The Salesman.com Podcast

Quick—what part of your job do you enjoy the least? If you’re like most salespeople, you probably said prospecting. All the cold emails, the endless follow-ups, the calling, and the relentless slog of “no” after “no.” While there’s a time and a place for prospecting, if you’ve already got a long list of current clients, you may be wasting your time on finding new ones. Why? Because you can upsell your current clients to a premium product more easily than you can bring on new customers. And when you do so, you can drive more revenue, greater client loyalty, and higher commissions than going the old prospecting route. This guide shows you how to upsell like a pro. Inside, we’ll look at the massive benefits of upselling as well as The Proven Product Upselling Framework that takes all the “huh?” out of this underutilized sales strategy. What Is Upselling? Upsell Definition: To effectively encourage current clients to purchase a more expensive, upgraded, or superior version of the product they have now.  Simple, right? When you convince your current clients to purchase a newer version, you’re offering an upsell, meaning a better version than what they’re using today. This, of course, deviates from the normal routes of prospecting (i.e., attracting new customers) because it focuses on your existing customers. Some examples of upsells include: Higher tier membership offering better support Different models with added features Premium packages with more products included Added product warranties Increased personalization Upselling vs. Cross-Selling Upselling is often confused or conflated with cross-selling. But in fact, the two are slightly different. Let’s take a look at the definition of cross-selling to see how. Cross-Selling Definition: To effectively encourage current clients to purchase an entirely new product, usually on the basis of the product they have now. Rather than getting an upgraded version of a product, they’re getting a new one entirely. Let’s look at an example. Say you’re shopping for organic vitamin C supplements on Amazon. You’ve found a brand with some great reviews, so you decide to purchase from them. But as you’re about to add the supplement to your cart, you notice they offer a higher potency version and decide to upgrade to that version instead. That is an upsell. As you make your way through the checkout process, you’re taken to a “Because You Liked…” page that offers products you may like based on your purchase of the supplement. Products like other supplements, natural teas, and organic skincare products. That is cross-selling. See the difference? Why Upsell At All? Now that we’ve got a better handle on what upselling is (and what it isn’t), the question becomes, “Why do this at all?” I mean, why work on a whole new process to bump your existing clients up to another version? Should you even bother? As you might’ve guessed, the answer is a resounding “Hell yes!” But why? What makes focusing on the upsell sales technique so beneficial for you? There are four main reasons why upselling beats out traditional prospecting. It… Is easier than finding new prospects Drives more revenue Instills greater loyalty Enhances personalization A. Easier Than Finding New Prospects First and foremost, focusing on driving new sales from existing clients is substantially easier than closing deals with new customers. Here are some stats to drive the point home. Prospecting and qualifying leads are the top challenges for at least 1 out of 3 salespeople (HubSpot). You have just a 5 to 20% probability of successfully selling to a new prospect in most industries. If you’re selling to an existing customer, that probability jumps to 60 to 70% (Marketing Metrics). It cost 5X as much to attract a new customer compared to retaining an existing one (Invesp). When you put your efforts into the clients you already have, you’re bound to see more success than blind prospecting. “We all know the stats that show how hard it is to get a new customer compared to keeping your existing ones. So if you show genuine curiosity in how things are going with existing clients, it means you've got to spend less time scrapping about creating content, less time making cold outreach because you're maintaining your existing customer base through being genuine through being passionate about their outcomes, which in result, is going to help you hit your quotas or break your quotas and obviously make more commissions.” – Interview Sam Dunning, Marketing Expert B. Drives More Revenue When you work with existing customers, you’re going to drive more revenue (and earn higher commissions) than seeking out new leads. Let’s look at the numbers. Increasing customer retention by just 5% drives a 25 to 95% increase in profits for businesses (Invesp). Repeat customers spend 67% more on purchases than new customers (BIA). Nearly 2 out of 3 businesses with strong customer loyalty make more money from these customers than it costs to retain them (Aspire Power Solutions). It isn’t just easier to work worth existing customers then. It’s also much more profitable. Convinced yet? C. Instills Greater Loyalty The more you can get current clients to invest, the more likely they are to remain loyal—provided you follow through on your promises, of course. That boosted loyalty increases their customer lifetime value (which is great). But equally importantly, it skyrockets the chances of earning a referral from those clients. And referred customers are worth their weight in gold. Here’s why. Referred customers spend 15 to 25% more on their first order, make more repeat purchases, have double the lifetime value of non-referred customers, and are 3X more likely to refer their friends to your brand (Mention Me). Customers acquired through referrals have a 37% higher retention rate than clients brought on through other means (Deloitte). Referred customers have an 18% lower churn rate than other customers (Wharton). Boost loyalty, earn referrals, and rake in the profits. What’s not to love here? D. Enhances Personalization Finally, when you upsell your current clients effectively (using the framework below), you’re demonstrating that you understand their needs. You get them. And when you show that, you’re doing wonders for rapport building. Let’s look at just a few more stats. Nearly all (99%) marketers agree that personalization helps advance customer relationships, with 78% claiming it has a “strong” or “extremely strong” impact (HubSpot). Only 13% of customers believe that a salesperson can truly understand their needs (Brevet). More than 2 out of 3 (69%) buyers report that the best way to make the buying experience positive is by listening to their needs (HubSpot). Upselling isn’t just about bringing in more sales. It’s about showing your current clients that you really do understand their needs. And that can go a long way. The Proven Product Upsell Framework Clearly, there are some very real (and very lucrative) benefits to upselling your current clients. But let’s face it, no one likes change. And unless you can really sell an upgrade, you’re likely to hear a lot of “Thanks, but no thanks.” That’s why you need to take a strategic approach. One that zeroes in on paint points, offers quantifiable benefits, touches on risks, and drives real urgency. Enter The Proven Product Upsell Framework. Successful upselling here we go! This framework has seen real-world success in turning lukewarm clients into enthusiastic buyers of upsold products. And when implemented properly, it takes the question mark out of upselling completely. All you have to do is: Document Current Results Explore the Changing Needs Highlight the Risk of Not Switching Give an Instant Discount 1. Document Current Results “Every single move you're going to make, whether it's a renewal or an upsell of any type, starts with identifying and documenting results, anchoring and justifying their faith in you.” – Interview with Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer of Corporate Visions The first step of the framework is to document how you’ve already helped your client. This is the sturdy, logical foundation on which your upselling pitch is built. After all, B2B buyers make decisions on hard numbers, not just sales savviness. When it comes to new vs. current accounts, it’s all about how you treat the status quo. For instance, with new accounts, you want to attack the status quo. Productivity could be better. Efficiency could be better. Bottom-line earnings could be better. But with current accounts, you’re actually attacking and defending the status quo. You’re defending it because you don’t want clients to head to your competitor. And you’re attacking it so you can convince them to upgrade to your premium product. There are a couple of ways you can do both at once. But the best I’ve found is by sending them a value-rich quarterly report. Create a Client Quarterly Report The quarterly report isn’t difficult to create. And sending it to clients before having an upsell conversation is incredibly effective at driving change. In it, you should include six separate elements. Your Earned Results – What results have you and your product earned for the account? How have you improved their business, streamlined their processes, and boosted their revenue? Get into the weeds here with hard, quantifiable numbers. Review of Previous Buying Process – This should be a quick reminder that reconfirms the client did their due diligence during the original selection process. This is especially helpful if decision-makers in the account have changed roles. But secondly, it also reinforces the pain of going through all that again with a competitor. Sharing of New Industry Insights – This is where the real value starts to kick in. What industry issues are coming down the pipeline for the client? What should they anticipate next month, next quarter, and next year? And how can you help them weather that change? Detailed Competitor Improvements – Your product may be very similar to your competitor’s (that’s just the way it is sometimes). But when you’re working with existing clients, that can actually work to your advantage. If you can explain to your client that there are similarities between the two ranges of products, they’ll likely agree that there’s little reason to change things up. Your Own Detailed Improvements – In this section, explain how you and your company have been improving your products. What new features have you been developing? How do they compare to your competitors? And how can they help the client? Highlight the Cost of Change – Lastly, wrap up the document by giving a brief summary of the cost of changing considering everything discussed so far. This is also a fantastic place to start introducing the upsell products you hope to convince clients to buy. Upsell Pro Tip: Your report should aim to offer value, not just prime the client for an upsell. As such, you need to frame it as a source of information they’ll actually want.  If it’s a blatant and shameless attempt to push them towards purchasing a new version of a product they already have, it can have a serious backfire effect that spoils the rest of the framework. “When we provide value for someone, it's giving them the tools to make a better, faster, more effective, more efficient decision than they would have without our input.” – Interview with David J.P Fisher, Sales & Networking Expert 2. Explore the Changing Needs Your quarterly report has already laid a solid foundation for this step with the industry insights, detailed improvements, and cost of changing aspects. With that information in hand, it’s time to extrapolate. How will your client’s business change in the upcoming years? What are their competitors doing that they aren’t? And do the products your client uses now suitable for offering that same competitive advantage? Equally importantly, where does your client want to be in the future? What goals can you help them achieve that might otherwise be out of reach? It’s time to put your research skills to work here. As the more nuanced and specific you can get, the better. Offer the Solution When you’ve identified your client’s changing needs, it’s time to talk about how your product addresses that need gap. How does your premium product help them achieve their goals? How does your premium product get them to where they want their business to be faster than ever? Using “what if” scenarios here is a great sales tactic. Try getting them to vividly imagine what it would be like if they achieved their future goals using your product. Beyond simply priming them for a “yes” answer, this technique also helps the client clearly see that something is needed to achieve those goals. And if you’ve done your job, they’ll know it’s what you’re offering. Upsell Pro Tip: Research is going to play a major role at this stage of the framework. If you can pinpoint some of the biggest pain points and growth opportunities your client is facing, you can leverage them to better sell your premium product.  Plus, it also shows you’re truly invested in the relationship and understand their changing needs. And that builds trust.  “I think the age-old relationship-building, rapport-building, really doing our research and understanding that person and the organization and making that connection, finding a way that we can demonstrate our expertise and show trust. I think that's critical and probably more important now. We just need to do it in a different environment, because some of the other things we used to do, like break bread together or physically shake hands, we can't do those anymore.” – Interview with Ray Makela, Author, Speaker, & Business Executive 3. Highlight the Risk of Not Switching Once the buyer understands that their needs have changed and you can offer them more value than before, you need to pull on the other end of the spectrum of pain. So far, we’ve been focused on how things are going to get better when they work with you. Now though, we need to shift to discuss the pain they will face if they don’t. Now we need to double down on the fact that there is a risk to the buyer if they don’t keep up and enable us to support them. This turns the upsell from a “nice to have” to a “necessity” in the mind of the buyer. You can do so by tapping into the six forms of risk. The 6 Forms of Risk The risk of not changing comes in six different forms. If you can explain one or more of these forms of risk of not changing to your buyer, you’ll immediately get them pushing towards an upsell contract. Physical – This includes dangers to your buildings, equipment, and people. This can hurt your business by resulting in lost time, repair costs, legal action, and reputational harm. Has the buyer changed properties since your original deal? Can your product help reduce the new risk they have in their new buildings? Strategic – This risk type involves roadblocks to achieving organizational goals. Has the client changed their business, marketing, operations, product, or sales strategy? Can your product help them manage this change or reduce the downside if their new strategy doesn’t work? Regulatory – Businesses are governed and guided by a wealth of legislation, regulation, and responsibilities, both mandatory and voluntary. The risks of failure to be compliant can be severe, including legal action, fines, penalties, and even closure. Have their compliance risks changed? How can your product reduce this new risk? Operational – Operational risks are problems that can happen during the day-to-day running of your buyer’s business. They can include things like human error, inappropriate staff behavior, or systems failure. Can your product reduce the new risks that now exist in the buyer’s operations that didn’t exist before? Technological – With the benefit of new technology comes increased risks. Cyber-attacks, leaking important information, or system downtime can be devastating for a business. If your buyer has increased their reliance on technology, can you reduce their new risks with your product? Financial – From economic uncertainties and volatile financial markets, the move towards sustainable finance gets increasingly important as a business grows. If your buyer has increased in size, production, or headcount since you originally sold them, has their financial risk increased? Can your product help reduce this financial risk? Upsell Pro Tip: Don’t overdo it when hammering in the risks. Usually highlighting just one or two will get the ball rolling. But be sure to pinpoint which are most important to the buyer.  “In exchange for giving you the time to have one of these meetings, you're going to be bringing the kind of evidence that is useful to them personally and professionally in that organization and the project or job that they're working on.” – Interview with Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer of Corporate Visions  4. Give an Instant Discount By now, you’ve proven to the client that you’ve brought them real, tangible value with your product. You’ve demonstrated that their needs (and the industry at large) are changing around them. And you’ve given them a few reasons to sweat by outlining the risks of not upgrading. For some clients, these three steps alone will be enough to motivate action. But for others, fear of change may still be causing some hesitancy. That’s when it’s time to break out the urgency-busting big guns—the instant discount. This instant discount should be the motivator that gets the client to sign on. But this isn’t any discount. Instead, it’s a time-based discount. And it’s only valid until the deadline is up. Urgency is the last straw before deciding to buy in. It’s the straw that broke the camel’s back, as it were. And if you’ve successfully performed the three previous steps, it should be the final piece of motivation your client needs to purchase your upsell. Trigger Event Best Practices Below are some best practices to follow when creating your trigger event. Avoid Fake Urgency & Scarcity – These ploys, when uncovered, only breed animosity and degrade your client’s loyalty (a death sentence for your rapport). Don’t Get Too Flashy – Too many buzzwords and urgency pushes will rub buyers the wrong way. Instead, be clear, confident, and respectful. Remember, you’re offering value, not trying to meet a quota. Personalize If You Can – If you’re only cutting a deal or giving a unique discount with them, let them know. And tie back the deal (e.g., lower price) to the client’s goals (e.g., coming in on budget). Keep the Pressure On (To an Extent) – There’s nothing wrong with sending a few helpful reminders that your trigger event is ending soon. Just be careful of getting too pushy here. Upsell Pro Tip: A trigger event doesn’t always have to be price-related. You could also offer complimentary onboarding, expert consultations, additional products, or other creative incentives. But remember, they all have to be tied to a deadline to drive real urgency.  “Understanding your audience is always the first step. So, I think so much of sales is doing your homework, doing your preparation, and knowing what those trigger points are. What are the things that are going to move these people to actually respond in the way that I want them to? So, that's where I always start, is let's figure out who our customer is, let's figure out our audience, and let's speak their language.” – Interview with Robbie Crabtree, Senior Lecturer at MIT Wrapping Up The upsell is one of the best ways to generate more revenue, instill more client loyalty, and even bring in more referrals than ever. Best of all, upselling to existing customers is more efficient, effective, and profitable than fishing for new clients. And to do it strategically (and successfully), all you have to do is: Document Current Results Explore the Changing Needs Highlight the Risk of Not Switching Give an Instant Discount So before you go spending 80% of your day on prospecting, try reaching out to your current buyers and upselling them on a premium version of their current products. When you follow this framework, you’ll be surprised how easy earning a “hell yes!” can be.

