Selling Essentials Opening the Sales Call Supplemental SelfStudy

Selling Essentials: Opening the Sales Call Supplemental Self-Study Presentation

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call © 2012 HRDQ. All rights reserved. Published by HRDQ and the HRDQ logo are registered trademarks of Organization Design and Development, Inc. This publication is distributed under the terms and conditions of the Reproducible Content End User License Agreement (EULA). For specific details, visit www. hrdq. com/legal. For more information about this publication or to order additional copies, please contact the HRDQ Customer Service Team by phone at 610 -279 -2002 or by email at custserv@hrdq. com. For more information about HRDQ products, visit www. hrdq. com. ISBN 978 -1 -58854 -340 -0 Title slide image: Yuri Arcurs/Shutterstock. com. Images used under license from Shutterstock. com. Microsoft®, Word®, Power. Point®, and Outlook® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 2750 E 1 SEOSC EN-01 -FB-19

Selling Essentials: Opening the Sales Call Overview

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call The Sales Process

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Let’s briefly review the sales process. First, you spend time prospecting and identifying qualified leads. Next, you do your homework and convince the prospect to meet with you. Now, you are about to meet face-to-face with this prospect. This step, Opening the Sales Call, is about making a good first impression, positioning yourself as an expert and setting a positive tone for doing business. In this course, you will have formats to follow, but the key is to use them as guides and to be yourself.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Opening the Call In this course, we will talk about opening the initial sales call and follow-up meetings. In both types of meetings, you will open the call in a similar fashion. You will follow the Opening the Call model, which shows the steps for an initial call. In follow-up meetings, you will simply summarize what happened in the prior meeting, instead of making introductions. However, in some cases, there will be new decision makers who attend the meeting. In that case, you will summarize as well as make introductions. Opening the Call Checklist ü Introductions ü Agenda ü Overview of Your Company

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Opening the Call Model This is the model you will follow when you open a call. Make Introductions • Make sure you know the names and roles of everyone in the meeting. • Limit time for small talk for today’s busy customers! Confirm Agenda • Bridge from how you got the meeting (referral, idea, etc. ). • Confirm the purpose of the meeting and the timing. Provide an Overview of Your Company • Briefly summarize what your company does and provide a mini case study (explain a challenge a customer faced, how you helped them, and the results the customer achieved. ).

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Successful Traits for Opening the Call The sales process helps us stay on track. That’s one way to ensure success. Another way to ensure success is to demonstrate certain traits. Successful salespeople are: • Confident • Sincere • Engaging

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call The Importance of Being Yourself A good opening impacts the rest of the call. When you are confident, sincere and engaging, prospects are more likely to open up and share their business needs with you. It is important to be yourself, because the converse is true also! When you are yourself, you are much more likely to be perceived as confident, sincere and engaging.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Reflection • What makes it challenging to be yourself and to be perceived as confident, sincere and engaging when opening a call with a prospect or client? • What can you do to overcome those challenges?

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Making a Good First Impression You will also find that your enthusiasm comes through when you are talking about something you care about. Your customers will notice too, and that will raise the energy level of the conversation. That, in addition to the three traits, confidence, sincerity, and engagement, contribute to making a good first impression. Focusing your passion and positive energy is known as being in the zone, or a state of flow. Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. “You never get a second chance to make a first impression. ” —Oscar Wilde

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Flow State When you are in “flow” state, you can make an even stronger impression as you open the sales call. The flow state exudes: • Confidence • Positive Attitude • High Energy Opening the call in a flow state will translate to success for the rest of the call. It will help you to fully engage the customer throughout the duration of your meeting.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Benefits of a Good Opening Planning for a good opening forces you to be prepared. A good opening also: • Positions you as a credible expert; someone prospects want to do business with • Should focus on possibilities rather than be a push to meet a quota • Sets the tone for enabling you to discuss your “biggest competitor, ” which is aversion to change

