Focus Less on Closing and More on Being Effective at Every Stage

Salespeople place far too much emphasis on closing. The problem with focusing on closing sales is that you are focused on the scoreboard instead of on playing the game well and playing the game to win.

Instead of spending your time on the eventual outcome, spend your time, your effort, and your energy on prospecting effectively to open new relationships, on making effective sales calls that lead to an advance in the sale, on building the consensus necessary to selling your solutions, and on building a compelling presentation.

Spend your time and your energy on ensuring that you are effective at every stage, and the score will take care of itself.

Focus More on Solving Business Problems

Making more sales means solving more business problems. Making bigger sales means solving bigger sales problems. Becoming the lifelong partner and provider of choice means solving the most challenging problems your customers face, and in doing so, helping them build a competitive advantage in their space.

To sell more, spend more time discovering these problems and helping your clients solve them.

Stop Selling to Prospects Who Can’t Buy

Your time is limited. You have to use great discretion in how and where you spend your time. There is no reason to spend time with prospects that cannot buy. The faster you can qualify prospects out, the faster you can move on to prospects and clients where you, your company, and your products and services can be of value and of service.

This means that you cannot pad your activity with sales calls that will result in no sales simply to make the activity goals. In the long run, your time is far better spent doing the heavy lifting and prospecting like crazy to identify prospects that can buy.

Study and Practice the Fundamentals

Sales isn’t about gimmicks, tricks, shortcuts, or secrets. If something sounds to good to be true, it is. You should leave it alone. The only certain way to success in sales, and to selling more, is to study and practice the fundamentals.

Instead of resisting the fundamentals, embrace them. Go to your bookshelf and pull off all of the books on sales whose titles include the word “never” or “secrets” or “closing“ or “shortcuts.” Take these books to your fireplace and burn them. You may as well search your computer for all of the similar PDF’s you have downloaded, as well. You don’t have to burn them, but you sure as Hell need to delete them. Let this purging serve as a clean break from any of this kind of thinking that may have crept into your thinking.

Embrace prospecting. Embrace cold calling. Embracing studying sales. Embrace writing a set of needs analysis questions that demonstrate you understand your business and your client’s business. Embrace learning to be a masterful listener, and masterful presenter. And most of all . . .

Learn to Close and to Obtain Commitments

Closing is not the single event at the end of the sales cycle. Closing is the ability to ask for and obtain the commitments that move a sale forward. These commitments have to be gained from the time you ask for the commitment to meet for an appointment all the way through the execution of the sale when it is eventually closed.

Closing should be natural and easy—if you have created value during each and every sales encounter. Asking for the commitment to move forward together is as simple as saying something like “I believe we have learned enough to be confident that we can move forward from here together. Can we schedule to take this next step together, or is there something you would still need from us?”

Is it perfect? No. Do you have something better? I am certain you do, and I hope you’ll share. But is it a Hell of a lot better than the Ben Franklin close? It’s not even a contest.

Conclusion

To sell more, stop focusing on the scoreboard and play the game. Spend you time solving your clients most pressing business problems, and stop spending time with people who cannot buy. Forget the shortcuts, the tips, the gimmicks, and the tricks and spend your time learning the fundamentals. Following these first four ideas will help you create the value that makes obtaining commitments natural and easy. Now go sell more!

I know you are going to think I am weird when I say this, but your presentation is NOT about your product! It’s about your client, silly!

The trick to giving a rock solid presentation is not to memorize every feature and benefit of your product and puke them up on your client all at once. The REAL trick is to get to know your client and understand their business, then in a very well thought out manner present to them only the features of your product that fill a specific need of theirs. This allows you to spend your time on what’s important (their needs) and avoid talking about things that mean nothing to them.

The real problem is in the set up. Most sales people fail to prepair properly. First you need to do your background research and have some good conversation starting questions ready, then you need to be ready to probe deeply into each issue and find root causes. finally once you have gathered all your information you can start “presenting” based on actual findings and not just random assumptions.

Finally even if you work for a company where you have a flip chart or PowerPoint “Pitch” you can still use this preperation method to convert your companies generic pitch into a targeted presentation.

Action items: Think about your sales process for a minute and ask yourself:

Is my sales process specific to my customer?

What could I do differently to be more prepared?

Am I asking enough questions?

Do I know my customers REAL motivation to buy?

What could I do differently based on this information to convert my pitch to a presentation?

When giving presentations, salespeople often spend too much time on the wrong things. For the most part, prospects really don’t care about how long you have been in business, what your product or company story is, and who makes up your executive leadership. Unless your prospect has given you a reason in an earlier phase of the sale to address these items, you are simply spinning your wheels and losing their attention when you need it most.