On this week in sales we’ll be looking at; AI on video calls, revenue operation platforms, answering your questions and much more! You'll learn: SALES NEWS: ZoomInfo Expands Global Operations in London ZoomInfo (NASDAQ: ZI), a global leader in modern go-to-market software, data, and intelligence, today announced it has expanded its global operations in London and named Simon McDougall as its first Chief Compliance Officer. “In Q3 2021, the international business at ZoomInfo grew over 80% year over year while our investment in our data assets outside of North America also nearly doubled throughout the year. We’re now in an even better position to build on our momentum there,” said ZoomInfo Founder and CEO Henry Schuck. https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/ZOOMINFO-TECHNOLOGIES-INC-107772705/news/ZoomInfo-Expands-Global-Operations-in-London-37586238/ Zoom's venture fund invests in conversational AI platform Second Nature, announced a $12.5 million round of investment to build out their conversational artificial intelligence service. Second Nature's platform uses conversational AI to coach a salesperson and improve selling skills as well as product knowledge. A salesperson in training runs through a simulated sales call with Jenny serving as the customer. The video conversation is recorded and each trainee gets a score on his or her performance with advice on how to improve various elements of the pitch. The Second Nature training platform combines sales training and product marketing education in one place. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-was-my-pitch-jenny-zooms-venture-fund-invests-in-conversational-ai-platform/ Sales Embraces the Experience Economy “Physical retail is going to get more experiential,” says Cate Trotter, head of trends at retail consultancy Insider Trends Trotter sees e-commerce becoming more experiential. “Across the board, there are all these ways that retailers can entertain customers, educate them, tell their stories better. The number of consumers using experiential technology is still relatively small. In the United States, only 1 percent of consumers own VR/AR units, For example, Home Depot offers an AR feature on product detail pages for home decor, furniture, and seasonal decorations; consumers can tap it to see the furnishings in their homes with 3-D augmented reality. Home Depot has seen conversion rates two to three times higher for customers who use the app compared to those who don’t. https://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Editorial/Magazine-Features/Sales-Embraces-the-Experience-Economy-150987.aspx JPMorgan just raised salaries again JPMorgan has upped the ante again for junior bankers. The investment bank is raising its starting salary for analysts to $110,000, after lifting it to $100,000 last year, reports Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources. The increases are being applied internationally, as well as to second- and third-year analysts, associates and employees in the bank’s markets unit. The move follows a similar one by Citigroup earlier this month and underscores budding costs for banks as they compete harder for entry-level workers.

Is it possible to create luck in life and in business? On this episode of the Salesman Podcast, Dr. Christian Busch explains what luck is and how salespeople can generate more of it in their selling endeavors. Dr. Busch is the author of The Serendipity Mindset and one of the world’s leading experts on innovation, purpose-driven leadership, and cultivating serendipity.  You'll learn: Sponsored by: Free SalesCode assessment Learn your strengths and weaknesses in an instant. Taken by over 10,000+ of your competitors. Don't get left behind. Take the free assessment Featured on this episode: Host - Will Barron Founder of Salesman.org Guest - Dr. Christian Busch Author of The Serendipity Mindset Resources: Chris’ LinkedIn Dr. Busch on Twitter Theserendipitymindset.com Book: The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck Book: Man's Search for Meaning Transcript Will Barron: Hello, sales nation. My name is Will Barron, and I'm the founder of salesman.org, and welcome to Salesman Podcast, the world's most downloaded B2B sales show. On today's episode, I am chatting with Christian Busch. He is the author of Connect The Dots: The Art and the Science of Creating Luck. And the paperback of the book has just launched today, so grab a copy from Amazon, wherever you get your books, if you enjoy this podcast episode.   Will Barron: Dr. Christian Busch is an expert in the areas of innovation, purpose-driven leadership, and serendipity. He's the director of CGA Global Economic Programme over at New York University, and he teaches at the London School of Economics. On today's episode, Christian and I are going to be discussing if it's possible, if it's measurable, if it's possible, to create luck in sales and in business, and how you go about doing it. So Dr. Christian, welcome to the Salesman Podcast.   Dr. Christian Busch: Thanks so much for having me.   What is Luck? · [01:03]    Will Barron: I'm glad to have you on, mate. Okay, so let's just get down to the basics of all this before we dive into… Because this topic, obviously there's going to be tonnes of rabbit holes. There's going to be tonnes that we could jump into, right? Does this luck concept, we all know we've all experienced it, does it have an agreed-upon definition? How do we define what luck actually is?   Dr. Christian Busch: Yeah. It's interesting because when looking into that area, what I found fascinating is that usually when we think about luck, we think about that blind luck that just have it's to us, right? Some kind of fortuitous, coincidental, beautiful moment that somehow benefits us. Being born into a good family, things like that. But actually, where it gets really exciting is when we talk about smart luck, when we talk about serendipity that we create based on our own actions.   Dr. Christian Busch: And so, take the quintessential moments, if you have erratic hand movements like I do, you spill a lot of coffee. And so imagine you spill coffee in a coffee, shop over someone, and that person looks at you slightly upset, but you sense, there might be something there. You don't know what it is, you just sense there might be something there. And now you have two options, right? Option number one is you just say, “I'm so sorry, here's a napkin.” You walk outside and you think, “Ah, what could have happened had I spoken with that person?”   “When we look at serendipity, this kind of smart luck, across different contexts, love, business, you name it, there's always the same pattern. It's always the same that there's this aspect of randomness, some kind of unexpected moment, but then it's about us to do something with it, to connect the dots and turn that into positive outcomes.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [02:19]    Dr. Christian Busch: And option number two, you start a conversation, that person becomes your, co-founder, your supplier, the love of your life, you name it. And so it's our reaction to the unexpected. It's making the accident meaningful that turns it into smart luck. And so when we looked at serendipity, this kind of smart luck, across different contexts, love, business, you name it, there's always the same pattern. It's always the same that there's this aspect of randomness, some kind of unexpected moment, but then it's about us to do something with it, to connect the dots and turn that into positive outcomes.   Serendipity: The Process of Spotting and Connecting Random Dots · [02:43]   Will Barron: So I've just kiboshed all the questions I had in front of me straight away. Is a good feeling measurable, that feeling when you know someone's looking at you or you think that there's an opportunity here? We'll dive into whether you grasp that opportunity or not and how we create around look in a second, perhaps. But what is that gut feeling that we label as a gut feeling, but is there a more clinical definition or has it been researched as to what it actually is?   Dr. Christian Busch: That's a really interesting question because a lot of times when we trace serendipity and look at it as a process of spotting and connecting dots, intuition plays a huge role. So that sense of, “Oh, there might be something there.” And that's essentially trying to figure out what is the potentiality in that moment. And so the way we've been studying serendipity, and the way serendipity has been studied more broadly is really in three ways.   Dr. Christian Busch: One is to say, what's the counterfactual? So what could have happened if I put two people into exactly the same position, into exactly the same situation that is unexpected and one does something with it and the other one doesn't, then we see the decision point. The same is with when we think about a lot of my work is qualitative methods. So we go into, for example, a business incubator and we look at what entrepreneurs over time do with a conversation we had, how does that unfold and then what happens with that? Does that turn into a particular product? So we're trying to understand it over time.   Telltale Signs That You Might Be a Lucky Person · [04:05]    Dr. Christian Busch: But I think where it gets really interesting, and to your point, where a lot of times actually it's not necessarily just that gut feeling, which can be important, but a lot of times it's mostly also about what's the way we look at the world? How do we frame the world? And there's an amazing experiment, actually, one of my favourites. And it's been replicated in different types of context where they ask people, “Do you consider yourself to be lucky?” And every listener, if you think about it, do you consider yourself to be lucky?   Dr. Christian Busch: And then they pick one of each, one person who says they consider themselves to be very lucky, “So good things tend to happen to me, yada, yada.” And one person who considered themselves to be very unlucky, so, “I'm always in accidents, bad things happen to me.” And I guess we all know people on both sides of that continuum.   Dr. Christian Busch: And so they tell those two people, “Walk down the street, go into a coffee shop, sit down, have the coffee, and then we'll have our conversation later on.” What they don't tell them is that is five pound notes, there's money in front of the coffee shop door. And inside the coffee shop, there's only one seat left, next to this extremely successful business man who can make big dreams happen.   Dr. Christian Busch: Now the lucky person walks down the street, sees the five pound note, picks it up, goes inside the shop, orders the coffee. Sits down, has a conversation with the businessman, the exchange business cards, potential opportunity coming out of it, we don't know that part. Now the other person, the unlucky person walks down the street, steps over the five pound note so doesn't see it. Goes inside the shop, orders a coffee, sits next to the businessman, ignores the businessman. That's it.   Dr. Christian Busch: Now at the end of the day, they ask both people, how was your day today? And so the lucky person says, “It was amazing. I found money in the street, made a new friend and you potentially an opportunity coming out of it.” The unlucky person just says, “Well, nothing really happened.” And that really tells us about the power of perception and the power of alertness. For example, it's fascinating how much money people drop in the street but most of the time we don't see it because we don't expect it to be there.   Dr. Christian Busch: And I think that's what it mostly bones down to, that in this world that's so uncertain, we still underestimate how likely the unexpected is all the time. And we still think we can plan things out, but actually it happens everywhere and we miss it all the time.   The Difference Between an Optimist and a Lucky Person · [06:15]    Will Barron: What's the difference then, that might be a good scenario to build this conversation on top of, what's the difference between a optimist and someone who is lucky?   Dr. Christian Busch: It's a really interesting question because if you think about it like a couple of Venn diagrams, similar to intuition, it's always good to have a good intuition and a mature gut feeling rather than a naive gut feeling, right? So something that actually helps me with making decisions. So that's one Venn diagram. Another one is optimism, as when you can imagine different scenarios and the potentiality of a scenario, it makes it more likely that you can actually then also act on it.   Dr. Christian Busch: But again, it doesn't have to be the way. I for example, my amazing wife, she is the most amazing person in the world. I know everyone would say that about their wife, but in my case it's actually true. And she's the kind of person, she can be quite not so positive about the world, but still she's always connecting dots and she's always making stuff happen and turning kind of lucky serendipitous moments out of it.   “If you start as a realist, you end up as a depressionist because the world will pull you down. So you have to start slightly optimistic to then become the optimistic realist. Be the kind of person who has a slight optimism, but you’re also extremely realistic about what's possible and what’s not.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [07:43]    Dr. Christian Busch: And so it's in that way where again, optimism can be something that helps us to make more of it happen, but it's not a necessary condition all the time. And I've been a big fan, a lot of my life has been shaped by Victor Frankl. And I've always been fascinated by he wrote this amazing book, A Man's Search for Meaning, and his key point always was, “Look, if you start as realist, you end up as a depressionist because the world will pull you down. So you have to start slightly optimistic to then become the realist, the optimistic realist.”   Dr. Christian Busch: And so I've seen that with a lot of the executives we work with, that they are the kind of people who have a slight optimism, but they're also extremely realistic about what's possible and what is.   The Primary Reason You’re Missing Out on Luck · [08:04]    Will Barron: Is there anything else that goes in this Venn diagram? Because it seems like, and tell me if I'm completely off on this because I could be, but it seems like almost extraversion or confidence could fit into it as well. Because maybe you see the five pound note, maybe you go, “This is an opportunity and I could take it.” And you have the intuition that it's there for the taking, but if you are… And I'm painting in broad strokes here, but if you are introverted, you might be or less confident, you might be more bothered about if anyone sees you pick it up they might come and complain, they might say that you've stolen.   Will Barron: It seems like there's other barriers to you activating on the luck that's been put in front of you, not just the fact that you've recognised it. Is there something along those lines? Is there any other elements to this Venn diagram that we should be adding to it?   Dr. Christian Busch: Absolutely. And if we focus on three that I think are extremely important, one, it's interesting, extraversion. There's a lot of hope for closet introverts like myself in terms of that a lot of serendipity actually comes from quiet and calm sources. So watching a movie and then thinking, “Oh my God, people haven't talked about this. That could be a podcast.”   Dr. Christian Busch: Or taking this one other street to work in the morning and then keeping our eyes open and realising, “In that bookstore, that book, that title, couldn't that be a podcast? Oh my God, serendipitously I came up with a podcast idea.” And so it's a lot of times serendipity can come from these quiet sources or extroverts need introverts to compliment them a little bit to make sense out of all the serendipity and help them filter it.   “When it comes to serendipity and luck, it does help to be an extrovert because you essentially have more conversations with people. So the opportunity space for potential serendipity increases because of the interactions you can have.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [09:38]    Dr. Christian Busch: So I think the first piece is really to your point, it does help to be an extrovert because you essentially have more conversations. So the opportunity space for potential serendipity increases because of the interactions you can have and so on. And we can talk more about this, especially the hook strategy I think, where we can do a lot in that direction, even as introvert.   Dr. Christian Busch: But also I think you made a really interesting point about what are the self-limiting beliefs we have? What are the constraints we have that hold us back from acting on something? And I think to me, the quintessential example is you are at a conference, this amazing speaker speaks. You have an amazing idea of what you could do together, but then you don't go to the speaker because you feel like, “I'm not worthy. I'm not ready. I'm not…” You name it.   