Up to this point, what problems do you see us helping out with?”
“Have you seen enough to make a decision?”
“Have you seen enough to make sense of the investment?”
2.) Ask the hard questions
There is normally a question that you are thinking in a presentation that you want to ask. Sometimes these questions can cause some discomfort but they can provide vital information that will help you better understand the prospects position in the call/visit. YOU MUST ASK these questions, the answers behind them are a gold mine! Here are a couple examples
“What percentage of what I have said do you actually believe?”
“Why did you make the time to see me today?”
“What is different today/what has changed about your position situation that you agreed to actually meet/talk with me today?”
3.) Drop the Price up front
This is probably the most difficult of the 3. But I PROMISE you that if you can pull it off, the dynamic of the entire presentation changes!
Look, we have all been there… the sales call where you spend 30-40mins talking about what you can do for your prospect, how you plan on doing it, etc, then the looming question (that EVERYONE has been thinking about, including you) comes up “So what is this going to cost us?”
By dropping the number up front, a couple things happen. First, the salesperson gets the 800lb gorilla off their back and can focus on the presentation, second your client can take the time to make sense of the number during the presentation on their own, if they are in mystery the entire time, this is virtually impossible. Lastly, your client will respect you. I can’t tell you how many times that I have had prospects stop me in my tracks and actually THANK ME for respecting their time and giving them the information up front.
Let me put this another way… You have seen the show Shark Tank right? What is the very first thing that EVERY contestant does when they pitch to Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, and Robert Herjavec??? The contestant tells the sharks what they are looking for in terms of an investment.
First,they make their offer… THEN they pitch and build the value and help the sharks make sense of the investment.
So there are a few things that we do… PLEASE share in the comments below some of your favorite tips that you use in your sales pitch to ensure you get the deal… the community THANKS YOU in advance!