The Best Sales Presentation You'll Ever Give, The Prospect Will Never See.
It took me forever to truly understand this rule. I was the type of seller that “over-educated” the prospect. Nobody knew more about the features/benefits/advantages of the product and services than I did, and I was on a mission to prove it to every prospect that I came across.
Then came my Sandler trainer. He introduced this rule to me and asked me to think about it. It didn’t make sense at first, you want me to NOT present? How will I sell anything?
In traditional sales, the “pitch” or the “presentation” is the goal for many. Get the product information in front of them, show them how it will change their lives, overcome any objections and then close the business.
What I learned, but never admitted to myself, was that the prospect doesn’t really care about my product, service or its feature or benefit. What they really care about is themselves and whatever it is they are trying to do. I sold because the prospect made the connection between what I was offering and how it would impact them or their situation.
I didn’t sell when they could not make that connection. In Sandler we do a lot of “seeking to understand.” By doing so, we can uncover any “pain” that the prospect is having as well as the impact of that pain.
From there we can understand their willingness and ability to invest time/energy/resources to fixing the pain as well as the full decision-making process. (Asking if they can make the decision is not enough!)
Pain, Budget and Decision: this is how we qualify and disqualify in Sandler. But there’s more. See, in becoming very proficient in these conversations we tend to do two things:
- We subtly address most objections in a collaborative manner
- We present along the way, inserting and discussing the nuances of our products and experiences with other clients/situations during this discussion
It’s through this approach that the client will never see the “presentation” per se. Does that mean that we will never have to present? Of course not, but what it does mean is that when we have to, our presentations will be much more effective and efficient because they will be strategically targeted towards the prospect’s pain and/or their objections.
Want to learn more about a better process for qualifying opportunities? Reach out, we know a thing or two about efficiency in sales.