Dr. Christian Busch: Same in the coffee shop, right? When you think, “Oh my God, this could be a person I could fall in love with.” But you don't act on it because you have fear of rejection or you name it, right? And I think a lot of us have this inner imposter somewhere in there, lurking around and saying, “Oh, maybe you're not… It's not the right time for that.” And one thing I found really useful in that bracket of overcoming self-limiting beliefs and being able to act on the unexpected is really to think about, what's the worst thing that can happen here?   Dr. Christian Busch: And I always thought the worst thing that can happen is rejection, right? The worst thing that could happen is that speaker says, “No, I don't have time for you.” Or that person at the coffee shop says, “No, I really don't want to talk with you.” But then I realised the worst thing is not that, the worst thing is that actually walking outside and thinking, “Ah, what could have happened?” Because that's the nagging feeling that doesn't stop. And that consumes your energy and that goes on and on and on. And by that reframing, I felt like, to me, that made a big difference.   Dr. Christian Busch: And then the third aspect really, and I think that's what I'm really excited about. So now we talked about the aspect of personality traits. We talked about the aspect of what's the self-limiting beliefs. And then the third aspect is really what are the daily practises that we can use to really have more of this happen? And we can build a muscle for that.   How to Have Better Conversations Using The Hook Strategy · [11:33]   Dr. Christian Busch: And so to give you one example is that hook strategy that I'm a big fan of. And the idea really is to say every time that dreaded what do you do question, for example, do you just answer, “I'm an entrepreneur, I'm this and this.” Or do you cast a couple of hooks where other people could say, “Let me correct the dots. Oh my God, such a coincidence.”   Dr. Christian Busch: Give you example, Oli Barrett, an amazing entrepreneur in London, if you would ask him the, what do you do question, he would not just say “I'm an entrepreneur.” He would say something like “I'm a technology entrepreneur, recently started reading into the philosophy of science. But what I'm really excited about is playing the piano.” And so what he's doing here is he's giving you three potential hooks where you could be like, “Oh my God, such a coincidence. My sister's teaching on the philosophy of science, you should give a guest lecture. Oh my God, such a coincidence we've been hosting piano matinees, you should stop by.”   “The hook strategy is all about how we use every interaction, every conversation to cast a couple of interests and hooks in a side sentence, and then let the person pick up whatever they're most excited about.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [12:36]    Dr. Christian Busch: And I think, especially in sales, that's obviously where a lot of sales come from, right? These unexpected, “Hey, let me just tell you one more thing we just started doing…” Just to put it out there and then see what happens. And then that client might say, “Oh my God, such a coincidence. My sister just started a shop where they need exactly that kind of thing.” And so I think to me, the hook strategy is all about saying, how do we use every interaction, every conversation to cast a couple of interests and hooks in a side sentence, and then let the person pick up whatever they're most excited about.   Here’s How You Can Improve Your Ability to Connect the Dots and Experience More Luck · [13:03]    Will Barron: This is quite a broad question, but is this a skill that we can develop? So you just gave us one direct strategy there that we all literally can use this. I'll have a ponder about this, how I can use this, after this episode wraps up, Christian. But is developing serendipity… I guess connecting the dots seems more logical, as I say, is the ability to connect the dots a skill that we can build proactively? Or is this something that comes with experience of being in sales for 20 years, being in the same industry for five and having gone to networking events for the past three and shook a load of hands? Is it something that we can proactively develop or is it something that comes with time in the game?   Dr. Christian Busch: Yeah. Well, it's interesting, right? Because when you think about something like previous experience for example, it can help us connect the dots because we might see the unexpected anomaly in something that shouldn't be there. And by that, identify what's new here. But also it can give us that functional fixedness, right? The hammer nail problem, that we're so used to using the hammer when we need the nail in the wall, that we are always looking for a hammer rather than any heavy object that would help us to get it into the wall.   “Building that serendipity mindset is like building muscle. You can train a mindset and you can upskill yourself in terms of mindset.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [14:12]    Dr. Christian Busch: And so, experience can be good or bad. But no matter what experience we have, we can always build that muscle. And I think that's why I'm so excited about the idea of building that serendipity mindset. Because it's really about saying, like a muscle, you can train a mindset. You can upskill yourself in terms of mindset. And to give you maybe two examples, one example that I'm a big fan of is to do a serendipity journal where you really write down, “Okay, in the past, whenever I had serendipity happen…”   Dr. Christian Busch: So maybe how I unexpectedly met the love of my life and then actually did something with it but it's not enough to just run into them. You got to go on date and make it happen. Or how I got a client lead unexpectedly at a conference where it was about something completely different and I was there for pleasure, but actually it still came to that.   Dr. Christian Busch: Whenever I had those kind of serendipitous moments in my life, these unexpected positive outcomes, what is the pattern behind this? What did I do that made that happen? And how can I do more of that? Is there a particular thing I do or a particular sentence I use? Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. But then also more importantly, the opposite. Whenever serendipity could have happened but it didn't. When I was in that meeting, I had that brilliant, unexpected idea, but I didn't raise it. Why? When I wasn't the coffee shop, I didn't talk with that person. Why? And really working then on the underlying question, what is holding me back to act on the unexpected? And that's how we can remove these barriers.   Dr. Christian Busch: And then third really, we talked about these concrete practises. And what I found really interesting, a couple of years ago I used to live in London and a colleague of mine, a very decorated, highly decorated professor. I started with this work and I told him about it and he was like, “Look, Christian, I love you, I love your work. But I don't need more serendipity my life. I have everything. I have a great family, I have a great job. What else do I need?”   Dr. Christian Busch: And we made a deal. And we said, “You know what? Just do a couple of small things like ask one different question. Instead of asking people, what do you do? Ask them, what do you enjoy doing?” And small tweaks. “What's interested you about this presentation when you watch it?” Whatever, something that really went deeper into what the motivations of a person are and what makes them tick. And then essentially when you're doing this, what happens is you start getting more and more excited about it.   Dr. Christian Busch: And so after a month, he comes back and he's like, “Christian, I didn't know life can be so joyful.” And so the point here is, we don't know what we don't know, right? And so what I'm excited about in this work is to really say there's particular small practise we can all do. And once we start doing a few of them, for example, in every conversation, thinking about, can I connect, Will, now to one person? Can I connect them to one idea what they told me about?   Dr. Christian Busch: When we train ourselves to constantly think about connecting dots, actually our brain literally self frames itself towards it. And so I think that's the beautiful thing about neuroplasticity, where we can frame both our brain in the kind of neuro sense, but also then psychology-wise, we can actually work on our behaviours and what comes of it. And so that's, I think, at the core of this, to say then we identify those different types of dots.   Dr. Christian Busch: And Will, as last point, then you go to a fisher village in Italy and you meet that fisher woman where you thought you had nothing in common with, but now because you don't ask her, “What do you do?” And she says, “Well, I'm a fisherwoman.” And you're like, “Well, we have nothing in common.” You ask her, “Well, what is it about the fishing that you enjoy doing?” And then she might say, “Well, I enjoy the endlessness of the sea and that it gives me X, Y, Z, and it feels like an endless transition.” And then I would be like, “Oh my God, this is exactly how I feel about when I'm writing an academic paper.” You name it.   Dr. Christian Busch: So we identify those overlaps once we start to go deeper with a person, rather than assuming they're just their position or their job title.   The Reticular Activating System and Pattern Recognition · [17:50]    Will Barron: Are you familiar with this term, because I've not heard this term used in an academic sense so I don't know if this is complete nonsense or not. But I've read it in plenty of books, I think it's called it the reticular activating system?   Dr. Christian Busch: Interesting. Mm-hmm (affirmative). What made you think about it?   Will Barron: Because it seems like a lot of what we're talking about here is pattern recognition.   Dr. Christian Busch: Mm-hmm (affirmative), exactly.   Will Barron: And it'd be perhaps interesting, can you tell us what the reticular activating system is and then how perhaps some of that ties into how pattern recognition ties into some of this?   Dr. Christian Busch: Yeah. Well what's interesting, because I'm obviously not a in a deeper brain or other sciences, but what I am very excited and interested in is exactly the question of we all somehow when we're growing up and we all somehow when we the world get used to particular patterns and ideas of the world and we are navigating those. And then the question becomes, how do we unlearn some of that?   Dr. Christian Busch: So if I am used to something, that's the hammer nail problem thing for example. When I have a certain idea of how I go about things and how I learn things, it's very hard to unlearn this. But when you look at, I'm extremely excited for example about Sub-Saharan Africa, where a lot of our work is. Because a lot of times when you are in a context where you have extreme resource constraints, you don't have to unlearn.   Dr. Christian Busch: If you don't have an ATM machine in your local village, you don't have to think about how do I innovate that kind of ATM machine? You think about how do I get my money from my friends, to the friend in the other village? And that's how unexpectedly or expectedly something like mobile banking comes about because you don't have to think in that box you're in. But you're actually thinking, “Okay, we're solving a particular problem here.”   Dr. Christian Busch: And I think a lot of companies actually are trying to do that. If you look at a company like Phillips, they used to be organised in departments. So you would have something like a tomography department. But by predefining the solution tomography, you're only innovating within that space now, right? You're thinking about what can I make better as a tomography machine? Versus if you step back and say, well this is all about precision diagnosis. Tomography might be one way, but there might be 20 other ways of how to do precision diagnosis.   Dr. Christian Busch: And so, if you rename the department into precision diagnosis, you give people the licence to also come up with other things. And that's the same, obviously, in our own lives and how we think about how we define problems. Do we over define the problems so to then kind of limit the potentiality for people? Or do we broaden it up and allow people to connect the dots broader as well?   Will Barron: For sure. And we see this in sales, just to drag the conversation back to that for a second, all the time, of the problem is how do we get in front of qualified customers and explain what we do and how we can help them? And sales people have the boxes of, I call them, I email them and then, pre-COVID, maybe I knock on a door or see these people at a conference as well.   Will Barron: And so we're all stuck in these different boxes of there's probably 300 to 500 million salespeople on the planet, all trying to email the same executives in the same five, 600 companies. And they're all trying to do the same job, skin the cats in a slightly different way, to break through. But what I like about this is that perhaps if we remove that box, and obviously it's one thing to say it's another thing to do it, clearly. But if you can make that happen, you…   Will Barron: Or let me rephrase that, there's potentially other angles, there's other dots that are there in front of us that we just haven't seen. And if we can see them, we'll have opportunities that other people won't have. We'll have that competitive advantage. So is there anything else? Because I want to turn this conversation on it's head slightly in a second, Christian.   Learning to Unlearn: The Most Effective Path to Serendipity · [21:21]    Will Barron: But is there anything else for a salesperson who's listening to this conversation, Christian, that banging the head against the wall, they're just go email after email, they're not getting through to anyone, they've tried cold calling. They've tried all these things that we talk about in the show all the time, we talk about it in sales books, podcasts, videos, YouTube videos, and nothing's working. Is there anything that they can do to try and pull back, unlearn some of the things that they've learnt perhaps about how sales should be done, then innovate and find other dots that could be connected?   Dr. Christian Busch: Yeah. Well, that's a great question because I think in general, and I can't speak for the hundreds of millions of salespeople who obviously listen to this show. But in general, a lot of the people I work with and a lot of the people who we study, I think what happens a lot of times is that they very much underestimate their own, quote unquote, warm social capital. So they might focus on cold calling, cold emailing, whatever it is. And we all know how ineffective, that's the numbers game, right? That's kind of all about having a huge pot of numbers and then hoping that one of them goes through.   Dr. Christian Busch: Versus I think we completely underestimate our own social capital in the sense of, let's say I live somewhere in South London and I have 10 people I interact a lot with. One is the shopkeeper downstairs. One is the kind of local priest or rabbi or imam. And one is the my sales partners. We might underestimate how much that local shopkeeper for example, they might confidentially be the brother of the CEO of [inaudible 00:23:02]. Or the priest might have gone to school with X, Y, Z person.   Dr. Christian Busch: The point is we will never know that latent social capital, if we don't cast these hooks where we essentially in every conversation bring in those things that actually we would like to somehow, in a way, sell. So to give you one example, at the moment, one of my key purposes in life is to say, “I've seen this mindset work and I've seen it work across contexts around the world. So I want to take into any curriculum and company and training programme that I can.”   Dr. Christian Busch: And so wherever I go, being it with a shopkeeper, in a local supermarket or whatever it is, I would somehow try to seed that in. And I would be like, “Oh, thank you so much. No, this is really exciting because after writing a book, you can see how this is and da, da, da. And now it's all about how we get this.” I'd bring that into a side sentence. And the amount of times from the most unexpected of people, again, the local shopkeeper type people, would be like, “Oh my God, I watched something on TV yesterday. Have you like seen that this thing could be perfect for you?” Or, “Oh my God, my sister is actually running a local school. You should come by.”   Dr. Christian Busch: And so the point really is I think leveraging our latent social capital, even our uncle, our sister, where we don't assume that they might know someone. But just casting a couple of hooks I think leads us to many more warm introductions as well.   How to Leverage the Social Capital of Other People · [24:24]    Will Barron: Is there any technology that can help us with this? Because it seems like for the average Joe, who's going around, plodding around the shop. Obviously I'm not being derogatory toward shopkeepers here, but they're in a specific place all day, right? They are speaking to customers. Most of the traffic into the shop is going to be foot traffic going by. Maybe in hindsight, this conversation, they can influence the luck of a big spender coming into the store and buying a load of food.   