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Preparing for Growth By preparing for your meeting, you became more confident, which will enhance the good impression we are talking about. Now, prospects will open up to you and share their business concerns. As you have more business conversations, you will grow your business relationships. You are planting seeds to grow the relationship. Just like planting a seed, tending it and watching its growth, you must patiently nurture your sales relationships. You have to let go of the pressure you face to make the sale and focus on the possibilities for doing business as you grow your customer relationships. Most customers are averse to making change. It is your job to lead the discussion and to help them see how making a change will help their business grow.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call A Paradox We are told to engage the customer and to be sincere and engaging and confident. We are told that we must build the relationship and be patient. However, as you may have noticed, in the Open the Call model, we are also told to keep the introductions brief. There is limited time for small talk or rapport. This is a paradox!

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Creative Ways to Build Rapport How can you build rapport when time is limited? Here are some opportunities in the initial call and afterward: • Make small talk when the client walks you to the conference/meeting room. • Tag along to help prepare, if offered a cup of coffee. • If a meeting participant needs to step out for a minute and it is agreed not to continue the business conversation until he or she returns, use that time to build rapport with others in the room. • Pay attention to the prospect’s office for signs of interests and hobbies and send an email to follow up on a topic of mutual interest. • Research them online and/or follow them on social media. • Follow their lead and if they make small talk, join in.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Test Your Knowledge Instructions: Read the question, then click on the answer. Which is the correct sequence for opening the sales call? A. Build Rapport, Introductions, Confirm Agenda INCORRECT B. Build Rapport, Introductions, Provide an overview of your company C. Introductions, Confirm agenda, Provide an overview of your company CORRECT INCORRECT D. Introductions, Confirm agenda, Ask questions

Selling Essentials: Opening the Sales Call Module 1: Preparing to Open the Sales Call

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Looking at the Big Picture Preparing for your opening involves planning, whether it is for opening the initial call or a follow-up call. The Framework for the Initial Sales Call is a tool that will help you plan and to open the call confidently. Planning the agenda is a key part of the preparation. Even though we are focusing on the opening, it is important to keep the entire call in mind. Planning and ensuring that you are knowledgeable about your company will help you to lead a successful opening. It will also help you to develop an overview that is suited to your prospect.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Framework for the Initial Sales Call Opening the Sales Call • Make Introductions • Confirm agenda • Provide an overview of your company Shift to focusing on the Customer Listening and Questioning • Business discussion • Summarize • Advance to next step

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call The Importance of the Agenda Spending time planning and communicating your suggested agenda with your prospect sets you apart. The agenda: • Shows that you are professional in investing time to prepare • Makes your prospect feel valued and that you respect their time • Assures them that the meeting will be customer focused • Gets their buy-in and ideas • Builds in the “Advance to the Next Step”

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Communicating the Agenda The agenda and how you communicate it to your prospect are both important. You should take time to plan them so they both resonate to your prospect’s situation. All communication should be clear and concise. You should determine the best channel to deliver your message (email, text, mail, etc. ). Example Communication “I’m looking forward to meeting with you on Wednesday at 2 pm to talk about how we can improve profitability in widget manufacturing. In preparation for the meeting, I’ve attached an agenda*. If I’ve missed anything, let me know, since I want to make sure you get the maximum value from our time together. ” *See example of agenda on next slide.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Agenda • Meeting Time: Wednesday, 2 pm – 3 pm • Purpose: To explore how to improve profitability in widget manufacturing • Brief overview of my company • Business discussion about your current situation and challenges • Summary • Next step “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. ” —Bobby Unser

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Test Your Knowledge Instructions: Read the question, then click on the answer. Which of the following is a benefit of spending time planning and communicating your agenda? A. Ensures the prospect will buy from you. INCORRECT B. Builds in the “advance to the next step. ” C. Ensures that the customer won’t go on a tangent. INCORRECT

Selling Essentials: Opening the Sales Call Module 2: Practicing: Opening the Sales Call

