Successful sales calls share the following characteristics:
- They create interest and open a dialogue rather than simply informing prospects about products/services.
- They begin by letting the prospect know right away what the purpose of the call is.
- They create value by uncovering problems prospects are having and offering solutions to those problems.
Three call behaviors
To keep prospects on the line sales pros must exhibit three behaviors throughout the call:
- Let the customer do most of the talking. Sales reps may be selling the world’s best products or services, and they may be convinced they’ll solve all their prospects’ woes — but that attitude can lead to reps’ not hearing the subtle clues prospects are leaving about their true needs. The more prospects talk, the more reps will learn about how to better serve customers. Plus, prospects who talk more gain a better understanding of their own situation and begin to realize the importance of solving their problems.
- Ask more questions. If reps are leaving sales calls with little information, they may not be asking the right questions to uncover prospects’ needs. Reps must strive to understand the position their prospects are in and the problems those prospects are facing before trying to suggest any solutions. Only by asking more questions can reps make a confident assessment and show how their offering fulfills a customer need.
- Hold off on offering products and solutions until later in the call. Sales pros can’t know what solutions to offer if they don’t uncover their prospects’ needs first. If reps spend their time talking about how quiet a product is, and noise is not a factor many prospects care about, the reps have wasted a lot of time. Until sales reps investigate customer needs, they won’t know how to add value. It’s usually not a good idea to offer a solution until sales reps know what problems they’re trying to solve.
Implied vs. Explicit needs
A need is any statement made by the prospect that expresses a want or concern. There are two categories of buyer needs: implied needs and explicit needs.
How can you spot an implied need? When a prospect starts talking about his or her dissatisfaction with something. For example: “We’ve had some quality issues with our present supplier.” And, in this case, the prospect hasn’t indicated he or she is ready to address the situation.
Explicit needs are those the prospect recognizes and is ready to take action to fulfill. For example: “Improving quality is our top priority.” Research shows that explicit needs are a strong predictor of sales success, but implied needs are not.
Increasing the dissatisfaction
Explicit needs show that prospects are unhappy with the product or service they’re using. The job of the sales pro is to increase the dissatisfaction. It’s not the time to talk about solutions. Instead, the salesperson must “build the pain” to help the prospect recognize the need to act.
When dissatisfaction reaches “critical mass” the prospect will decide to act and enter the “evaluation of options” stage. Now the prospect has a choice to make and the salesperson’s strategy must shift to help the prospect make the right decision.