Will Barron: But for sales people, they proactively are calling, emailing. They're proactively doing this outreach. So it seems like they might be slightly more in control of their own destiny than someone like a shopkeeper. Not the greatest example, but I'm sticking with it, Christian. Is there any way that we can use technology to, at minimum, track some of this and at best speed it up, leverage it, and multiply the effects of it?   Dr. Christian Busch: Yeah. Well, I'm a huge fan of trying to leverage the social capital of others. What do I mean with this? And that works both offline and online. It's the idea let's say, I don't know, it's an online event, right? Virtual event where you have this amazing speaker speaking and then there will be a Q and A session at the end. Now that's not your audience, that's their audience. But if you're the person who, in a very proactive way, asks a couple of questions in the Q and A so that nobody can ignore you, in a non [inaudible 00:25:45] way, but really asking a lot of the good questions. And then you are the one who is asked in the end to, “Hey, why don't you ask your question?”   Dr. Christian Busch: And again, same in a physical setting, right? When you're in a room of 500 people, you're the first one asking the question. And then the way you ask the question is making it all about the speaker, “Thank you so very much for this great presentation, blah, blah, blah. As someone who is looking a lot into X, Y, Z thing…” So that's where the hook is being asked. So that can be any kind of hook that wants to be put. “I wanted to ask you the question of X, Y, Z, X, Y, Z.”   Dr. Christian Busch: What's fascinating here is that it's always nice to connect with the speaker, but what's mostly important is, in an audience of 500 people, there's always two or three people who will come afterwards and say, “Oh my God, such a coincidence. We were just looking into like such a solution. Can you help me out?” And the point here is, that's really about saying, “How do I leverage the social capital of other people if I don't have it?”   Dr. Christian Busch: In a really smart, unobtrusive, unannoying way. It's not about pitching something. The moment you would pitch something at people, they would say, “Oh my God, let's get that person out of here.” But if you frame it around, making it all about the other person and then building in that small hook, it's amazing how often people latch on that and do something with. And I think technology in a way makes that scalable. Technology from our living room, we can dive into those different types of conversations in a non-pitchy way.   Dr. Christian Busch: But also second, I'm a big fan of this idea of Zoom and WebEx and so on being our own personal, private plane. When you think about it, when we are speaking now, when I think about my selling is mostly around content, right? I'm selling ideas. And so when I'm selling ideas, usually I have to fly to Tokyo to give a speech, and then I have to fly back. And that costs me one-and-a-half days, right? To go through customs and everything else. Now within 30 minutes, I'm there and that's okay and so on.   “Technology is just a tool. And I think with any given tool, it's the way we interact with people. Do we interact with them in a way that's truly meaningful and cast hooks that they want to pick up? Or do we just push something on them, which rarely works.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [27:47]    Dr. Christian Busch: So to me, it's the scalability of any platform. And so that's to me less about… To me, technology is just a tool, right? But it's about what do we do with any given tool? And I think with any given tool, it's the way we interact with people. Do we interact with them in a way that's truly meaningful and cast hooks that they want to pick up? Or do we just push something on them? Which rarely works.   Will Barron: For sure. You touched on tonnes of points here. I literally preach to the audience, Christian. So, 30,000 plus people will download this episode of the podcast on audio, who knows on the video side of things? We've got some episodes that have 1000 views, some that have got like 700,000 views, certain interviews now. I get the majority of the business that I sell over at salesman.org, which is the enterprise sales training that we do with our training product, which is tying into even more what you're saying of it's an online product with backed-up one-on-one training via Zoom.   Will Barron: And if I was doing this in person, well, I'd need a team of 50 people. I'd need 50 Wills and I don't think the world wants or needs that, right? It'd be carnage. The scale that we operate at for such a small team just couldn't exist if it wasn't for the fact of Zoom and the scale of the podcast. And the fact that this year, we'll be up to, in 2022, we'll have interviewed over 1000 people, 1000 experts like yourself in business and psychology. And I've had F1 drivers on here. We've had astronauts on here.   Structural Advantage and the Science of Good Luck · [29:20]    Will Barron: There's no way I'd get access to any of these people. Well, they'd see me coming a mile away and be running away before the interview even started if we were doing this in-person. But that scale is unprecedented. So let me ask you this, and I've got one final question that we'll wrap up the show with, is there a first move advantage to connecting the dots, to building luck, to becoming what seemingly is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy with some of this? Is there a first move advantage in leveraging this now before all the Zoom calls, all the content of your book, this idea of luck, the science behind connecting the dots becomes more and more mainstream, which it clearly will do over time?   Dr. Christian Busch: It's really interesting because it makes me think of two things. And it's one of those questions, in my mind it went into 20 different directions, but I'll pick two of them. And then the rest we'll discuss over a nice beer, I assume. But so the first is really around when we talk about advantage. To me, it's important to think about that obviously it's a lot about structural advantage, a lot of times you'll certainty be base level, right?   Dr. Christian Busch: So when I look at an entrepreneur somewhere in Kenya, the starting level in terms of potential certainly is very different from someone like me who can set up businesses because I have good networks and things like that. And everything scales much quicker. And so the base level we're starting from is very different. But then in any context, the point is that we can do something. And I've seen that in different context work out.   “There's so much adjacent possibility that at any given point there's something possible, but it’s lost potential by us not having thought of it.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [30:53]    Dr. Christian Busch: And so the mindset has to go hand-in-hand with working on structural constraints, working with governments and others on also making sure that other people, the social inequalities is being reduced. I think that's an important point. But to your point, the way I really look at it is that there's so much adjacent possibility that at any given point, there's something possible because of the potentiality of us not having thought of it.   Dr. Christian Busch: Because if you think about it, let me give you an example. I'm a big fan of the potato washing machine. And the potato washing machine is essentially a couple of years ago, a company, they produce refrigerators and washing machine and they receive calls from farmers. And the farmers told them, “Your crappy washing machine is always breaking down.” “Well, why is the washing machine breaking down?”   Dr. Christian Busch: “Well, we're trying to wash our potatoes in it, and it doesn't seem to work.” And so what would we usually do? We would probably try to educate the customer. We'll probably say, “Well, that's a washing machine. Don't wash your potatoes in it. It's not made for that. Our marketing plan says that we are selling those machines for clothes.” Now they did the opposite, they said, “That is unexpected, but there's probably a lot of farmers in the world who might have a problem in that department too. So why don't we build in a dirt filter and make it a potato washing machine?”   Dr. Christian Busch: Why am I telling you this? Because at the end of the day, there's unlimited potential for how we think about innovation and inventions offline and online. And I think it's great that we can now do that in a scalable way to your point via technology. But I think we can do it in any moment, in any meeting, at any interaction. And that's why I'm so excited about that. I think you can at any point in your particular field, be a first mover in thinking about what is the adjacent possible here that we can do around? And then cast those hooks to make it happen.   How to Spot Bad Luck and Stop it Before it Actually Happens · [32:21]    Will Barron: Love it. Okay. This is the final question for you, Christian. And this might be a whole different podcast episode or a whole conversation, eight pints in, three shots, and a sambuca in a pub in London. Is the inverse of everything that we discussed true in that, every now and again, we're all going to be struck with bad luck, a bad serendipity, dots that have connected that we don't want to be connected? Is it possible to inverse everything that we talked about and perhaps see the dots ahead of time and avoid them, does it work that way around as well?   “Bad luck happens to everyone. I think that's just what it is, and that's unfortunately how life is. And so I think being too afraid of the bad luck that could happen will hold you back.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [32:58]    Dr. Christian Busch: I think it's a great question. It makes me think of two things. So one, bad luck happens to everyone. I think that's just what it is. And that's unfortunately how life is, right? That we all have bad luck happen. We all will be disappointed by some people where we put a lot of hope in it and so on. And so I think that's a given, that will happen. And there's probably not that many ways around it. I'm always a big fan, similar to love, if you don't embrace it and if you're trying to be too scared of it, it will never really happen. And so I think being too afraid of the bad luck that could happen will hold us back. So I think that's just a part of life.   Dr. Christian Busch: But I think the second part is to me the important one, serendipity for one might not necessarily be serendipity for someone else. So if you take someone, if you have a dictator of a country who has a lost serendipity happen, but that doesn't necessarily benefit their people, right? It might be the opposite.   Dr. Christian Busch: One of my favourite examples is this retired person driving in a car and the last pleasure of their life was smoking a little bit of weed. And so they had a bit of weed in their car. A police man had an unexpected hunch of stopping that car, stops the car, unexpectedly finds the mariajuana, which was a bigger stash than expected. Great for the policeman, becoming policeman of the month for like unexpectedly identifying [inaudible 00:34:11] thing. For the retired person, of course that's really the worst thing that could have happened to them. And so I think what happens here a lot of times is that serendipity for some person might be the opposite for the other.   Dr. Christian Busch: And then third to your points, serendipity a lot of times, because it's a process, can turn into good or bad. And vice versa, the inflexion point for serendipity a lot of times start is crises. And I think that's to me the really interesting thing also, that when you think about where a lot of serendipity comes from, it comes out of crises. Think about how you could only meet the love of your life today.   The Mindset We All Need During Crisis · [34:46]   Will Barron: Sorry to interrupt you, Christian. That that's a mindset though, right? You see it that perspective. But if you didn't have what we talked about so far on the show, and you didn't have the mindset to look for the opportunity in the crisis, if you were a pessimist, if you took no action on it, if you've got regrets on not acting upon it, you're not going to have what you've just described. Which is taking something negative and turning it positive, which I guess the whole point of the show, right?   “In every moment, every crisis, we have the question, does this crisis and this situation define me, or do I define that situation? So, wherever you are, whatever situation you are, there's always something in there.” – Dr. Christian Busch · [35:13]    Dr. Christian Busch: That's exactly it. I think every moment, every crisis, we have the question, does this crisis and that situation define me, or do I define that situation? And I think that is the power. Victor Frankl always said it beautifully, “We can't always pick the situation we're in, but we can always pick our response to it.” He didn't never say that, but that is his spirit. I think he was misquoted a couple of times about it. But his key idea behind it was to say, wherever you are, whatever situation you are, there's always something in there.   Dr. Christian Busch: Sometimes there might be no intrinsic meaning. He was in a concentration camp, which is the toughest of situations I can imagine. And he wondered, “How can I still build meaning into that situation?” And so one thing he did, for example, was he said, “This is a situation in that intrinsically doesn't have any meaning so I will create one. So I know that I might die here. I know that there's nothing here that I can objectively do, but I can every day speak with a fellow prisoner and make them feel better about themselves. And now I have a meaning to wake up in the morning.”   Dr. Christian Busch: And by doing this, now he can look back on the time and say, “I made something meaningful with whatever situation I was dealt with.” And I think any situation I've had in my life where something really interesting happened, a lot of times came out of crisis, out of a heavy breakup as an inflexion point. And then yes, if you in the heavy breakup say, “Oh my God, my life is over.” Then life is over because nobody will just hand it to you.   Dr. Christian Busch: But if you go through and say, “Look, maybe there's someone even better out there.” And that's easier set than down, right? There's a lot of emotional components to it. I had COVID last year in a very severe way, those kind of situations you just feel, “Wow, life is over.” But then actually I think it's that reframing that can help us a lot. It's sometimes easier than other times. And I think, again, we never blame anyone for blind luck, and we can never blame anyone for the situation then because we don't know all the aspects around it.   Will Barron: Love it. We'll wrap up with that, Christian. I love the way that this show started numbers, quantifying these techniques. I'm not religious, not spiritual in the slightest about anything. But there's almost a spiritual element to this, beyond a self-help book, Tony Robbins-esque element to this as well of it's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy of what you look for, you're more likely to find. And then of course you're more likely to act on as well. I think that's really serendipitous for the audience and I think there's a tonne of value there for them in this episode. So I appreciate that, Christian.   Parting Thoughts · [37:46]    Will Barron: With that, mate, tell us more about the book, tell us what we can find it? And tell us what we can find more about you as well, sir?   Dr. Christian Busch: Yes, absolutely. And likewise, I really enjoyed that, to go on those different levels. Because I grew up in Heidelberg were Goethe and [inaudible 00:37:57] wrote a lot of their poems. And a lot of what they wrote about was about that idea of potentiality. Goethe would write about if you take someone as they could be, you make them capable of becoming who they can be. And that's always been exciting to me to say, is there something more in a situation than there is? And then that's how… It's not only a former drug dealer who's in front of you, but a potential teacher. It's not only a former [inaudible 00:38:19], but…   Dr. Christian Busch: Once you see the potentiality in a moment, it's almost like, in a very non-spiritual spiritual way actually about the betterment of society. And I think we can apply that to a lot of different areas as well. The book itself kind, it's everywhere where books are sold. It's called Connect the Dots, Penguin is publishing it. And yeah, it's on Amazon, local bookstores. And on Twitter, I'm @ChrisSerendip.   Will Barron: Amazing stuff, well I'll link to that book and everything else we've talked about in this episode over at salesman.org. Christian, I want to thank you for your time, mate. We said this before we clicked record, I love doing these episodes. There's a tonne of vibe for the audience. I get more enjoyment myself from having these conversations than I do the usual cold calling, emailing, social selling side of things. So I appreciate you coming on the show. I appreciate you sharing your insights. And thanks again for joining us on the Salesman Podcast.  

