It’s an all too common phenomenon.  A fresh lead calls in and declares, “I just want a price.” These prospective customers have often conducted extensive research on their own, formed a clear idea of what they want, and are primarily seeking quotes. Reality is that buyers have changed, their expectations have changed, and this can make traditional sales approaches seem outdated and inadequate – because they often are.  Old-school sales techniques often depended on buyers who were uneducated, leaving us as the oracles of all wisdom.  It isn’t that way anymore.  Studies show that the average buyer has completed nearly 60% of his or her Buyer’s Journey before reaching out to a salesperson.

Trying to take one of these buyers and slam them into your “sales process” is a sure way to failure.  Nowadays, “sales processes” are obsolete, and the Buyer’s Journey rules all.  If you haven’t read my article explaining the five steps in the Buyer’s Journey, do it now – that will help the rest of this article make sense.  The only way to handle this type of call is to treat these informed prospects with respect; by doing so, you can still have a significant impact on influencing and persuading them.

You have to understand that, when this type of buyer calls you, their mindset is that they don’t really need you.  They have already (at least in their mind) gone through the Motivation, Investigation, and Solution steps of their Journey, and they aren’t going to be excited initially about backing up.  Look – we know that sometimes, buyers get it wrong, and what they’re asking for won’t really solve their problems.  Been there, done that.  But you absolutely MUST NOT give the impression that this is what you’re thinking; that will turn this prospect off like a faucet.  So, how do you handle it?  Here are a few steps:

1. Acknowledge and Validate Their Research:

When a prospect comes in well-informed, it’s essential to acknowledge the time and effort they’ve invested in their research. Begin the conversation by saying something like, “I appreciate the effort you’ve put into understanding your needs. It’s clear you’ve done your homework.” This not only shows respect for their knowledge but also helps build rapport by demonstrating your understanding of their situation.  What this buyer has missed out on is the experience of being heard, respected, and understood.  You have the opportunity to give them this experience, and in doing so, you’ll build rapport.

2. Ask Open-Ended Questions:

Instead of jumping straight into pricing, ask open-ended questions that encourage prospects to share more about their needs and goals. For example, “Can you tell me more about what you’re looking for in a solution?” or “What challenges are you hoping to overcome with this purchase?” These questions steer the conversation towards a deeper exploration of their needs and allow you to provide tailored solutions.  Let your buyer give you their definition of success.

3. Share Your Advantages:

Rather than listing features and pricing, focus on the advantages your product or service can provide for your buyer. Help the prospect connect the dots between their needs and how your offering can address them. Highlight real-life success stories or case studies that illustrate how you have solved similar problems for other clients.

4. Address Concerns and Objections:

You should never have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to objections.  You already know what your common objections are – and you should already have “first, best” responses to resolve them.  Be prepared to sell at a higher price than your competitors.  ALWAYS.

5. Offer Options:

Provide prospects with different options, such as various product packages or payment plans, to give them a sense of control over their decision. This approach allows them to weigh their choices more thoroughly and may reduce their fixation on price alone.  I always like a “Good/Better/Best” approach.  In fact, if you want to be more effective, present it in a “Best/Better/Good” scenario.  When you start low and add advantages and price, those advantages can seem less important than if you start at the top and take them away.  And when you do quote price, quote it forthrightly and directly.  Be proud of your price.

6. Close:

Never forget to ASK FOR THE BUSINESS.  Even if your buyer says that he or she is going to check multiple sources, ASK.  People do buy without multiple sources, even when they say they won’t.

7. Stay Connected:

Even if you don’t get an immediate sale, stay connected with these prospects. Share valuable content, industry insights, and updates to reinforce your expertise and maintain a relationship. This keeps you top-of-mind when they’re ready to make a decision.  If you have a drip marketing program, put them in it.  Lost sales now can result in wins later.

Our reality today is that the buyers are the stars of the show, and they KNOW IT.  It’s tempting to just fire off a price to this type of buyer (what we used to call the “price and puke” in the car business), or to treat their research with a certain amount of disrespect while looking for mistakes.  DON’T.  Ultimately the relationship will go to the salesperson who makes this buyer feel respected and validated.  If that’s you, the rewards will come.

Navigating the Buyer’s Journey is an essential skill for today’s salesperson.  It’s also the topic of my Webinar coming up in a few weeks, and if you haven’t registered, what are you waiting for?  It’s on November 16.  Click here and get signed up.

A few weeks ago, I read a recent article in a monthly trade magazine by a guy who is/was one of America’s most prominent sales authors.  The article was about CRM.  Specifically, it was about how he had finally seen the virtues of CRM (Customer Relationship Management app) and moved his own business off of the old spreadsheet model.  Well, golly gee whiz!  He’s selling like it’s 1999.  Look, let’s be honest.  If you don’t have a CRM system that is up, running, functional, and being used (the definition of successful CRM implementation), you are as behind the times as he is – and you’re probably getting your ass kicked by sales teams that do have one.