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Practice Makes Perfect It is important to plan and practice before each call. Always take time to think through how you will open a call for a prospect you will be talking to. The next slides will walk you through the process of what you will say when you are actually at the meeting, opening the call. Have a prospect in mind and think of the approach you will take as you review the slides. New prospect

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Opening the Call Model Make Introductions • Make sure you know the names and roles of everyone in the meeting. • Limit time for small talk for today’s busy customers! Confirm Agenda • Bridge from how you got the meeting (referral, idea, etc. ). • Confirm the purpose of the meeting and the timing. Provide an Overview of Your Company • Briefly summarize what your company does and provide a mini case study (explain a challenge a customer faced, how you helped them, and the results the customer achieved. ).

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Introductions • Keep them brief. • Know everyone’s name. If there are several people in the meeting, ask permission to take notes. Record their names in a table diagram, according to where they are seated. This will help you remember who’s who. You will make a better impression if you can refer to people by name throughout the meeting. • Thank them for their time. • Plan a transition to next step, “Confirm Agenda. ” “The presence of an introduction is held to imply that there is something of consequence and importance to be introduced. ” —Arthur Machen

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Agenda Format • Meeting time • Purpose • Brief overview of my company • Business discussion about your current situation and challenges • Next step and summary Use this format to create your agendas for the meetings you set up with prospects in the future.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Confirm the Agenda Transition from Introductions: “It’s great to meet you all. I appreciate your time. I believe we set this up for 60 minutes. Does that still work for you? Good. ” Confirm the Agenda: “Here’s what I’d like to do: I will get us started by taking two to three minutes to share an overview of my company, the issues we solve for buyers in your role and why they bring us in. I’ll touch briefly on why we’re different and keep gaining new clients. Then, I’d like to ask you about your situation and how you’re approaching the marketplace. Depending on what I hear from you, I’ll share a couple of relevant case studies or show you a few options of how we provide our services. After that we can discuss if it looks as if we might be a fit for you, or if there is a logical next step. Is there anything else you’d like to add to that? ”

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Reflection What will you say to your prospect? Transition from Introduction Confirm the Agenda

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call The Company Overview The next step in your opening is to provide a company overview. Briefly describe a summary of what your company does and a mini case study (explain a challenge a customer faced, how you helped them, and the results the customer achieved).

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Overview Example 1 Summary Creative Options Software Company provides alternatives to companies who are cutting back on their software licenses. We have seen how much the economy is impacting firms like yours. That’s why we’ve been focusing on helping companies in your market segment, the financial industry. Mini Case Study We have found that many companies are paying too much for their software licenses – especially since there have been so many downsizings and internal changes. We did an audit for one of our customers, a major financial company. They didn’t realize how much money they were wasting on unused software licenses. We have been able to cut their expenses by 21 percent in the first year. They just signed with us for another year.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Test Your Knowledge Read the following example and identify the following elements: 1) Summary of what your company does, 2) Mini case study with: a) A challenge a customer faced, b) How you helped the customer, and c) The results the customer achieved. The Food Equipment Cleaning Corporation provides solutions for cleaning equipment used in manufacturing plants. Our customer, a yogurt packaging plant, was experiencing decreased productivity and performance in equipment due to the cleaning process. We did an analysis and found that by switching to our patented detergent, they would reduce the temperature of the cleaning process, reduce energy consumption and eliminate water temperature problems. This reduced the environmental impact and improved the performance of rubber parts on the equipment.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Test Your Knowledge Part 2 Read the following example and identify the following elements: 1) Summary of what your company does, 2) Mini case study with: a) A challenge a customer faced, b) How you helped the customer, and c) The results the customer achieved. Company summary The Food Equipment Cleaning Corporation provides solutions for cleaning equipment used in manufacturing plants. Customer challenge Our customer, a yogurt packaging plant, was experiencing decreased productivity and performance in equipment due to the cleaning process. We did an analysis and found that by switching to our patented detergent, they would reduce the temperature of the cleaning process, reduce energy consumption and eliminate water temperature problems. This reduced the environmental impact and improved the performance of rubber parts on the equipment. How you helped Results

