Another tip I learned from my mentor Stu Silverman. In case you missed my previous Stu Silverman-ism and Stu’s background; please read Focus on the Nut of the Job. In sum, Stu has been one of the most influential people in my life.
As CEO of our small consultancy, he was the primary sales person. He rarely if ever lost deals and he absolutely NEVER discounted. When you meet him, your first impression will not be that of a natural sales person. Passionate = yes. Sales person = not necessarily. We were selling very expensive consulting services to build sales development and inside sales teams to startups. Interestingly, only a handful of our customers came to us knowing they wanted to solve a problem and needing a solution. We got the majority of our deals from a cold start.
He used to run an amazing process in sales cycles where the customer didn’t realize they had a problem. After an hour (or longer) discovery with the prospect, he would determine if they had a problem or needed help. If they did, he would ask for a meeting. He would kick off this meeting with a very transparent agenda. Here is what he would say:
My goal for this meeting is to help you understand you have a problem that you need to fix whether you choose to work with us or not to fix it or not. After you agree that you have a problem, then I will try to convince you that we are the right people to help you fix it.
He would then make a case for why THEY had to do something to fix this problem. He didn’t talk about his company. Once they admitted they needed to fix the problem, then he would launch into how we would fix it.
This wasn’t a trick. He meant it. And the customers could see it. And they trusted him as a result.
And I never forgot it. Neither should you.
Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic and a co-founder of Topo. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter
Great photo from Steven Depolo