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In today’s world, old school methods of selling and prospecting are often simply outdated. Sure, there are excuses from those unwilling to step into the modern sales world, “We’ve always done it this way and we we are not willing to change!” And what they are usually referring to are cold calling, grind it out, smile-and-dial lead generation and selling.
Let me be clear, these methods do still work, but are much costlier than more current, technology-based sales solutions. Archaic sales methods are also often off-putting to tech savvy, high quality, skilled salespeople and routinely risk high company turnover.
I have refused to work with companies who base their sales process entirely on cold calling, as it is my belief that they are not positioned for long-term success. Often companies like these will hire lesser skilled salespeople who ultimately leave the organization once they have built the skills to move on the something better.
I love recruiting, but I would never be excited to recruit someone for a cold calling position. Surely I could get the role filled, but he or she would likely be a lesser skilled employee rather than a high performer.
So what should selling look like today? Solution Based Selling.
Solution Based Selling is a simple yet powerful principle. And while the nuances for each industry will vary, the principles and steps remain the same.
The endgame of Solution Based Selling is to generate warm leads for your sales team; cold calling is not a streamlined generator of warm leads. The best way today to generate warm leads is by networking and creating social relationships that can grow and evolve into potential prospect meetings.
I have identified what I believe are four effective steps in the Solution Based Selling process by combining and massaging others’ methodologies (like Sandler’s) and then adding a bit of my own. I believe these combined methodologies equate to a unique path and produce stronger results.
STEP 1: Discover your prospect’s problem.
When meeting with a potential client/customer, create rapport, get to know them and discover what drives them. What is it that they are committed to? And most importantly, what problems do they come up against that keep them from accomplishing their goals?
It’s crucial that you guide this conversation so that you begin to uncover and discover what you can about their business or needs.
At this point YOU DO NOT OFFER SOLUTIONS. Just keep asking questions and gathering intel that you’ll be able to leverage later.
It’s imperative that you establish trust and create a friendly relationship. You can’t ask the hard questions and expect forthcoming answers if the prospect doesn’t like you, trust you and respect you.
STEP 2: Uncover a pain or frustration.
By now you have discovered a problem that your prospect has. You naturally are beginning to think about how you will be able to alleviate that problem – but it’s not time for that yet!
First, help them connect and relate to how much they are tolerating that problem in their lives. People are often able to get comfortable with unworkability to an unhealthy degree. We learn to cope and tolerate things that we simply shouldn’t.
The key to Step 2 is crafting questions that carefully begin to touch on your prospect’s pains and/or frustrations should the problem remain. The point is to help connect them to the emotions they have surrounding this pain point. People buy emotionally and then justify the purchase logically, which is why the questions crafted in Step 2 should evolve slowly but deliberately to allow them to address the emotional pain or frustration they have related to the problem.
STEP 3: The prospect realizes the impact of this unresolved issue and the cost of not fixing it.
People don’t act on just because they think something is important; they act on things that they believe are urgent. Take personal health for example. Everyone knows they need to stop smoking or to eat healthy, but if the doctor tells them that if they continue to eat red meat again or smoke one more cigarette they will die, most people finally correct their ways.
By Step 3: you have uncovered the problem your prospect is having and discovered the emotional toll its taking on them (even if they don’t see it). This is where all that rapport becomes crucial. The question track here is getting them to realize the overriding impact that their tolerance of this situation has on them, their life and their business. And once they understand the impact of the problem, you must then focus on getting them to see the cost of letting it perpetuate. Understanding the true cost of the problem is imperative to your prospect’s commitment and willingness to do whatever it takes to make the positive shift.
To recap, you have identified a prospect’s problem, uncovered the emotional pain and frustration related to that problem, and made them aware of the impact and cost of having this problem persist.
Well done, if you’ve done this then you have gotten 95% of the way there. These are the hardest steps to take and if you have a relationship with your prospect that led to being able to go through these steps, then you will almost assuredly have a high likelihood of closing the deal.
STEP 4: Provide a solution!
This step is pretty simple. You’ve done all the work and your prospect is aware of their problem and what it’s costing them by not resolving it. So now, all you have to do is offer the solution that you have available that resolves their problem.
There is a catch to this step though. There is only a small window of opportunity to present your solution. Once your prospect is present to the impact and cost of the problem, take a breath and let that sit with them for a moment. Then transition ask a simple question like, “Even though you might be able to continue without eliminating this problem, what are the possibilities if it were no longer an issue? What would you be able to accomplish without this holding you back?”
Once they see that there is light at the end of the tunnel, only then do you share your solution. Paint a picture for them of what could be done, how much better it could be done and how much peace of mind they will have by leveraging your solution.
Right then, go for the close. Have them visualize that better future with your solution and commit to working with you to permanently alleviate their problem.
That’s it. That’s Solution Based Selling in the 21st Century.
No need to cold call, simply focus on relationship-based selling – a master key to Sales in the 21st Century.
By Jake Wilson, Guest Blogger