Selling Essentials: Opening the Sales Call Module 3: Tips for Opening the Sales Call

Selling Essentials: Opening the Sales Call Adapting to Meet Customer’s Expectations Sometimes prospects will listen politely and are interested in what we have to say when we open the call. We follow the steps in the Open the Call model by making introductions, confirming the agenda and providing an overview of our company and the potential customer listens with great interest. However, once in a while, you may get an extremely busy or a “gruff” prospect. He or she may snarl something to the effect of “I only have 10 minutes ” or “Just show me what you’ve got” or “You don’t need to understand my business. ” In these cases, you’ll need to put your agenda aside momentarily and adapt to your customer’s expectations.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Thinking on Your Feet You have to think quickly and assess the situation at times. If the customer is gruff and wants to know “what you’ve got, ” you simply have to follow their lead and summarize your value. This will help you to establish credibility; you can get back on track later. Once prospects hear that you have expertise in their field and have helped customers similar to them, they lower their defenses and will give you more time for a business conversation. On the other hand, some customers may be so eager to find a solution to their problem, that they may interrupt your opening and start discussing their business problems right away.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call It’s Your Call! In either case, you have to think on your feet and adapt accordingly. The steps for Opening the Call are a format that is meant to help you prepare and to guide you on the call. You need to judge when it makes sense to deviate from it in order to meet your customer’s expectations. You will encounter many different situations with different personalities and variables and there are no easy answers on how to react. You will learn through trial and error as you gain experience.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Be Prepared to Talk About Business As we discussed, there may be some cases when you are opening the call and your prospect wants to jump ahead to the business conversation. Even though our intent is to open the sales call, we have to be prepared to switch gears. As noted, it is important to anticipate the prospect’s needs and be prepared to discuss business and their needs.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Learning About Customer’s Needs The ability to uncover the customer’s needs is the foundation of your success in sales. Before meeting with the client, try to anticipate their business needs and problems. Having an idea of their potential needs makes you more confident and prepared when you open the call and meet with them for the first time. Customers are often hesitant to make a change. When a customer has a small need, they are not likely to make a change. As the need grows and becomes more problematic, they are more likely to make a change.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Customer’s Needs and Making Changes The ability to uncover the customer’s needs is the foundation of your success in sales. Before meeting with the client, try to anticipate their business needs and problems. Having an idea of their potential needs makes you more confident and prepared when you open the call and meet with them for the first time. Review the examples in the charts on the next slides.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Example of Making a Change: Smoking Customer’s Thoughts on Making a Change Description of Problem It’s OK. “Perhaps I should stop smoking. ” It’s a problem. “The tobacco is staining my teeth. ” The problem is growing. “Nobody likes the smell of smoke and my family continues to beg me to stop smoking. ” I need to make a change. “My doctor told me I should quit and I want to be around for my family!”

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Test Your Knowledge Instructions: Imagine that you are responsible for telecommunications in your organization. Read each statement and decide the level of motivation it illustrates (i. e. “it’s OK, ” “it’s a problem, ” “the problem is growing, ” or “I need to make a change”). Then click to reveal the correct answers. A. Customers have complained because they couldn’t get through on the toll-free line. “I need to make a change!” B. Some users are complaining about static on the line while using the current telecommunications service. “It’s OK. ” C. There was a price increase; however, it doesn’t seem worth the trouble to change vendors. “It’s a problem. ” D. You have discovered some billing errors. “The problem is growing. ”

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Reflection Identify one of your prospects. Anticipate a business conversation you might have with them. What are the potential issues? How could the problem develop? Customer’s Thoughts on Making a Change It’s OK. It’s a problem. The problem is growing. I need to make a change. Description of Problem

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Dealing with Reality We are told to be customer-focused, but we must also deal with pressure to meet our quotas. We are told to be laid back and to simply expect possibilities as we open the sales call, yet our managers expect us to get the sale! To alleviate this dissonance, we must find an approach that helps us to deal with reality.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Tips • Above all, be yourself! • Remember that sales is a long-term process; success doesn’t happen overnight. • Prepare to be an insightful outsider. You can offer a fresh perspective to your prospects and “see the forest for the trees. ” • Connect with prospects. Relate your communication to their vision, values and core competencies. • Conduct extensive company research and plan effectively before making your initial sales call. • Commit to continued self-improvement.

