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Don't give them the full picture

Oct 26, 2022 Posted by: Kiona Kish
Don't give them the full picture
One mistake I made when starting off in sales was this: sharing all the features and benefits of my product before even asking what the prospect’s intention was.

This is a mistake I see a fair amount of untrained salespeople make.

They share all of the features and benefits with their prospect before finding out if the prospect is even fully qualified for the product or service they’re offering.

Not only do they waste their prospect’s time, they end up wasting their time.

See, what happens when we do this, is we don’t acknowledge the prospect’s wants, motivators, and needs.

And these are really important things to consider when selling someone.

Instead, we jump into selling them something without even finding out what their problem is, what their motivation is to have that problem solved, and whether our product or service is the right solution to that problem.

There’s a strategy called “Painting The 4 Corners” that I teach in sales. (And I’ll be talking all about it on our next Sales Training call this Saturday)!

It helps you test both the interest of the client and the potential objection of the client – all before you share everything about your product or service.

What this does is leave the prospect to wonder if your solution is truly the best for them…

It also gets them thinking about the importance of having their problem fixed before even hearing about what you have to offer!

And it helps them tap into their why; their motivation behind having that problem solved.

Click here to hear more about what I mean when I say “their why” in a short 60-second clip.

And then join me this Saturday, October 29th at 8am (ET) for our next Sales Training session.

How to know you're articulating your value effectively

Oct 19, 2022 Posted by: Kiona Kish
How to know you're articulating your value effectively

If anyone has ever asked you, “what is it that you do?” Then you’ll want to keep reading this...

There’s a mistake that most people make when it comes to answering this question – whether they work for themselves or somebody else.

Watch this video to hear what most people say, and what we should be saying instead.

Now that you’ve watched the video, I encourage you to take a moment and role-play with yourself.

Pretend someone has just asked you the question: “What is it that you do?”

Now say the first thing that comes to your mind. This could be what you normally say. Your initial response.

And now sit down and really think about it in terms of the problem you solve –  not necessarily the interesting aspects of what you do, but more so why it’s important.

And now write it down.

Does it seem any different from what you normally would say when someone asks?

If you’re like most people, it does.

But the good news is, I’m here to help you get better at articulating your value – which is what we’ll be spending lots of time on together throughout this Bootcamp.

And I’m looking forward to our next training session this Saturday, October 22nd at 8am (ET). Get ready to learn about tonalities!

Click here if you still need to register.

 

Almost everyone makes this critical mistake

Oct 12, 2022 Posted by: Kiona Kish
Almost everyone makes this critical mistake
I remember walking out of that office so confident and certain that I had closed the deal and secured the sale.
Now I didn’t actually have a signed contract yet, but the owner and I hit it off so well, there’s no way he wouldn’t do business with me.
It turned out I made a huge mistake that I wasn’t even aware of. In fact, the thing I thought I had done right was actually what caused me to lose the sale.
And I bet you, if you’ve ever made a sales call, you’ve probably made the same mistake that I did. The vast majority of sales people do…
Here’s what happened.
I was going to meet with Tom, the owner and manager of a medical office in West Palm Beach.
His assistant had set up an appointment with me to get an estimate to provide cleaning services for their office.
I arrived and was greeted by Tom; his assistant was out of the office that morning for a family emergency.
After a minute or so of casual introductory chitchat, I quickly found out that Tom had graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, right in my hometown.
He got excited when he found out I was a Pittsburgh guy.
Right before this point in the conversation, he was about to hand me over to one of his other staff to walk through the office so I could give them a quote for the work they needed to have done.
Then all of a sudden, he said, “you know what, Paul, let me show you around myself.”
“Great!” I thought to myself. He likes me - he’s using his valuable time to make this connection with me. This is a great sign.
So as we walked through the office, we talked about the “old neighborhood” - where I had grown up and an area he was well-familiar with.
We chatted about the glory days of the Steelers when they were winning Super Bowls left, right and center.
We talked about our favorite parts of the city - what a great place it is to live - it’s actually voted one of the most livable cities in the country.
He introduced me to everyone in the office as “the Pittsburgh guy.”
The appointment went a little longer than usual, but I didn’t mind because I knew this was heading in the right direction. Tom liked me. I certainly liked him.
So eventually I wrapped things up, and gave him the quote. He said he would get back to me the next day once his assistant was back in the office to confirm moving ahead.
“Perfect! The deal is sealed,” I thought to myself.
The next day came and I didn’t hear anything from his office, so I tried calling him towards the end of the work day - nothing.
I left a voicemail for his assistant to call me back to confirm.
The day after came, and all I heard was “crickets” - nothing… no response, no phone call, nothing.
Again, I tried calling and someone in his office picked up - but Tom wasn’t available, so I asked if he could call me back.
They assured me he would.
I tried this a few more times that week, and heard absolutely nothing.
Not even a call to say my price was too high and is there anything I could do about it - nothing! Absolutely nothing.
I racked my brain for what could have gone wrong. We had such a great connection, he clearly enjoyed our interaction, he said he would be getting back to me.
But instead he seemed to have turned into Casper the friendly ghost.
Three weeks later I was pulling into the parking lot right across the street for another appointment, and I glanced over to Tom’s office.
There I saw three guys unloading cleaning equipment and heading into the building.
I was truly baffled. It wasn’t until some time later that I realized the critical mistake I had made.
You see, Tom and I had tons in common. Too bad rapport is not the same thing as commonality.
That was the problem; I thought the very best thing I could do was to build on the common ground we had, but in fact that only served to break rapport.
No longer did Tom see me as an expert and an authority in my field; he just saw me as a nice guy, a friendly acquaintance.
People don’t want to do business with people just like them - they want to do business with people who know more than they do about how to solve their problem.
They want to do business with experts.
You don’t walk into a doctor’s office and chitchat for the first 10 minutes about where you grew up, what you did on the weekend, your favorite sports team.
That’s because Doctors are professionals - they know the value of their own time, and they are there for one purpose and one purpose only - to solve your problem.
Now that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be friendly.
But simply focusing on building commonality, thinking that is what is going to help you close the deal, is a huge pitfall that most sales people fall into.
And let me say one more thing - every human interaction is a sales interaction. Period, end of story.
Whether it’s with your spouse, your co-workers, your boss, your clients, your kids, your neighbors. Sales is one thing and one thing only: influence.
The art of influence is absolutely crucial to you achieving your goals in any area of your life.
…you cannot operate in a silo, without the human element having an impact on your actions and your results.
If you really want to understand the sales process, how it can be applied in every area of your life, be sure to sign up for my 4-part Sales Training that continues this Saturday, October 15th!
You’ll be so glad you did.
And remember, you still have until Saturday to access the recording of last week’s episode on rapport!
Once you sign up, you’ll have instant access to it in your learning portal.
Hope to see you this Saturday as I continue taking you through the entire sales process.