Instead, your efforts need to be focused on the “goodies” of the deal. Your presentation needs to address how a prospective customer will ultimately make more money by doing business with you. Whether this comes from increased productivity, cost savings, recovering lost revenue, or all three – it matters not. It only matters that they believe your presentation at this point. If you can pull this off by presenting the goodies, you will achieve victory with your presentation.

But just as importantly, sales presentations are all about them. The way you build trust is to focus on them and their needs. The way you demonstrate credibility is to talk about their issues, challenges and opportunities.

In my experience, the most important thing to do in any sales presentation is to demonstrate that you fully understand your potential client’s needs.

Your solution could be off-base. You can have under or overestimated the benefits. Your implementation plan can be a bit screwy. But if you fully understand their needs then all that can be fixed. And they know it.

Conversely, no matter how good your solution or how accurate you analysis of the benefits or how perfect your implementation plan: if you don’t fully understand them and what they’re looking for then the chances are that things will eventually fall apart.

In most sales presentations, the client needs are usually glossed over in a single slide. The seller gives an overview, uses generic phrasing, and replays what the client told them. Their objective is to quickly convince the client that they’ve understood what’s being asked so they can move on to the exciting bits of presenting their fantastic solution.

In contrast, the effective presenter has an objective of actually ensuring they fully understand the client needs – not just convincing the client they do. They will spend considerable time up front playing back a more detailed analysis and understanding of what the client needs. they don’t move on until they’ve fully explored this Not just what they said – but exploration of root causes and impacts. Clients quickly pick up on this intent and begin to feel more comfortable.

The solution, of course, should be presented in the client’s terms too. What it means for them, how it will help them, what they need to do to make it work. As should the implementation plan and the business case.

And finally, make it interesting. As David Ogilvy said: “You can’t bore someone into buying your product”. Make your presentation interactive, open strong & close strong. Entertain.

Selling should be a conversation, a dialogue that leads to a conclusion that makes sense for both participants. The art and science of selling is the ability of the seller to steer the conversation on pre-planned path that involves and challenges the buyer to think.  By thinking you can encourage them to look beyond the status quo, and begin to explore potential solutions or alternative ways to doing things.

The danger with presentations is that they are open to a lot of presupposition on the part of the seller, and can turn into a spray and pray session, or worse.  Now I know some of you are thinking “well but what if I have done my research, and am presenting relevant and viable things to the buyer?”  I think research is good, but should be used to formulate to stimulate discussion, the conversation that sales is.  All too many sales people use research to show how much they know, how smart they are and why the buyer should buy from them for those reasons.  Don’t forget the old truism “knowledge is the biggest barrier to learning.”  This coupled with the fact that buying is very much an emotional event, you know people buy on emotion and then spend time rationalizing their decision.  Hard to get people excited talking at them rather than with them.

I know some say that at one point, when you have uncovered everything it is then time to present the solution, which is a form of presenting.  Maybe?  Why not deliver a “discussion document”, review it with the buyer, and have him make his mark on it, taking pride of creation and ownership.  When I sell the first thing I deliver is a document like this, and what really drives home that this is an interactive process, is that this document has no place for a signature like most conventional proposals presented; but it has all the elements, pricing, terms, date, etc. and it has all the emotional steps leading to a crescendo where no immediate signature is needed to lock them in.  They are so involved, they feel the pride of ownership, they ask for the contract because they can’t wait, they want it, they are like kids on Christmas eve just chomping at the bit to get started.

There are two situations where you may have to present, but even there, I think you can try something different.  One is in an RFP situation, where you have completed a response and now have to present.  The other is similar where a company uses the “swimsuit in a beauty contest” approach to making a decision, (boy there is a whole other post there, ha), the expectation is that you will come in and do your song and dance in 30 minutes and convince them why your dance is better than the other three vendors, because they always call you vendor, not potential partner, or potential trusted advisor, which are all the labels you want to wear, but you’ll never be anything other than vendor 3 of 4.  Unless you change the premise, instead of having dancing PowerPoint, ask them questions.  They haven’t thought it through as much as you think.  The other vendors go in and dance to a pre-selected song, tired and predictable, so you need to stand out, change the tune, and ask them questions.  What are they hoping to achieve, how will the measure success, how will it impact one department vs. another (it’s great when they are both at the table, the sparks just fly), what’s the impact of not doing anything, why now….  Most often you see a change of mood, after sitting through one “polished’ presentation after the other, they actually get to participate.  They usually see that there is more to it then they thought, they see that one vendor is genuine.  Because at the end you intentions not your presentation drive the discussion.

Again I understand and respect the need for proper appearance, stance, language, a little drama, intonation, and all the other things, but if you don’t engage and capture you can be Fred Astaire (or Michael Jackson), you’ll never go as far as a good question between the eyes.

Now, I’m no Anthony Hopkins, but training in acting and theater has definitely enhanced my sales career. With one foot in the world of theater and the other in the realm of business, I offer a dozen suggestions to help you perform effective sales presentations.

