Dan McDade
In the 2015 Virtual Sales Kickoff earlier this year, I had the pleasure of hearing for the first time, Mike Weinberg—sales coach, consultant, and author of the book New Sales. Simplified.: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development. It was a stellar presentation. So much so that I asked him if I could share his “4 Tips to Power Up Prospecting in 2015” with my audience. This is the third installment of a 4 part series.
Tip 3: Sharpen your story by crafting a compelling message.
Mike isn’t one to mince words. He comes right out and says the hard truth: “You are an interruption.” Ouch. But, he’s right. When you are prospecting, you are essentially interrupting someone’s day—which is why you better have something the prospect wants to hear right off the bat.
A compelling message is a sales rep’s most valuable weapon. The problem is they usually end up talking more about their company and offerings than about the prospect and their needs.
Here’s another hard truth: No one cares. No one cares what you think about your company, product or service. No one is sitting around idly, waiting for a potential supplier to call them.
The bottom line, Mike says: “It’s not what you do; it’s what you do for them.” It doesn’t get any simpler than that. (And I couldn’t agree more.)
The great thing about Mike is he never leaves you hanging. Sometimes the truth stings, but he always follows up with practical application. In chapter 8 of his book, he provides a blueprint for framing and sharpening your sales story. One of the most important steps is to begin creating a list of client issues your company has successfully addressed. The list should include:
- Customer pains you’ve removed
- Client problems you’ve solved
- Opportunities you’ve helped customers capture
- Actual results you’ve achieved for your clients
From that list, Mike says to craft a “playbook” with short and sweet talking points you can spit out in the first few seconds of a conversation.
Don’t be like every other sales call your prospect receives. To get their attention, lead off with what you can do for them. Make them glad you interrupted.
Coming up next: Tip #4 Reconcile Relationship with the Phone
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