Few things are more infuriating than having a product you know is perfect for a buyer, but continually getting shut down, time and time again. “We don’t have the budget.” “We’re happy with what we have now.” “I don’t see the value in what you’re offering.” These are sales objections. And they are usually the biggest hurdle to you closing the sale. But when addressed the right way, they can build rapport, provide valuable buyer insights, and (of course) lead to a serious sales win. In this guide, we’re going to cover the most effective method I’ve found for objection handling. Once you’ve engrained this simple framework into your processes, you’ll be turning doomed deals into sign-on successes in no time. Plus, we’re also going to look at some of the most common sales objections you’re likely to face and how to respond to them using the framework. Sound good? Then let’s go. What Is Objection Handling?  We’ve all been hit with the “no” bomb when talking with a prospect. Unfortunately, in our industry, it’s inevitable. There will always be prospect's concerns that need to be overcome. But getting a negative response doesn’t necessarily mean the deal’s dead in the water. Buyers are people. And when people are unsure about making a change (e.g., buying your product), they’ll throw out excuses for not doing it. In the sales world, these are called sales objections. Now, some of the excuses given to sales reps are legitimate, to be sure. Others are just knee-jerk reactions. But no matter what type of excuse you’re dealing with, you can, in fact, handle sales objections in a way that still leads to closing the deal. Objection handling, then, is how you address those sales objections to continue to move the buyer through the sales process. Again, it’s all about understanding their concern (whether legitimate or not), addressing it, and easing their mind. Only then will they be ready to buy. Why Do I Need to Master It? Objection handling is a challenge to be sure. HubSpot found 42% and 35% of salespeople think addressing objections involving urgency and price, respectively, were the top challenges they face. Plus, there are some profound benefits to better sales objection handling. Benefits like: Need It to Close – The most obvious benefit, of course, addressing sales objections gives buyers peace of mind. It helps them better understand why your product is suitable for their organization. And that means you’re one step closer to “yes.” Provides Buyer Insights – Sales objections are a window into the mind of your buyer. What issues are they concerned about? What’s most important to them? These details help clue you into what points to focus on during your pitch to maximize your closing success. Demonstrates Your Knowledge – People want to buy from someone who knows what they’re talking about. If you’re scrambling to come up with an answer to an objection, you’re tanking the deal. But someone who effortlessly and effectively moves through the objection handling process is going to look like an expert. Builds Serious Trust – When you address your buyer’s objections, you’re proving you take them seriously. You aren’t just some smarmy salesperson only looking to close. Instead, you want to truly solve their problems. And that means more loyal, enthusiastic buyers for you. The Objection Handling Process: 3 Steps to “Yes” Now that we have a better idea of what successful objection handling does for us, let’s take a look at how to do it right using the framework. This framework consists of three steps with two different options for the last step (more on that later) for overcoming common objections: (Really) Listen to the Issue Repeat the Issue Back Clearly (Option 1) Solve the Issue Confirm the Issue Is Solved OR (Option 2) Move Past the Issue Now, let’s jump into the details. Note: When it comes to the objection handling process, the best offense is typically defense (i.e., buyers not having negative sales objections or knee-jerk objections like “I don’t have time for this, just email me”).  The best way to prevent negative sales objections from happening in the first place is by asking confident, assertive questions that prove you’re someone to be trusted. That’s the best foundation to build on using this framework.  I cover how to ask these questions in my Selling Made Simple Academy. But in the end, knowing how to do so means fewer negative sales objections and objections you can solve to actually enhance the outcome of the sale.  1) (Really) Listen to the Issue People like to be heard. That is no different when you're overcoming objections. And knowing you’re really truly being listened to is vital when it comes to addressing sales objections. That’s why the first step of The Objection Handling Framework is to listen closely to the buyer when they’re describing their sales objection. Half listening just won’t cut it here. I don’t care if you think you’ve heard this sales objection 50 times already this week. I don’t care if you’re put-my-life-on-it certain you know what they’re saying after the first few words leave their mouth. And I especially don’t care how much experience you have in the business. Instead, you need to stop yourself and really listen. Listen to the nuance of what the buyer is telling you is holding them back from closing the sale. And most importantly, shut the hell up. Don’t interrupt them with your answer. And give a slight pause after they’ve posed their objection so they know it’s actually sinking in. Only then can you move on to step number two. Active Listening Is Key Active Listening [ak-tiv lis–uhning]; noun: Making a conscious effort to not just hear but really concentrate on listening to what the buyer is saying.     I cannot overstate the value of investing all the time and energy it takes into developing your active listening skills. Most salespeople are natural-born talkers. It may be why you got into the business in the first place. But talking too much is detrimental to sales success. To put a number on things, the sales intelligence platform Gong found the average B2B sales rep spends about 53% of calls talking. For reps in the bottom 20% of performers, that number was closer to 68%. However, top closer spent just 42% of the time talking, leaving a whopping 58% of the talking to the buyer. Active listening comes with plenty of benefits. Benefits like: Not missing critical information Avoiding misunderstandings Having a better idea of the core problem (not always stated outright) Showing you care about what the buyer has to say Improving relationships Qualifying leads Next time you run into a sales objection, be sure you consciously engage in active listening. It’s the foundation the rest of this framework is built upon. 2) Repeat the Issue Back Clearly Now that you’ve put effort into really and genuinely listening to what the buyer is saying, it’s time to move on to the next step of these objection handling techniques—repeating the issue back to the buyer. It looks as simple as this: Buyer – “I’m not sure if you can do it in the color I want.” Seller – “So you’re unsure if we can provide you with the correct color?” Buyer – “Yes, can you show me the colors you offer, and we’ll see if you have a green?” It looks pointless, I know. But in reality, there are several reasons why this step is so essential: It avoids any misunderstandings you may have made on your part. It shows the buyer you’re listening. It’s an effective way to deal with knee-jerk sales objections. The first two points are pretty obvious. So let’s take a closer look at the third point. Often the buyer will have dealt with so many salespeople over their careers that they will have a bunch of automatic responses (knee-jerk objections) that they give to salespeople to get them out of their hair. We need to get the buyer’s attention to break these objections. We’ll do this with a pattern interrupt as we repeat back the buyer’s question. The Value of Pattern Interrupts All we’re doing with a pattern interrupt is making the buyer think for a split second and then repeating their objection back to them so they can confirm if it’s a real objection or not. Often, when you use a pattern interrupt as you repeat back the objection, the buyer will think about the objection they brought up and actually dismiss it themselves. Let me give you an example: Objection – “I don’t have the budget.” Pattern Interrupt – “Ah, so you’ve worked with us before, and you know our pricing?” Here the buyer is trying to use budget as an excuse. But unless you’ve just explicitly told them the pricing, how the heck do they know you’re out of budget? Here’s another example: Objection – “I’m not interested.” Pattern Interrupt – “Ah, that’s why we should talk. It sounds like your current supplier must be a pain to work with, and you’re trying to avoid more of that pain by cutting this call short.” We’re doing two things here. First, we’re avoiding those usual phrases salespeople typically use (“reaching out,” “checking in,” “I just wanted to,” etc.). If you use the same language as everyone else, you’re going to be ignored like everyone else. Second, I’m also proactively saying the opposite of what other salespeople do, too. For example, if a buyer gives you the objection “email me the details,” instead of ending the conversation and agreeing to their demand, you’ll use a pattern interrupt of “sure, do you know the details that you want me to send over”? Pattern interrupts snap buyers out of those automatic responses and makes them receptive to the rest of what you have to say. Pattern Interrupt + Repeat the Issue After the pattern interrupt, the last part of this step of the objection handling framework is repeating the objection. This happens in the same breath as the pattern interrupts itself. For example: Objection – “I don’t want to be locked into a contract.” Pattern Interrupt / Repeat It Back – “Ah, 100-year contracts are insane. Are long contracts the real hold up here?” Or another example: Objection – “I’m happy with [competitor].” Pattern Interrupt / Repeat It Back – “If they did everything they promised I’d be thrilled with [competitor] too. They’re probably awesome! Is your love for [competitor] the only thing stopping us from booking a meeting?” See how we’re getting the buyer to confirm that this objection is worth holding up the entire sales process for? At this point, something remarkable happens. We get one of two responses. Either the buyer confirms that this is a true objection that we need to resolve before we can move forward, or they’ll be happy for us to just move swiftly past it. 3) (Option 1) Solve the Issue Listening and repeating the sales objection back to the buyer has hopefully clarified whether this is an actual problem or a knee-jerk objection. People don’t buy when they have genuine concerns. And they sure as hell don’t buy when those concerns go unaddressed. If it turns out the issue is accurate, then it’s up to you to solve it. Now, “issue” might be a strong word here. Because, when a buyer offers up a legitimate sales objection, it means two great things for you: It allows you to demonstrate expertise and earn buyer trust. It indicates an authentic and strong buying signal (after all, a buyer won’t go through all the steps of an objection if they weren’t seriously considering your product). So with that knowledge in tow, it’s time to buckle in and simply solve the issue they’re worried about. If it’s an issue of price, get to talking numbers. If it’s functionality, hit some of the core features. If it’s implementation, talk about your extensive onboarding program. You should be able to hit each objection the buyer has with a clear, effective response that solves those woes. It also helps to prepare for objections beforehand (time to break out the flashcards?). Confirm the Issue Is Solved A short—but entirely necessary—sub-step here. Once you’ve addressed the issue, it’s up to you to confirm that you’ve satisfied the buyer’s concerns. This involves confirming your prospect: Heard your answer Understood your answer Accepted your answer If you don’t complete this step, the buyer will likely bring the same objection up over and over in different forms. Finally, they have to say “yes, that makes sense” out loud. Otherwise, their brain just won’t register that this objection is solved. This doesn’t have to be aggressive or complex either. Just ask, “Did this answer your concern [name]?” If you’ve solved the objection, move forward in the sales process. If you haven’t, ask, “What else is unresolved that I can explain?” Keep going deeper and deeper until the buyer publicly and verbally admits that their objection has now been solved. 