9 Tips For Sales Conversations That Actually Convert To Clients
I’m absolutely crazy about sales. Even when I was a Girl Scout as a child, I just loved knocking on doors to try to sell my neighbors cookies. This innate passion for sales has stayed with me and is in large part what has made me the successful marketing strategist and branding expert that I am today.
Not everyone is naturally gifted at sales conversations, and that’s okay. For many, it can feel awkward and uncomfortable to sell yourself to a person you barely know. I get that.
But the thing is, sales conversations are crucial to the success of your business.
Sales conversations are how you create consistent income throughout the year. They are how you connect with those people who already desperately want and need your unique brilliance. And they don’t have to be as daunting as they sound…
Today I’m sharing nine of my top tips to better sales conversations and more clients. If you master these steps, I guarantee you’ll start seeing serious results and growth in your business today:
9 Tips For Better Sales Conversations And More Clients
1. Start With A Foundation Built On Trust
So we already know that your success as a trailblazing entrepreneur mainly depends on if you are a liked and trusted expertise in your industry. Between all the recent posts on epic email marketing and brilliant blogging I’ve recently written, we’ve been talking about this a lot. But I want to say it again here because it is just so, so important.
Before you even start thinking about a sales call, you need to ensure that your potential clients and leads TRUST you. Remember that if you’re truly taking care of your customers, then this should be evident from your very first interaction with them.
Don’t discount the power of building a foundation of trust, even long before potential leads are ready for a sales conversation.
2. Do Your Prep Work
So many entrepreneurs and small businesses never close on a sales call because they don’t realize the value in doing their prep work. Before you begin any sales conversation, encourage your lead to head over to your website to check out your offerings. (You can even prepare a one-page offering sheet.) Also, use this time to direct them to relevant testimonials that will resonate with them while showcasing the tangible benefits and results of working with you.
This will save you SO much time during the sales call as you won’t have to explain the minute details of who you are and what you do. But even more importantly, this will prepare the potential client with everything they need to know so that they are ready to say a resounding YES once you get them on the phone. In fact, sometimes the lead will already have made up their decision before you even start the conversation!
3. Research The Potential Client
Just as you want potential leads knowing who you are and what you do, it’s equally important for you to take the time to get to know them. To quickly tap into their deepest wants and desires without all the guesswork, I like to send a “Getting To Know You Questionnaire.”
The services and products that you offer will largely affect the length and content of your questionnaire. Because I’m a marketing strategist, here are a few of the questions I typically include:
- How many clients do you currently have?
- How many clients do you want to have?
- What obstacles are you having?
- What would you like to see happening in the next year of your business?
This will allow you to get the juices flowing and intimately connect to the lead’s deepest wants, desire and problems before you even step into the sales conversation.
4. Frame Your Sales Call
A fantastic tactic for sales conversations that actually convert is to frame your call. You want to keep these sales calls short; they are not a time for you to start coaching or giving away your expert advice. To keep you on track and ensure the leader knows what to expect, set the call up for success.
I like to start by saying something like: “I’m so grateful that we are on this call today and I’m so excited to meet you.”
Then I continue by saying: “Today we are going to figure out what you want and how you are going to get it. By the end of the conversation, you’ll know if I’m a good fit for you, and I’ll know if you are a good fit for me. How does that sound?”
From the get-go, this ensures that you are the one driving the sales call and that both of you are excited for the rest of the conversation.
5. Find An “Ah-Ha” Moment
Most of us are confused about what it is we want. Luckily, because you are an expert at what it is you do, you probably know your potential clients’ problems, struggles and obstacles more clearly than they do.
And that’s exactly what we want. Because then we can help potential clients discover whatever it is that is getting in their way of success—and create a clear vision of what it is they want instead. We can use our unique brilliance to find the “Ah-Ha” moment that will take the lead from where they are now to where they want to be. Tap into what the problem is in their own words, and don’t be afraid to repeat it so that it hits home for the potential client.
6. Paint A Picture Of What’s Possible If They Work With You
This is the follow-up to creating an “ah-ha” moment. I mentioned it briefly above, but you really want to paint a picture of what it is you can do for them. Whether it’s financial advice, coaching, copywriting or anything else, show them what you see is possible for them.
How can you use your technique or your program to give them what they need to break through their problems and obstacles? This is a space for you to give potential clients their different options for working with you, but more than anything else, to shine a light on the results and benefits that are only possible with your unique services and offerings.
7. Make Your Offer
Now, after this extensive preparation and listening, it’s time to make your offer. The key here is not to get caught up in the details. You’re only giving the features, just like a movie trailer. Stay out of the content of the program or the processes of how everything works.
Instead, focus on the transformation they are going to have after working with you. You can even say, “These are the accurate results I can get based on what you have told me.” I promise this is more successful than drowning your leads in the details of how you will do it. Of course, make sure you are 100% able to back up any claims you do make.
8. Don’t Bring In Your Money Issues
This is so critical to the success of your sales conversations. You need to know the money piece of your proposal backwards and forwards. If you charge $10,000, then get comfortable quoting that price without wavering. This comes from intrinsically knowing the value of your services, but also through practice.
Whatever you do, do NOT allow your own personal money issues to come into the sales conversation. This isn’t about you—it’s about serving potential clients who want and need your services.
9. Practice, Practice, Practice!
The only way to master your sales conversations is to practice. Practice to yourself in the mirror. Practice to friends and family. If you screw up with one lead, then learn from it and move on.
With time and dedication, sales calls will become much more natural. And when you follow all of these tips noted above, you might even find that…
About the author: Lynan Saperstein
My Big Factor is Seeing Your Unique Gift- Greatness and Illuminating It, so you serve and share with the world in the biggest way possible. Mindset transformation and business strategy action planning is the way we make it happen together. I was put on this planet to support entrepreneurs, to help to them step fully into their service ideas and talents to make a profitable living with their business. I believe entrepreneurs will change the world we live in, I am here to show everyone that the entrepreneurial spirit lives inside of each one of us. As a Business Expansion Mentor, I will help you break free of your personal roadblocks, help you to completely avoid the ‘normal’ pitfalls of growing a business and support you in scaling up your vision to serve more people and reach around the globe with your brand. With the Big Factor Team and Implementation Support, nothing is impossible. If you can dream it, we’ll test it first then we’ll build it.