1. Speak deliberately.

When an experienced actor first begins to stage rehearsals, they are repeatedly reminded by the director to slow down their pace of speech. Speech carries differently on stage in a theater than it does in normal every day conversation, so it requires a different pace that is suited to the environment.

Although a great sales presentation can be very conversational in style, an effective sales presentation often requires more deliberate speech than does a regular chit-chat around your family’s dinner table or with coworkers at the water cooler. Speak deliberately.

2. Know your script.

Maybe your “script” hasn’t been created word-for-word (although in some cases it probably should be!), but you still have to know your backwards and forwards the essence of what you are going to say. Actors, above and beyond all else, are a purposeful lot. Whereas many salespeople fly by the seats of their pants, actors prepare, prepare, and prepare some more to create the desired performance. Know what you are going to say and how you’re going to say it.

3. Edit when necessary.

Playwrights are likely frustrated by this, but directors may edit scripts to meet needs of a particular time, place, audience, or actor, or may unilaterally and subjectively attempt to improve a script. Salespeople need to do that editing work, too. Just because words automatically come out of your mouth doesn’t mean they’re the best words for that particular situation. Select the words that will create the results you want.

And if your words don’t have a clear purpose in your sales presentation, leave them out. Wasted words create distraction.

4. Know your character.

Is it important to be yourself during a sales presentation?

Yes (see #12). But it is also important to become the character that can achieve the desired sales result. The “self” has so many facets in everyday life that we all play many different roles anyway. Depending upon many factors, we choose roles to play throughout our lives. Don’t be a one character salesperson. Be the right character at the right time.

Understand the role you’re playing in each and every sales presentation. At times, this role will change slightly or greatly depending upon who you’re presenting to, or depending upon what product you’re presenting, or even depending upon external factors (a sales presentation in much of the world the day after 9/11 would probably be much different than one the day after New Year’s Day).

5. Make eye contact work for you.

Draw prospects into your presentation with your eyes. Look at all participants, and time your direct eye contact appropriately to achieve the desired effect. One difference between movie acting and theatrical acting is that on-stage performers can more easily utilize effective eye contact. Even with hundreds or thousands of people in an audience, a skilled stage actor can use eye contact to create a memorable performance.

6. Position your body where it will have the most impact.

Stage actors spend hours working with directors to determine appropriate placement on stage for any given scene or portion of a scene. Salespeople should also create proper placement during a sales presentation.

You’re at the kitchen table with your husband and wife prospects? Sit or stand where it will have the most impact. You’re in a retail store at your widget display? Do the same thing. Meeting someone for a consultation in their office? The same applies.

7. Use appropriate body movements

Body movement can capture the attention of your prospects. Just as a struggling actor might work with a movement coach to refine on-stage motions, salespeople should create motions that are effective and seamless. Our body is really the only thing we have control over, so take control and create movements that will enhance your presentation.

8. Don’t just speak. Tell a story.

Don’t just present information, facts, figures, details, terms, product information, technical specifications and the like, but morph this information into a story-like journey. Create a theatrical presentation that leaves them wanting more. A closed deal is the salesperson’s standing ovation.

9. Create some drama.

What creates drama in a sales presentation? Pauses. Unexpected verbiage. Contrast. Twists and turns. Gestures. Stories. Anticipation. Tension. Intrigue. Humor. Suspense.

10. Know when to give the spotlight to someone else.

Most often, this would be to your prospect, but it could be a team seller, the prospect’s infant crying in the stroller, or the soup boiling over on the stove. Rarely do actors get to have the spotlight throughout an entire performance. Although the presentation phase of the selling process is the seller’s time to be “on stage,” sellers must understand that they sometimes have to share the stage with others.

11. Engineer an emotional response

Theatrical presentations can be merely entertaining, and that’s not a bad thing, but the best productions I’ve seen have touched my emotions in some way. The range of emotions residing in human beings is endless, and we can tap into those emotions to help our sales presentations have tremendous impact.

It’s not that we want our prospects to break down in tears in mid-presentation (or maybe we do!), but subtle presentation nuances can spark emotions which serve to engage prospects in our presentation, and therefore help us to more effectively position our product to meet stated and unstated customer needs.

12. Let the uniqueness of you show through.

Different actors play different roles differently. It’s fascinating to see two different actors play the same character in different productions. Each actor brings to their stage a distinct blend of personal traits and a unique point-of-view which shapes their performance. When presenting, don’t forget to let you show through.

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Actors act and we buy their act. Some salespeople may feel that acting is artificial, or perhaps manipulative. I disagree. As consumers, we gladly pay money to watch actors act on stage and screen, and we don’t care that they might be different than the character they’re playing. In fact, we embrace it. I think salespeople should embrace the premise that presenting is partially acting, and utilizing some of the principles of acting can help create convincing and compelling experiences for their prospects, and in doing so, create improved sales performance.