3) (Option 2) Move Past the Issue If, after repeating the issue, the buyer admits the sales objection they raised wasn’t important, it’s time to move past the issue. To be honest, not all issues are worth debating. And if you’re confronted with a knee-jerk problem that’s not really important, you can often move straight past these issues during your objection handling process. I know this might feel sneaky the first few times you do it. But if the buyer has thrown out the sales objection unconsciously, they probably barely know the excuse they gave you. If when you repeat the objection back to them, they look at you blankly or don’t give an immediate response, just say this: “That makes sense. Let’s come back to that in a minute. We also do…” And then carry on through the selling conversation. Unless the buyer actively brings you back to the objection, you can likely never discuss it again. Because remember, it wasn’t of any fundamental importance to the buyer. You’re going to find that, once you learn to recognize them, around 50% of the objections that you get day-to-day can be skipped over just like this. Common Sales Objections & Responses As I mentioned earlier, it pays to study common sales objections for your product and come to calls with your responses ready. Now, you may be wondering, “How am I supposed to know exactly what kinds of sales objections the buyer will have? Aren’t all buyers different?” And that’s true; there are plenty of variations out there. But in general, you can boil down nearly all sales objections into one of four categories: Budget Value Urgency Trust I’ve written extensively about the most common sales objections before. But for now, let’s take a look at some of the best sales objection handling examples and objection handling scripts to help you overcome buyer concerns. “The price is too high.” Objection Type: Budget Ah, the pricing objection… This is most likely going to be the most common objection you’ll face. Business is money. And money is essential. This one really really test your objection handling skills. Responses Compare the cost of not solving the issue to the price of your product. “How much is [the problem you solve] costing you each month?” [Follow-Up] You said this problem costs your business about [$X] per month, but our service is just [$Y] per month, leading to savings of [$X – $Y] per month.”  Use price ranges to qualify leads and keep the conversation going. “Our price is within the [$ range] range per month. Where in that range could you see yourself investing in solving [the problem]. “We’re happy with your competitor.” Objection Type: Value This is the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality at play. Change can be tough. And most people are naturally resistant towards it. However, that doesn’t mean putting effort into that change isn’t worth it. Sometimes all the buyer needs is to take a minute or two to learn about your product. Response Give a light nudge for the buyer to compare options by offering a free trial or demo.  “I completely understand where you’re coming from. Many businesses are constantly looking at other potential solutions to their problems; even it is just to compare with what they have now. Who knows, we may be a better match. How would you feel about attending a product demo to see how we compare? “This is not a priority for us right now.” Objection Type: Urgency This is tricky because it’s a sign of a blow-off, it’s truly not on their to-do list right now, or they don’t fully understand the value. As a result, there are a few ways you can handle this one. Response Narrow down the real reason behind the objection. “If money and resources were no object, would you be willing to start with our product today?” [If no, there’s no hope. If yes, then dig deeper to discover the real objections.] Ask them straight up. “When would be a good time to buy?” “What are your company’s other priorities right now?” Take time out of the picture. “If I call you back next quarter, what circumstances will have changed?” “I’ve never heard of your company.” Objection Type: Trust This type of sales objection indicates a lack of trust. But don’t abandon the call just yet, no matter how embarrassing it might be. Instead, take this objection as an opportunity to give them a bit more information about the value you offer. Response Ask if it’s okay to give them a quick elevator pitch highlighting your organization’s authority.  “No problem! Lots of our loyal customers hadn’t heard of us before they signed up. Does it make sense for me to explain the value that we can bring to your business?” “Email me more info and I’ll get back to you.” Objection Type: Urgency This is often a blow-off move. In most cases, the buyer is just looking to get rid of you. But that in no way means the conversation has to be over. Instead, use a pattern interrupt to keep the conversation going. Response Keep the conversation moving forward with a pattern interrupt. “I can do that. What particular details are you interested in learning more about?” [You can then give the buyer more insight into the details they list right over the phone. This keeps the buyer engaged and opens the door for more opportunities to further the sale.] “This won’t work for us.” Objection Type: Budget, Need, Urgency, or Trust A jack of all trades with this one! This sales objection is a smokescreen. And on its own, it isn’t telling you anything about the situation. Your goal here is to eke out exactly why your product won’t work for the buyer. Response Get more information and address the new sales objections one by one.  “Can you elaborate on why you don’t think this will be a fit?” [They’ll likely respond with some variation of the four sales objections discussed above. From there, just use the appropriate response and follow the framework.] Wrapping Up At first blush, a sales objection can seem like a dealbreaker. From price point ultimatums to savvily sly brush-offs, running into these pesky problems can leave you wondering, “where’d I go wrong?” But when you’re a pro at objection handling, you can turn these dire situations around completely. The sales objection process can even make closing the deal more likely. You just have to know what you’re doing. And with this time-tested objection handling framework, you can do precisely that. Just: (Really) Listen to the Issue Repeat the Issue Back Clearly (Option 1) Solve the Issue Confirm the Issue Is Solved OR (Option 2) Move Past the Issue Using these objection handling techniques, you can demonstrate your knowledge, bolster your authority, and build some serious trust with your buyers. And in the end, that means you’ll be closing more deals, earning more loyal clients, and building a more prosperous, lucrative career for yourself.

In this short podcast episode I explain what we did right and wrong in 2021. Then we get into what we've got in store across 2022 as we look to expand our sales training platform.

It's happening again. Your prospect is postponing the deal. However, they seemed interested during the demo and were enthusiastic about your product, so why don't they sign the contract? Closing deals is one of the more nerve-wracking aspects of being a sales professional. There's always a chance your deal won't pan out. Anything can go wrong. However, staying silent isn't an option. You need to ask for the sale. Wrap up your closing process by asking closing questions and statements that make the deal final. Before Sales Closing Lines and Questions Come Transition Statements Your closing question or sentence goes beyond words. Your body language, tone, voice, and the quality of your offering also come into play. Most sales professionals forego these transition statements and their prospects feel like they're getting beaten over the head with an aggresive close. But instead of going headfirst into the closing conversation, you should use a sales transition statement that sets the stage for your close. Here are my top eight sales transition statements: “Let's reiterate what you've told me so far.” (Recap your prospect's pain points, budget, and ideal timeframe for purchase. Then position your product as the perfect solution to their problems.) “Let's go over the details. “ “I don't want your company to lose (negative consequence) simply because they didn't have the right solution and place. Do you want to take immediate steps to stop this from happening?” “Based on our conversation, it seems like (your product) is a good fit for (prospect's company). What do you think? “Are you ready to move forward? I can send over the contract right away. “ “And if we implement by (date), I think you can start seeing ROI by (date). This means we need to close sales by (date). Is that enough time for you to make a decision?” “So what happens next? “ “Based on your requirements and preferences, I think these two products would be an excellent fit for (prospect's company). Would you like to go with (Product X) or (Product Y)? Notice how none of the statements are aggressive and make the prospect uncomfortable. Use any of the above statements to transition your conversation to a closing conversation without sounding salesy. These statements set you up in a position of a trusted advisor and must come before any closing scripts. Now that you know how to set the stage, let's discuss some of my favorite actionable closing questions and closing statements. 8 Best Sales Closing Questions and Statements to Close More Deals If you've ever wondered what questions to ask when closing a sale, here are a few tried-and-tested ones to ease the tension and maintain the flow of your sales interaction. 1) “Does it make sense to… “ If you've been following my Salesman.org podcast or blog, you may already know about my simple two-step closing technique. If you haven't, here's what you need to do: ask the prospect “Does it make sense to (next step).” For instance, “Does it make sense to sign you up into our system and get the implementation started?” Or “Does it make sense to sign the contract right now? ” Get it? The prospect will want to coach you here and tell you what you need to do next to get the deal done. You can learn more about the technique here. 2) “So, you like the product, what it can do for your company, and you (hopefully) like me—all that's left is to make it official.” This can be a perfect closing phrase to use if you share a strong rapport with your prospect. It's confident and polite with a touch of humor, but more importantly, it reinforces the prospect that your product will make their life easier. What reason is there for them not to buy your solution? That said, this statement may not work if your prospect has previously objected to any part of your sales pitch. You risk coming off as arrogant if you claim your prospect likes your product just after they express any doubts. 3) “Would you like my help with (prospect's problem)? “ If the above sounds too much for you, simply ask the prospect if they want your help and if they want you to be the one that solves their problem. This way, you can state your intention to them and uncover any potential doubts and concerns the prospect may have about you and your company. You also prove to the prospect your end goal is to help them, helping you win their trust and, therefore, close more deals. 4) “If you are ready to sign the contract, we can… “ One of the main reasons this closing statement works is that it tells the prospect exactly how they can benefit by implementing your solution. You can also introduce a conditional clause to further reinforce the actual value of your product, which is the ultimate positive consequence of those benefits (Increase productivity, saving time, lowering overheads). 5) “Is there any reason, if we gave you the product at this price, you wouldn't do business with our company? “ This right here is the ultimate soft-close sales closing question. Geoffrey James advises sales reps to use this closing question when trying to close deals as it ensures the sales conversion between you and the prospect keeps going. If the prospect answers ‘No, ‘you've still got them to agree to the contract indirectly. If the answer is ‘Yes, ‘you can address their objections without blowing off the deal. Clever, right? 6) “Unless you have any more questions or concerns, I think you're ready to get started.” This statement leaves the door open for your prospect to get more information while giving them that push to sign on the dotted line. If you've done an excellent job at communicating your product or service's value, as well as resolving all sales objections and doubts, throughout the sales process, the prospect will give you the final go-ahead. 7) “If I were to send over the contract today, would you be confident signing? “ This is kinda risky since you put yourself in the position to hear the dreaded “Yes, but…”. ‘Buts' aren't good. They're an objection. But they are also questions that you can understand and solve, improving your chances of securing the deal. This closing question can make the prospect realize they don't have any further objections or concerns and are ready to buy. Plus, it'll tell you exactly where you stand with your prospect. 8) “Our product will help you (benefit) by/in (specific number/date). The sooner we get it done, the more you'll get out of it, so let's get started. “ Your prospect is only interested in results, so it makes sense your closing statement should reinforce exactly that—results from your offering. However, you have to identify some value adds for your prospect for this to work. This can be money or time—or anything else—that makes the prospect see the worth of investing. Then, encourage them to take action and improve the outcome of the investment by creating a sense of urgency. The next time you feel your prospect is putting the deal on hold, remember there's (almost) always a question or statement to a close.   Want more closing tips that work? Sign up with our Selling Made Simple Academy and become a better sales professional—or get your money back.

