A national transportation company recruited me several years ago to do on-the-road training with several salespeople. The company’s president believed that several issues within their team were hindering them from closing deals.
The quotes were plentiful; however, the close ratio was well below the industry standard.
Danny was a territory manager in New Brunswick with extensive industry knowledge and experience. However, he did not win many deals. I was asked to spend some time with him to determine what was preventing him from closing deals, especially considering his extensive knowledge. I spent some time in advance with Danny, as I always do before travel days, and asked him my typical pre-trip questions to understand his challenges and obstacles.
No surprise, according to Danny, pricing was the issue, and in his opinion, the company was not competitive in that market. It is a fact that this company was not the lowest-priced in that geographic region and asked for a premium for its products and services. However, their industry reputation was exceptional and justified the slightly higher costs. When I spoke with Danny, he stated that it was his job to talk to customers.
I clarified, Danny, it’s your job to talk to customers? He said yes, my job is to talk to customers.
I asked him a few more clarifying questions, including how many calls he had scheduled for our day, and from my discussion, I had a pretty good idea of what I and his customer were in for. We agreed to a travel day that would take us on an expansive and less-than-effective road trip.
We headed out early for what amounted to a single sales call for the entire day. Admittedly, the travel on the East Coast is expansive, but I have to think that he should have been able to find several more opportunities to add to our single call in all of that geography. After traveling for almost 500 kilometers, we arrived at our destination.
Just as I suspected, Danny began to spew and recited a feature dump of all the warm and wonderful things that he could do for them.
It was a 15-minute unprepared one-way recital that caught the prospect totally off guard and garnered nothing except alienation.
Had Danny taken more of a sales discovery approach and asked a few questions, he would have quickly realized that most of his features were not relevant to their needs. We traveled more than 1 ,000 kilometers that day to simply listen to Danny show up and throw up. Suffice it to say, the call went nowhere. To add to the naivety, when we returned to the car, I asked him, how do you think that went? His response? Really well. I quickly knew why Danny was not closing many deals. As we departed, I asked Danny one more time, it’s your job to talk to customers? I think he knew what I meant when I said, no Danny, it’s your job to listen to customers.
I explained to him that all good salespeople listen with the intent to understand. Those who don’t close many deals listen with an intent to reply.
How can you possibly provide a solution to your prospect or customer when you don’t know explicitly what they need? How can you possibly determine their explicit needs without asking good, probing questions that truly unlock the sale? How can you possibly gain the respect, confidence, and trust of your prospect or customer without advanced preparation for the meeting? Their time is valuable, and they appreciate organization. How can you possibly know what they need if you don’t let them talk? And finally, how can you possibly know what they need if you don’t listen?
A good sales discovery that produces results follows a well-thought-out and well-prepared process.
Prepare a list of good questions that will disclose the real need and ask them logically and systematically. Most salespeople listen with the intent to reply. We need to listen with an intent to understand. Continue reading to learn how to GET and KEEP customers.
