In my learning and coaching company, I have been asked to teach selling lately. I love teaching sales. Why, you ask? “Is selling hard?” “But I do not like rejection!” “I do not want to bother someone…worse, I don’t want to ask for money!”
I hear that often in my work.
The reason I love selling is because it is such a skill-filled profession.
You must be good at researching and understanding the market, your client’s needs/wants, and the trends in business or in our socio-economic landscape. You must know about your product or service too!
In sales you must be able to communicate in a way that attracts clients to you. You must communicate your value or what will be some compelling end results for your customers.
Now, of course, good marketing should communicate to your ideal client and share your value and outcomes that your customers/prospects get from you as well.
You must be good at presenting ideas, asking for the sale, doing the work, serving the customer, and ensuring they are happy and feel taken care of on an ongoing basis.
These are real skills…but for this month’s learning, I want to share 4 other skills that I have been including in my learning programs, which are these 4 vital elements.
I call it the E-Q-S-P approach.
E- stands for Empathy. In this day and age of uncertainty, pain, loss and how many businesses have been rocked this year, you need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. The late Dr. Stephen Covey wrote in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that we are to “seek to understand first, rather than being understood.”
Having an inquiring mind to check in to see where your client is at is so vital. People are emotional, weary, and challenged right now, so as much as you want to sell your stuff (product or service), check in first to see if your client even needs it.
Get to know your client first and see if the timing is right for them to utilize what you have. Empathy also means to be patient with your clients, so nurture the relationship along until such time that your client is ready to buy.
Also, be patient with yourself right now too. Sales cycles have changed and so has your customers’ budgets and truest needs. Sometimes, emotional support for your client and yourself is the type of “Empathy” you need.
The “Q” in the E-Q-S-P model stands for asking good questions. Your ability to ask questions will yield results. One is you will know where your customer is at with respect to what you are offering.
Then ask about future possibilities; ask to stay in touch in a way that is not too intensive.
Seek to find out what your customer needs, wants, and find common ground and opportunities to really serve them.
Position yourself as a trusted advisor for your clients. But ask good questions! Develop good questions to ask your customer.
There are 2 key places in the sales process to ask your clients questions, one is simply when you make that phone call or (prospecting call). If your client/prospect declines your offer on the call, ask politely to probe the “No” and be prepared to ask good questions so you can seek to serve them in the future.
The other place to ask questions is when you first meet. You want to search for need, challenges, budgets and goals that your customer has.
The “S” in the E-Q-S-P model is to position yourself as a “Solutions Provider”. Good consultative selling is about asking questions, but then to recommend workable solutions for your end users.
Finally, the “P” stands for 2 things… one is to have patience with yourself and those you serve. Your timelines may not be your client’s timeline, so be patient and keep playing for another day, when the timing and need match your solution, product and service.
The other “P” is about having passion. Even though we are in a challenging market environment, don’t lose your passion and excitement in sharing what you do for your customers and prospects. Passion sells, so get a buddy to help you get it back if it begins to wane.
This month, practice the E-Q-S-P approach to selling and let me know how it goes.