“Sell me this pen, “says the interviewer. Sitting for your sales job interview, the question isn't unexpected. You knew the interview was likely to ask it, but the question is how to tackle it in a way that gets you the job. What's the right approach? “It's a matter of supply and demand” was The Wolf of the Wall Street sell me this pen answer. It's clever, but not perfect. In fact, the real-life Jordan Bellfort (you know, the person on whose life the movie is based off) had a very different answer: “The real answer is, before I'm even going to sell a pen to anybody, I need to know about the person, I want to know what their needs are, what kind of pens do they use, do they use a pen? How often do they use a pen? Do they like to use a pen formally, to sign things, or use it in their everyday life? The first idea is that when you say ‘Sell me this pen,' I want to hear [the salesman] ask me a question. ” So how do you effectively answer a “sell me something”interview question? If you have to answer questions, what kind of questions should you ask? Do you talk about its features? What can you do to make the sale? This Salesman.org guide will cover all the details. How to Tackle the Sell Me This Pen Interview Question The thing is, the statement “sell me this pen” doesn't mean “sell me this pen.” Shocked? Most sales professionals are. Let me explain. Sell me this pen is a ‘blanket term' statement. In addition to the obvious, the interviewer also means: Can you identify the right person for the product? Do you know how to understand your client's needs? Do you have basic sales skills like relationship building? Can you establish urgency? How can you close sales effectively? You have to show the interviewer you have all these skills and will make an asset to the company. And the best way to do this is just as Bellfort suggests: asking (relevant) questions. Very few salespeople understand this going into the interview. The best salespeople do their research though and are prepared for when the sell me this pen question comes up. Sales questions help you establish your credibility as a sales professional. For instance, asking what kind of pens the interviewer likes and for what purpose does the interviewer uses the pens can prove you have an essential sales skill—empathy. On the other hand, if you start blabbering about the pen's features, sometimes even lying about it, you show the interviewer that you're a liar. Knowing how long the interviewer has wanted the pen is a good start, but they might just answer they don't want a pen just to watch you squirm. In this case, you'll have to do a quick qualifying session and establish their needs before aiming for a close. To help you hold strong sales conversations with your interviewer, the next section will cover a few sales discussion examples. How to Answer Sell Me This Pen Interview Question Let's examine potential discussions you can have with your interview to showcase your selling skills. 1) To Qualify a Lead Interviewer: Sell me this pen. You: How long have you wanted to buy a pen? Interviewer: I don't want to. You: Okay, but do you ever buy pens? Interviewer: We have an admin to handle that. You: Awesome! What do you think is more important to her: cost or quality? Interviewer: Not sure. You: I'd love to talk to her to learn more. In the past, I have helped my clients save over 20-30% on pens, depending on their quality range. Does it make sense to set up a call? 2) To Establish Need Interviewer: Sell me this pen. You: How long have you wanted to buy a pen? Interviewer: Just a few hours ago. You: Do you use pens for daily tasks? Or do you only use them during important business deals? Would you say you borrow a pen a lot? 3) To Learn About a Prospect's Time and Timeline Interviewer: Sell me this pen. You: How long have you wanted to buy a pen? Interviewer: Mine just ran out of ink. You: That's sad. Would you mind if I leave this bed with you? If you don't like it, I will come back in five days and you won't have to pay a cent. 4) To Identify the Interviewer's Specific Needs Interviewer: Sell me this pen. You: Do you need a pen? Interviewer: Yes. You: Do you want a ballpoint pen or a gel pen? Also, which ink color do you prefer: blue, red, or black? 5) Closing The Deal While your discussion can take any direction, it'll likely be similar to the above examples. After showing the interviewer you can qualify customers and identify their needs, your job is to make them see you can also do the most critical job of selling: closing the deal. Let me explain using one of the examples we covered above. Interviewer: Sell me this pen. You: How long have you wanted to buy a pen? Interviewer: Just a few hours ago. You: Do you use pens for daily tasks? Or do you only use them during important business deals? Would you say you borrow a pen a lot? Interviewer: We use it for everyday tasks and often borrow pens. You: I think this pen's a great fit for you as it's created for everyday use. It's a plain blue ink ballpoint that lasts longer and doesn't bleed, making it great for note-taking and document signing. Should I put you down for three boxes? Or you can do something like this: Interviewer: Sell me this pen. You: Do you need a pen? Interviewer: Yes. You: Do you want a ballpoint pen or a gel pen? Also, which ink color do you prefer: blue, red, or black? Interviewer: I want a blue gel pen. You: Looks like this pen here is just what you need. It's a blue gel pen that feels comfortable in hands and is perfect for signing contracts or jotting down notes. Should I consider this a done deal? A job interview for sales isn't just about being clever and confident—you'll also need to prove your abilities as a salesman. By asking sales questions, you can show (and confirm) your sales knowledge and skills to the interviewer more effectively, improving your chances of landing the job. Alternative Approaches: When Your Interviewer Is Looking for a ‘Wow' Moment Some interviewers are simply looking for a wow moment—a straightforward answer that knocks their socks off. In this case, asking sales questions may not cut it. It's likely they saw The Wolf of the Wall Street and thought the question sounded cool. Naturally, you'll have to change your tactic if that's the case. Here's what you can do: A) Make a Sales Pitch That Focuses on How the Pen Meets Customer Needs “Have you suffered a loss because you forgot important tasks you didn't write down on your to-do list? Have you ever had to sign a contract or write a cheque but didn't have the tools to do so? Allow me to introduce this pen that will help you write down critical tasks in a jiffy. Its ink is reliable and long-lasting and comes in an easily portable and modern pen design to give you the perfect grip. Write at all hours of the day seven days a week without worrying about hand pain…” You get the drift. Pitch the pen to the interviewer, highlighting its key features and benefits in an impactful manner. B) Have an Interactive and Actionable Approach I've read about many people's take on the ‘sell me this pen' question. Here's my favorite: An applicant took out a check from his pocket and wrote a $250 check. However, he kept the name blank. He handed the check to the interviewer saying, “Wouldn't it be great if you had a pen right now? ” A wow moment right there, guys! More Sales Interview Tips and Tricks to Impress Your Interviewer Below are some additional tips to help you answer and sell me the pen more confidently. Let's take a quick look. Don't get flustered when addressing counters from your interviewer. Keep your cool and focus on addressing the concerns. Always put up a confident front, even if you don't have an answer in hand. Work your way through your answer while maintaining eye contact and speaking clearly. Your main purpose is to prove to the interviewer they need the pen. So don't be afraid to ask questions and dig deeper. Call attention to the pen's benefits and features—whatever you think can help it sell. The idea is to create a distinct value proposition in the interviewer's eyes. Always end your conversation on a strong note to leave a lasting impression. Avoid weak statements like, “So, um, yeah. That's how I'd do it. “ Maintain a persuasive, confident, and fun body language and tone of voice—all the while focusing your conversation on how the pen addresses the client's needs. Want more fantastic selling tips? Get started here and empower yourself to boost morale and land better sales jobs.

Learn how to effectively describe your sales experience in a job interview. Discover tips for answering the question even if you lack relevant sales experience, and explore options like sales training courses and reading sales books to overcome this obstacle. Gain insights and tips for securing your dream sales role.

Another month's gone by. Despite all the cold emails you've sent, the phone still isn't ringing. And now, you're left scrambling to make your quota. Something's got to change, and you know it. It's a story all too familiar to sales reps. But, unfortunately, the same ol' tactics just aren't working anymore. And though you've avoided the technique for years, it's finally time for… Cold calling. Yes, that dreaded two-word phrase that brings a chill to sales rep spines worldwide. The topic came up in my recent interview with Jason Bay of Blissful Prospecting: “Cold calling and objection handling are usually the two biggest fears that I hear when we work with sales teams and individual reps.”  But cold calling doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be intimidating. And it doesn't have to leave you feeling like a sleazy, manipulative conman. This guide shows how to make cold calling your go-to method for prospecting. Inside, you'll learn expert cold calling tips, proven cold calling scripts, and a 5-point framework to take all the guesswork (and hassle) out of cold calling. What Is Cold Calling? First and foremost, let's settle on a cold-calling definition. What Is Cold Calling? “Cold calling is the act of reaching out to potential buyers that have not previously interacted with a sales rep.”  Cold calling usually refers to solicitation by phone. But it may also refer to in-person sales visits. What Is Cold Calling NOT? “Cold calling is not reaching out to contacts you met at trade shows. It is not contacting a lead that expressed interest on your website. And it is not following up with a referral that asked you to get in touch. This is what's known as “warm calling.” By its very nature, cold calling has a lower success rate than warm calling. After all, cold calling recipients haven't expressed any prior interest in what you're selling. Those on the other end of warm calls have. It's no wonder why so many sales reps avoid cold calling—it's tough to get a “yes.” In fact, a study from the Harvard Business Review found that 48% of B2B salespeople—nearly half—are afraid of cold calling. So, with all that fear and anxiety baked into this sales technique for many reps, the question is why do it at all? Why Cold Call? Simple. Despite it all, cold calling provides a valuable opportunity to bring in new clients that other sales techniques can't offer. Here's why. Quick Connection – Hopping on a call is the best way to make an immediate connection and start with a sales pitch. Email is static. Sure, you're delivering your message. But buyers have time to mull it over, make excuses for not responding, and forget about it entirely. When you're on the phone, you have much more direct influence over whether they set up a sales meeting or not. Develops Sales Cadence – Successful cold calls are an integral step to setting up a strategic and effective sales cadence. The best sales cadences use a variety of outreach methods when contacting prospects. The more mediums you use to stay in contact with the buyer, the more you stay top of mind—boosting your chances of a callback. Opens the Door to Chatters – Finally, adding cold calling to your sales technique repertoire brings in a swathe of potential buyers. Buyers that may have otherwise been out of reach. HubSpot reports that 57% of C-level buyers actually prefer to be contacted via phone. And if you aren't cold calling, you could be missing out on a valuable opportunity to bring in more sales. Getting Started: Perfecting Your Mental Game Before you even start dialing, you need to get in the right headspace. Prospects can tell when you're uncomfortable. And they don't want to waste their precious time chatting with someone who isn't offering any value. That's why you have to get comfortable playing two roles when cold calling: The Entertainer and The Expert. Some cold callers do this naturally. Other people on the same sales team will have to practice this new state. Role 1: The Entertainer Your task of rapport building begins the instant your prospect picks up the phone. The sooner you can capture their attention, the more likely they'll be to keep on listening. In fact, Gong found that low-performing salespeople built rapport by around 40% through the call. For top performers, it was about 20% (the earlier, the better). You need to come across as someone the buyer genuinely wants to speak to. Only then can you show them how you can add value to their lives. Your sales conversation need to be tight, fun and snappy. Role 2: The Expert While charisma can open up the door, not knowing what you're talking about will slam it shut. You need to come off as an expert—someone who knows what the hell they're talking about. But, do you understand your buyer's industry? Their most significant pain points? Your competition? And, of course, your product? If you don't come across as an expert, the prospect might as well hang up the phone and Google their problem rather than speak to you. How to Play Both Roles The problem, however, is that cold calling gives you so little time to flex your charm muscles. To demonstrate your deep, deep knowledge of the industry. So how are you supposed to play The Entertainer and The Expert in a call that only lasts a few minutes? By displaying these key four traits: Assertive – You don't wait for things to “just happen.” And you're happy to ask appropriate but tough questions because you know that that's the only way to get to the heart of the problem and deliver the most value possible. Extroverted – You don't shy away from a conversation. You're energized by interacting with others. You do find your buyers interesting. And as a result, you build rapport quickly and maintain contacts for years. Optimistic – No one likes hearing a pitch from a sad sack. And equally importantly, no buyer believes the product their seller is so unenthusiastic about will solve their problems. You also have to exude the optimism that this call will be the next winner. The buyer on the other end can sense it if not. Confident – And of course, you need to be confident in your product, your company, and yourself. You need to be resilient in the face of rejection (which, let's face it, will happen with cold calling). And you need to know that you're good enough and a “no” isn't personal. These traits are part of the 12 SalesCode traits I cover in the Selling Made Simple Academy. And inside, you'll learn how to quickly and effectively display these traits to hook cold calling prospects more straightforward than ever. Let's Start the Show: The Bulletproof Cold Calling Framework Now that you're in the right headspace, it's time to dive into The Bulletproof Cold Calling Framework. It's composed of five simple steps: Confirm Break Value Tie-In Close This framework is simple, effective, and adaptable in any situation. Plus, it's short enough to fit into the tiny window of time you have to hook a prospect when cold calling. Let's take a closer look at what these steps entail, along with some cold-calling scripts for each. Cold Calling Tip: It's important to remember that your goal here is NOT to sell your product on this call. If you're selling anything of reasonable value, you should know that that's impossible in a single five-minute conversation.  Instead, your end goal is to set up a later sales meeting. Only then will you spend the time pitching your product and trying to close the sale. If you do try a full-on pitch during a cold call, you're likely going to fail. And fail hard.  Step 1: Confirm The first and maybe most essential step is to confirm you're speaking with the right person—the decision-maker. This may be the head of the department, the tech guy, or even the President of Marketing. It depends entirely on your industry and your product. But whoever it is, it's ideal that you're talking to the person who decides whether or not to buy. Otherwise, you'll have to sell to a gatekeeper who then has to go back and sell to their boss. And your product's actual value is bound to be diluted along the way (think of the kids game, Telephone). So immediately when someone's picked up the call, make sure you're talking to a decision-maker. Cold Calling Script:  “Hi, Will Barron from Salesman.org. Who's in charge of [X – the area of business your product will help the most. We'll use sales for these examples]?” Scenario 1: “That's me.” — Now you can move on to the next step Scenario 2: “That's Barry.” — Now we need to get in touch with Barry. “Ok thanks. Could you connect me with him? Can I tell them that you referred me?” — Move to next step with Barry. Make sure not to skip the referral aspect here. Noting a referral creates an instant boost in rapport.  