An Interview with Les Lent
Last week, we hosted a webinar with Value Added Associate Les Lent about Smart Selling.
Les’ background in sales, and his insights into streamlining the process of sales by asking key questions and listening to the responses, led to a healthy discussion.Here are some of the questions we answered during the session.
Q: What were the phrases you suggested we use to learn more about the client's situation?
You got it! “Help me understand what you're trying to accomplish,” and “Help me understand why it’s important to you.”
Q: What do you do when a prospects says, “Yes, let's move forward.” But then weeks go by with you emailing and calling to set up the start date and they keep putting you off? You don't know if they changed their mind or are just not a priority.
The answer to this lies in the closing. Always end a meeting by closing, not just the next step but next step, including date and time.
End the meeting by scheduling the next meeting. I like to ask, “Do you have you calendar handy?” Also, it’s important to note that “follow up” isn’t the customer’s job — it’s ours! So, keep at it in a respectful and well-paced way.
Q: Why do you call your presentation a "pitch?" It seems that's a negative term to most people, especially to sales professionals.
My use of the word “pitch” was to characterize the wrong-way idea many salespeople have that involves talking mostly about themselves, their products and services.
It was used to draw a contrast to the method of the way I recommend: presenting back to the buyer what they said was most important to them.
If we get wrapped up in “telling” a prospect, customer or client all of our stuff, then their perception is they are being “pitched."
Q: If you can't get access to the decision-maker and mail a letter to get your foot in the door, what would be the best approach to talk about your offerings or what you know about them?
I would suggest asking them about their situation and share what you already know. Said another way, tie what you know into what you need to know by asking them questions.
At this point you are still in discovery mode. The goal is to get them to ask you about your service — not tell them about it.
Another related question I often get is, “How do I get past the gatekeeper?” My standard answer is, “Stop calling them that!”
We have to work with these folks to establish that we have something of value to offer the decision maker. Start by seeing them as allies.
Your job is to get them to see you as someone their boss should do business with. Start by treating them with respect, and ask and use their name. Ask for their help in getting the information to the decision-maker.
Q: How do you handle the “I know-it-all" type?
Start by letting them share about their current level of knowledge and inquire about their experience and interest.
Acknowledge their knowledge and be prepared to ask questions to create a gap in knowledge to get your expertise invited to the conversation. An example might be, “How have you used this process to achieve results?”
Q: If you have "blown it" with a prospect (you showed up and threw up) and now you know the things you are sharing today, is there any way to go back and start from scratch?
I would start with some humility (and I have on many occasions!) by acknowledging you initially missed the mark, but feel strongly you may be able to help them. From there, assuming you can get an audience, follow the “ask questions and listen” model.
Perhaps something like, "Hello Mr. Prospect! This is Les from Sales Coach International. The purpose of my call today is that you recently expressed an interest in our services and I am afraid I didn’t do a good job assessing your needs. But I feel we might be able to help. Can I ask you a couple of quick questions?”
The hard part is coming up with some really good questions to re-engage and provoke thought. They need to be tailored to what you learned, if anything, during the first session or in your post-call research. Be as specific to their situation as possible.
Q: Would you please repeat three best closing questions and two points on AFB?
- So, what’s our next step?
- Based on what I’ve learned, it seems like the logical next step is . . .
- Do you see any reason not to move forward?
In addition, here are two reasons deals don’t get done when they should:
- We are talking to the wrong person (not a decision maker).
- We didn’t ask for the business or the next step.
Q: What is the biggest objection you get in pitching products to your clients?
If we talk about products and price, the most common objection is usually price. Price is only an issue in the absence of value.
The goal is to find out their most wanted outcome. If we can discover the cost of the problem, our price becomes an investment with a return. As a side note, it has been my experience that price usually gets brought up by salespeople first.