Selling Essentials: Opening the Sales Call Review

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call CASE STUDY—Apply What You’ve Learned Instructions: Read the case study and then consider responses to the questions that follow in order to put your skills into practice. The Organization Best Mortgage Company, a provider of residential and commercial loans. The People Jack Higgins, Sr. Loan Officer. The Situation Jack was referred to Maria Martinez by a former customer, Terri Jones, who had a successful experience with Best Mortgage Company. Jack is about to meet with Maria for the first time. He has carefully prepared his opening tailored for this customer. However, he is surprised when she cuts him off abruptly and says, “Just tell me your rates!”

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call CASE STUDY—Questions to Consider Instructions: Consider responses to the following questions. When you are ready, review the ideas and suggested answers on the following slides. 1. What is the best way for Jack to handle Maria’s abruptness? 2. How can he educate her about Best Mortgage’s services, which are not the lowest in town, yet help her see that it would still make sense to do business with him? 3. How can he engage Maria in the conversation?

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call CASE STUDY—Suggested Answers 1. What is the best way for Jack to handle Maria’s abruptness? Since Jack is an experienced sales rep, he is able to think on his feet. This is very important. He must be able to adapt and accommodate Maria’s expectations. She wants to know what the rates are, so he has to address the rates head-on. If he avoids the issue, he will lose her interest. He must react with confidence and sincerity.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call CASE STUDY—Suggested Answers (cont. ) 2. How can he educate her about Best Mortgage’s services, which are not the lowest in town, yet help her see that it would still make sense to do business with him? The drawback is that his rates are not the lowest. So, he has to quickly counteract them with other selling points. Here’s how he did it and was able to hold her interest and keep the conversation going: “Maria, our rates vary from 3. 30 – 3. 8, depending on which one of our programs you go with. Terri didn’t end up with the lowest rate, but she saved more than she would have if she went with our competitors who had lower rates. This is because we have more options for loans with 15 -year terms. ”

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call CASE STUDY—Suggested Answers (cont. ) 3. How can he engage Maria in the conversation? Jack needs to educate Maria about how the loan products work and how the rates vary accordingly. He needs to get her buy-in to ask questions to learn more about her situation. “Our rates are dependent on a couple of factors, including customers’ credit history, loan amount and term. Maria, can I ask you a couple of questions, to make sure I find the right program that will save you the most money? ” By adapting to Maria’s expectations, sincerely and confidently showing that he wants to help and learning more about her situation, Jack was able to continue a successful Opening of the Call.

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call CASE STUDY—Summary Jack was able to continue to successfully Open the Call because he: • Was able to think on his feet • Adapted to Maria’s expectations and needs • Was sincere and confident in showing that he wanted to help and learn more about her situation

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Congratulations! By now you should be able to: • Identify strategies to use for preparing to open the sales call • Describe the traits that help you to be successful when opening the call • Explain the importance of building rapport • Demonstrate how to open the call using a consistent framework • Describe tips for successfully opening the sales call

Selling Essentials: Opening the Sales Call Appendix

Selling Essential: Opening the Sales Call Bibliography Geraghty, B. (2007). Visionary selling: How to get to top executives and how to sell them when you're there. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Konrath, J. (2010). SNAP Selling: Speed up sales and win more business with today's frazzled customers. New York, NY: Penguin Publishing. Rackham, N. (2007). The SPIN selling field book: Practical tools, methods, exercises and resources. New York, NY: Mc. Graw Hill. Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper and Row.