Step 2: Break Now that you've confirmed you're speaking to the right person, it's time to jump into the specifics. Ask them how they're currently solving the problem that your product solves. You'll find that most people aren't 100% happy with their current solution. It can always be faster. It can always be cheaper. And it can always be more effective. Your goal here is to open up the buyer's mind to the potential of a better solution. You're breaking them out of the pattern of thinking their current solution can't be changed. Cold Calling Script:  “OK great, how are you training your sales reps right now?” “We are using [competitor].” “Got it. And how is your sales training working for you right now?” Scenario 1: “Not great. We're having a problem with [current problem].” Scenario 2: “Fine. I think we're all set, thanks.” Cold Calling Tip: When you ask how their current solution is doing now, pause and shut up. Don't say anything. They'll feel compelled to speak. And from there, you can either learn that they're looking for a better solution or force them to bring up an objection which you can touch on later.  Step 3: Value The next step is to explain the big problem you solve, your value. Again, it's important to hit this step regardless of whether they are happy or unhappy with their current solution. Be succinct here. There is no need to get into the weeds and take up more time than necessary. Just hit the most prominent problem solver and the most significant selling point you have. Cold Calling Tip: Be sure to move on to this step regardless of the objection they offer.  If they say, “We're happy with our current solution,” push through. They may be more open to new solutions than they seem. If they say, “I don't really have time for this right now,” you only have three more sentences to get through (15 seconds max).  The end goal is to get to a closing point and to ask for a meeting.  Cold Calling Script:  “We help salespeople close more sales in the next 28 days or your money back.” Step 4: Tie-In Next up, you need to tie-in that value to the prospect. How is your big solution going to help them? What kinds of benefits can they expect to see from working with you? Essentially, why should they care? Again, be quick and to the point here. Make the connection, but don't dilly dally because we need to get to the next and most crucial step. Cold Calling Script:  Scenario 1: “It seems like you're not happy with your current sales training solution. Would it make sense to see if we can solve this problem for you?” Scenario 2: “Would it make sense to see if we can turbocharge your current solution so you can train more effective sales reps more quickly?” Step 5: Close Last and certainly not least, you'll want to close the call by setting up a sales meeting. Again, the point here is to book a formal meeting, not to close the sale. That being said, it's not as if you can't still learn some valuable information from this cold call. For instance, you may get an idea of the buyer's significant concerns with their current solution. You're also likely to learn about what their current solution is. Both of these points can be exceptionally valuable when figuring out how to structure your pitch for maximum effectiveness. As best-selling sales author Jeffrey Gitomer told me in our interview: “Cold calling is a lousy place to make a sale. But it happens to be a great place to learn how to sell.” Cold Calling Script: “Ok Great, it looks like we might be able to help. Does it make sense to jump on a quick 10-minute call tomorrow to discuss?” Cold Calling Tip: Unfortunately, a “no” here is likely. Cold calling involves a lot of rejection. But there are a few things you can do to still make this a win.  First, give them your contact info and tell them if they change their mind; they're always welcome to reach out.  Second, get their contact info too. Some buyers will take longer to pique their interest. And with their email info on hand, you can continually send them educational content and turn them from “not interested” to “I'm listening…” Voicemail: What to Say & How to Say It The Bulletproof Cold Calling Framework is a fantastic way to engage prospects quickly, demonstrate value, and nudge potential buyers to set up a good, follow-up sales call. But what happens if your call goes to voicemail? This can end up being tricky. You can't play off of the buyer's answers to your questions. And you've got to get them especially interested in what you have to say so they don't hit that delete button. There are a few things you can do here to boost your callback chances. Keep it short, under 30 seconds if you can. Follow the 70/30 rule: 70% info and value, 30% personalization, and social proof. Be particularly clear with your contact details. Cold Calling Script:  “Hey Sarah, Will Barron from Salesman.org 111.222.3333 (repeat your number slower) – I'm calling because I was reading your LinkedIn profile and noticed you're [insert role detail]. I wanted to tell you about a product relevant to your work there. We have helped [X company] drive a [quantifiable outcome] in under [time frame] by [very short explanation of how your product works]. Again, Will Barron from Salesman.org 111.222.3333 (repeat your number slower), I'll follow up with a quick email.” Cold Calling Tip: I know every sales guru in the land tells you to save your name and number for the end. Do the opposite.  This is what's known as “pattern interrupt.” There are 6 MILLION AEs and 600k SDRs in tech right now. And guess what? They all save their name and number for the end. So do the opposite.  And remember to be assertive, confident, and direct. Yes, you're selling them a product. But it's a product that can help. And it's their job to help make their business better, so they should actually want to listen.  The Follow Up An essential part of the voicemail is the email follow-up. Yes, yes—you already reached out to them on the phone. And yes, your email follow-up is essentially saying the same thing you covered in the voicemail. But the point here is to hit them on a variety of mediums. A voicemail is easy to forget. And it's a snap to delete accidentally. You're making a bigger imprint on the buyer's consciousness with an added email follow-up. And you're also giving them something they can refer back to later to learn more about your product.   Cold Calling Script (for Your Follow-Up Email): Hi Sarah,  This is Will Barron from Salesman.org. I'm following up on a voicemail message I left on your machine earlier today.  I'm getting in touch because I was reading your LinkedIn profile and noticed you're [insert role detail]. I wanted to tell you about a product relevant to your work there.  We have helped [X company] drive a [quantifiable outcome] in under [time frame] by [concise explanation of how your product works].  Does it make sense for us to connect? If so, you can reach me at 111.222.3333 or shoot me a quick email.  Cheers,  Will Consistency & Persistence: Learn to Play the Numbers An essential aspect of your cold calling success is that you learn to play the numbers. Many factors go into making or breaking a sale, such as building rapport, researching prospects, playing to pain points, using a value-based sales approach, etc. But when it comes down to packing your pipeline full of leads, you must use a numbers-based approach when cold calling. How many deals do you need to close a month? How many leads do you need to pitch to in order to bring in those deals? And how many calls do you need to make a week to bring in those leads? Selling by the numbers lets you set goals and be strategic about your cold calling process. There are a few things, in particular, you can do to make your cold calling more effective. A) Track Successes & Failures When you sell by the numbers, you're not just developing clear, actionable goals. And you aren't just breaking down your quotas into bite-size pieces. You're also giving yourself the framework you need to more effectively track your successes, failures, and progress towards achieving your ultimate goal. For instance, let's say you need to close 15 more sales this month. If you're selling by the numbers, you know that means you have to make at least 80 more cold calls according to your current close rates. And with that information, you can determine how many calls you need to make each week. If you weren't selling by the numbers, you wouldn't have any idea how much you should be cold calling to hit your quota. And likelier than not, you'll only find out how far behind you are when it's much too late. B) Stick With It! On the one hand, effective cold calling is a skill that takes about 2 to 3 months to develop. That may seem like a long time right now. But when you get the process down to a science, you're going to start hitting your goals (or even exceeding them) more often than ever. Even when you do develop those skills, though, successful cold calling takes work. And it takes resilience. Michael Hanson of Growth Genie pointed out the low connect rate for cold calls in my recent interview. And that means you have to stick with the plan to start seeing results. “Typically the connect rate for a cold call, and I think this data comes from a company called ConnectAndSell who've analyzed millions of calls through their dialer, is I think on average, about 4%. So that means literally you need to call someone over 20 times to get them to pick up once.” So you must develop the resilience to stick with the plan. The best way to keep your motivation up and blow past your quotas is to use The Selling By the Numbers Framework. Wrapping Up Cold calling can be intimidating at first. And if you've been hesitant to use this sales technique till now, you're not alone in the world of sales. Plenty of reps avoid it. But when you know how to do it effectively, it can open up the door to a wealth of potential buyers. And it can connect you with leads on a level that no other sales avenue can. This framework was designed to be simple, effective, and flexible. And once you implement it into your sales processes (and put in the effort to see it through), you're bound to start seeing fantastic results.

You didn't meet your sales quota last quarter. You can't help but wonder what's broken? Your sales process? How do you fix it? What measures can you take to close more deals? Despite what you think, the issue may not be your sales pitch or salesmanship. It could be the people you're selling to—the quality of your leads. Luckily, you also have a highly effective solution to change your numbers stat: MEDDIC. Applying the MEDDIC sales process will help you understand and quantify your prospects better. It ensures you're focused on the right people in the right way, leading to more closed deals and higher revenue. But there's a catch… MEDDIC can be confusing, especially for beginners. This article will show you a step-by-step breakdown of the MEDDIC sales methodology to set you up for success and transform your selling game. What Is the MEDDIC Sales Process? MEDDIC is a B2B sales methodology designed to help sales professionals qualify better leads, which ultimately contribute to a higher closing rate and increased sales success. Using its principles, you can determine whether you should invest your time and effort in getting a customer into your sales funnel. MEDDIC is essentially an acronym that stands for: Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, and Champion. A Step-by-Step Guide To the MEDDIC Framework As per the acronym, MEDDIC has six qualification steps. First, let's review how to check off every letter in the MEDDIC sales methodology and achieve more deals. And remember that the meddic sales qualification framework is designed to disqualify prospects as well as qualify them. For most sales people, closing deals means getting rid of unqualified buyers from your sales pipeline as much as it means qualifying decision makers to stay in it. Never be afraiod to kick prospects out of your sales cycle so you can spend more time with potential prospects will will spent money with you. 1) Metrics Metrics refer to the quantifiable measures of your solution's value to your prospects. Find out what quantifiable goals your prospect hopes to achieve by implementing your solution. For example, the prospect may want to double their output or reduce 15% of their total overheads. See? Quantifiable goals. Once you know the metrics your customer cares about, you can prove how your solution will provide a good return on investment (ROI). Again, the idea here is to justify your solution from an economic standpoint. Knowing the metrics will help you justify the economic benefits of your solution from your prospect's perspective, encouraging them to go further in the sales funnel. Questions to Consider: What goals does the prospect want to achieve? How do they measure their success? How can you help them save time, boost productivity, and accelerate revenue? 2) Economic Buyer The MEDDIC methodology prioritizes making effective conversations with decision-makers, the one who has the ultimate power to make decisions and authorize spending. It's possible this person may not be the point of contact you established within the company, but they're still important as you can use their help to get in touch with the economic buyer. Finding your economic buyers is key for sale reps hoping to leverage the meddic process. Talk to the economic buyer about their expectations, personal metrics, and decision-making process. If you cannot reach out to this person directly, try to collect as much data as possible to know the economic buyer's mindset. Knowing this information will help you make the sale more palatable to the buyer—even if they aren't directly affected by it. Questions to Consider: Are you talking to the decision-maker? Is there anyone else involved in the final decision? What does success look like for them? How can you customize your sales pitch based on their viewpoint to take the sale forward? 3) Decision Criteria To take a deal towards a conclusion, you must understand your prospect's criteria when making decisions. It's likely your prospect is vetting different vendors and weighing their options based on a few critical factors—their decision criteria. Finally, they have to make a choice, and they'll choose a solution that offers them the best deal. While different companies use different criteria, a few common factors include ease of use, budget constraints, integration, and potential ROI. If a company doesn't have a formally defined decision-making process, you can ask them to put it to paper. You want to prove your solution meets all their criteria and position your products in a way that checks all their boxes. Then, show them there's no reason why they shouldn't agree to a sale. Questions to Consider: What are the driving factors behind your prospect's buying decisions? If your prospect had a wishlist for your solution, what essential factors and parameters would be on it? How can you tailor your sales pitch to highlight these criteria and justify the purchase? 4) Decision Process Decision criteria define the different factors your prospect weighs when making a decision, whereas the decision process will tell you how the decision is actually made and followed through. Your prospect's decision-making refers to the internal steps to finalize a decision. Once you understand the process, you'll know who makes the decision, what timeframes and processes they have in place to decide, and brainstorm solutions to avoid roadblocks. All this information will help you take the necessary measures to close the deal faster. For instance, if you know the economic buyer has okayed the sales decision but hasn't completed the follow-up process paperwork, you can push to get that paperwork completed and close the deal. Questions to Consider: How do they come to a final buying decision? Who do you need to talk to when finalizing decisions? Is there a formal procedure or paper process involved before approval? 5) Identify Pain You have to understand what problem your prospect is trying to solve to explain the value of your solution. Otherwise, it's impossible. Try to identify your prospect's pain points. This can be anything from high production costs to low revenue to slow production. After that, create a sales pitch explaining how your product or service can help alleviate that pain. Be as specific as possible about the customer's pain. You don't want to be vague or too abstract—it won't help you make an impression. For example, which statement do you prefer: “you're losing revenue because of slow production processes” or “you're losing $300,000 every quarter because your production process is only half as fast as it should be.” Exactly. Questions to Consider: What pain points does the prospect have? How does the pain point affect the prospect's bottom line? What are the consequences of leaving the pain point unattended? 6) Champion Find a champion in your prospect's company. This is the person on the inside who'll push for you and sway the purchasing decision in your favor. This person is likely also the most affected by the organization's pain or who stands to benefit the most from your product or service. As they want your solution, they will use their influence to sell your product or service on the inside. Your champion doesn't have to be a manager or supervisor, but they should be well-respected—someone whom other people in the company trust. Trust us, having someone with influence and respect in your corner will help you close the deal considerably faster. Questions to Consider: Who has the most to gain by your offering? Does this person have influence? Can they explain your product benefits in a way that closes the deal faster? Use MEDDIC To Take Your Sales Career Forward Scoring a sale isn't a cookie-cutter practice. Things can go wrong when you least expect it. But using MEDDIC will put you in a better position, helping you hit your sales quote and achieve your sales objectives. Want to level up your MEDDIC selling game? Add a P and an extra I to your process. Check out our article to learn more about the more advanced version of the MEDDIC sales process, MEDDPICC.