“We’ve tried everything,” she said exasperated. “I’ve contacted them through LinkedIn and email .. and no one responded.”
When I hear sales professionals utter these words, I nod my head in agreement. Like hundreds, if not thousands of other salespeople, they are usually selling in the worst possible way.
Making it about themselves.
When a salesperson reaches out to a prospect, it is often with the mindset that they will craft such a beautiful, perfectly written sales message that the reader will instantly drop everything else they are doing, respond, and sign up for a demo — or better yet, sign on the dotted line. This, after all, is the best product on the market and the perfect time to invest in such a product.
This is fairytale thinking.
The problem is: it isn’t a well-crafted message, the reader won’t drop everything, they don’t see the value, and they certainly will not reach out the the sales person to sign up.
Yet, we continue to see this cycle in sales.
I’m tired of Makebelieve-land sales methods ruining both the sales team and the customer. We need to address that most folks are selling backwards — and doing themselves and their prospective customers a huge disservice.
[bctt tweet “Sales is not about you. It’s about solving the problem of your customer.”]
The Greatest Obstacle in B2B Sales
While there may be many factors at play, likely the greatest one is how the salesperson is approaching the transaction. Instead of making the pitch about you/your product/your service, make it about your client.
Affirm them that you identify with the problem they are facing, that you understand their needs, and that you have the ability to solve such a problem.
You must frame everything you say around how your product/service solves the problem your ideal client is facing.
(If you have not considered the problems of your client, check out my post about creating ideal customer personas.)
For example, if they are banging their head against the wall trying to coordinate the logistics of physically moving a team and equipment from venue to venue, does your product solve that problem for them?
[bctt tweet “When you lead with value, you establish authority in the eyes of your prospect.”]
Think about how you would like to be talked to if you were them. A cold, out of the blue message from an unknown person is likely to end up in the spam or trash folder. Instead, focus on how you can deliver value FIRST, then interest them in a long-term solution with your product.
Once this messaging is dialed in, I suspect your email response rate will improve, your LinkedIn messages will improve, and your phone call confidence will improve.
If you are just “selling” your product, you will have little to no success regardless of who you talk to or the platform on which you contact them.
Next Steps
- Define the problems your customer is facing — using their own words
- Draw a correlation between those problems and the solutions you have available
- Deliver value first (to establish credibility and authority; never lead with a sales pitch)
- Nurture a relationship towards a sale
This post stems from a question I answered on Clarity.fm where I’ve answered hundreds of questions from other entrepreneurs like you.