The Three Most Important Sales Tips for Entrepreneurs
By Sameer Jagetia
One of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs is learning how to sell. For most it is a learned skill, not innate ability. In the article below I highlight the three most important sales tips I learned to be more effective.
Don’t Sell by Demo
I see this mistake happen all the time. I register for a trial, a salesperson calls me, and then immediately goes into a demo of the service. Usually, it is through a pre-canned demo script. It is easy for them; the script has been written before, reviewed and analyzed by the team, and allows for limited variability in the call.
However, this has the sales process backward. The initial discussion should be on the prospect’s needs. Then the salesperson can evaluate whether or not their service fits the needs of the prospect. There should be an understanding that if our product does what we say it does, and it addresses the need that you have - then, and only then does a demo make sense as a confirmatory step toward a purchase decision. With the added context discussing the prospect’s objectives, the demo becomes more valuable since it will be tailored to the prospect.
“Selling by Demo” forces the prospect to make the connection between the product to their needs. Don’t do this. Be sure to make the connection for them in advance. Tell them how your service will help their particular pain points and then show them with the demo.
Work Towards a Decision
It is important to always work towards a decision. Every call should lead to another piece of the puzzle, to either continue to move the pipeline towards close or to Closed. As a seller, you want to know the buying process for the prospect. Who else is involved in the decision and in what capacity? And when should these stakeholders get involved? Have a clear understanding about what is needed to get to a decision.
By understanding the prospect’s process, the salesperson can make the right asks to lead to a decision. For example, if we get to an agreement that the product fits your needs, a reasonable request is to bring in any necessary stakeholders for the next step so we can get to a decision.
The sales goal is to work towards a decision with the prospect. By understanding the gating items to a decision, we can work towards that with meaningful steps. Otherwise, there is a risk of having meetings without addressing the key questions, of action without impact.
Make the Ask
One of the most common mistakes I see from entrepreneurs, and even many salespeople, is a fear of hearing ‘no’ from a prospect. And this possibility of rejection causes them to not make the ask for the sale. Rather than risk a ‘no’ and remove the prospect from the pipeline, the salesperson can keep the false comfort that the prospect is an open lead.
Unfortunately by not making the ask, they are delaying, or even missing out on, a lead who is ready to close. Separate from risking a potential sale, there are also hidden costs in keeping a bloated sales pipeline - attention is diverted from the best prospects, and forecasting from the pipeline becomes more difficult.
Make the ask. An early ‘no’ is much better than a dragged-out process that doesn’t benefit either side (other than delaying some hurt feelings). And it will also lead to more closed sales.
Summary
Effective sales is selling the right product or service to the customer so they are able to advance their goals (note that it is not selling all things to all people). Doing so requires an understanding of the prospect’s aims and uncovering the path forward. These three sales tips - Don’t Sell by Demo, Work Towards a Decision, and Make the Ask all work towards this objective.