You call, but they still don’t know you, what can you say to get their attention and schedule a new call?
Read on, here we give you the solutions.
The telephone pitch or sales pitch is a resource that continues to be effective. It is used by salespeople or agents of different types of companies in order to convince a potential customer to buy a certain product or purchase a service offered.
Also known as Elevator Pitch, it is inspired by the following question: If you were to meet your ideal client in an elevator, would you be able to convince him in a few minutes to buy what you offer?
The answer is simple: yes. Yes, it is possible if you know the right techniques to drive the call towards the goal you want to achieve.
The first thing to understand is that questions are the key to the sales process.
They are the only way to diagnose the problem a potential customer has, they are a powerful tool when meeting with customers, especially when you act like an expert and structure the conversation properly. Luckily, meetings have a repeatable framework that you can follow to be effective.
Diagnosing before prescribing: SPICED
This is where you spend most of your meeting time. Use question-based selling to find out what your prospect wants to solve. Ask them questions to understand their situation. Then move on to questions that help clarify their pain and desired impact.
Situation
Start with situational questions that show you have done your research, but help you qualify the prospect based on some basic minimum requirements. These are closed-ended questions that help establish context.
Pain
When you start asking questions about pain, don’t just ask the generic, hackneyed one like this, “What keeps you awake at night?”
Ask more thoughtful questions like, “When I talk to other sales managers, they often mention that challenges X, Y and Z are their top priorities to solve. To what extent is [challenge X] important to you?”
Summarize what you’ve heard before moving on. This shows that you are actively listening and that you really care about helping them.
Impact
Now you can start to move the prospect from an emotional decision to a more rational one. Try to quantify the value of your solution. Ask the prospect questions that describe the impact a solution like yours could have on the company.
Talking about impact during the discovery call helps you close deals. The ROI of your solution.
Bonus fact: use Storytelling
At the beginning of sales conversations, customers are more interested in how their team members or employees can solve their problems, rather than listening to a particular solution. That’s why it’s best to share a story that relates your customer’s situation and their pain, even better if it’s a person or position similar to the prospect you’re talking to.
The key is to make sure their story includes a relevant use case and a pain you just identified. The purpose is that when the meeting is over, your prospects will remember the stories much more than the facts and features.
Here’s a list of necessary tasks to complete.
Connecting the wagons: Get them to pick up your call again!
At this point, you should share how specific parts of your solution address each of the pain points your prospect wants to solve. Show how feature X will generate more ROI, or how Scorecard A will give them the visibility they need to solve their top priority.
When finished, ask them if all of their concerns have been addressed and if their end goal has been achieved. Note that we have called the meetings where we will discuss the business we hope to develop wagons, just a handy way of referring to the different blocks of information and their techniques.
Next, connect the wagons and schedule the next meeting. Consider asking, “Who else on your team would be good to attend our next meeting?”
Conclusion
It is said that practice makes perfect, that is true, but to guarantee success it is essential to take advantage of the techniques and tricks we have shared with you. Do not go blindly expecting the best results, preparation and experience are the real secret of the expert.