I’m tempted to say that “in today’s world, CRM is essential,” but that would be a lie.  Twenty years ago, CRM was essential.  Today, it’s foundational.  Product knowledge isn’t king anymore.  Customer knowledge is king.  And if you don’t have a functional CRM system, you don’t know enough about your customers.  I’m of the opinion that the reason that sales teams don’t implement and use CRM systems is that they make it too complicated.  Hence, I want to simplify CRM.

Entirely too many CRM implementations are guided by the IT department or vendor.  That’s a mistake.  IT departments love features and functionality – the more, the better.  CRM should be guided by sales and marketing, because they are the users and the ones who benefit from successful CRM implementation.  Sales and marketing tell IT what they need, and IT implements it.  Here are the four things you must have for successful CRM implementation:

1. Contact management: For me, contact management includes the “business card information” for every contact at your target companies. It incorporates demographics on their business – size, industry, etc.  It also includes data-input fields on their current method of doing whatever they do:  Who they buy from, what they buy, how often they buy, how big their potential is, and whatever other fields are vital to your business.
2. Activity management: Activity management is the recording of every interaction and “touch” with the customer.  What did you do?  When was it?  What was the result?  What important information was discovered or exchanged?  All calls, meetings, video contacts, emails, and texts should be recorded.  The good news is that the best CRM systems will interact with your email client to automatically log emails; a good mobile app will log phone calls and texts as long as you’re using your smartphone with a mobile app (more on that in a moment) to make them.  One more thing.  All CRM systems that I’ve seen include a generic “notes” function.  Don’t use it.  “Notes” are for information gleaned, and that information was discovered within an activity – a call, email exchange, or meeting.  Log all your notes within the activity that generated the note.  That gives context.
3. Opportunity management: An “opportunity” happens whenever the customer or prospect enters a Buyer’s Journey with you; i.e. there is a buying decision to be made.  A successful CRM implementation gives you the capability to log the opportunity, trace it through the sales funnel, and log the win or loss.
4. A usable mobile app: The old model was that salespeople would go out into the field, make sales calls, come back to the office, and sit down at the computer and type in their activities and notes, usually with the sales manager haranguing them about it.  That’s obsolete.  Today, a good mobile app is part and parcel of a successful CRM implementation.  That way, salespeople can have a meeting, return to their vehicle, quickly log the meeting and results while sitting in their vehicle using a few taps and talk-to-text, and get on to the next meeting.  It’s far more efficient for the salesperson, it communicates information in real time to the office, and frankly, it’s just plain smart.  If (like me) you take a lot of notes using pen and paper, snap pictures of the pages with your phone and use the app to attach those notes to the customer record.  Boom – they are forever logged.  Want to know how to make your work more efficient with a mobile app?  I have a video for that – watch it here.

Are there more ways a CRM can be useful?  Sure.  Automated workflows, email blasts, data segmenting, integration with your back-end accounting program, and other functions can be good to have – but don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good.  If you don’t have a successful CRM implementation, start with the four keys above, and you can always make your CRM more robust as time goes on.  And don’t worry about picking “the wrong one” if you’re just getting started.  You can always export data out of one system and into another.  When in doubt, start simple and work up from there.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you what I use.  I’ve used HubSpot for five years, precisely because it has the four keys above, it’s easy to use, and oh yeah, if you use the basic version, it’s free. No, I don’t get a kickback for referring people – I’m just letting you know.

Whatever you use, pick a CRM and use it.  Frankly, today’s selling is far too data-driven not to.

I hate wasted opportunities.  I bet you do too.  One of the biggest sources of wasted opportunities is slow response time to incoming leads.  I truly do not understand this – salespeople work their guts out to get new prospects, and yet when someone holds their hand up by calling, emailing, messaging, or filling out a contact form, salespeople let that lead sit there and get cold.  I’ve seen it as a coach and I’ve experienced it as a customer.

The only reason that I can fathom for this is that salespeople don’t want to appear “too anxious” to react.  It’s kind of like the old dating philosophy that “you should never call her (or him) the day after the date.”  Well, it’s dumb in dating and it’s dumb in sales.  Incoming leads are gold and they should be worked immediately.  How immediately?  Here are the numbers, according to a study by M.I.T.:

Five minutes is the ideal response time.  Yes, I said five minutes.  What that means is that a lead that is responded to with a personal phone call, not an email, within five minutes has the highest chance of being qualified, and further in turning into business.  In fact, a call placed within five minutes is four times as likely to be qualified as a call placed at ten minutes – and 21 times more successful than a call placed at 30 minutes.  If they don’t answer the phone, send a text – again, immediately.

WOW.  Why is that?  Because the moment when someone holds their hand up is the moment when they are hottest for you.  That should just make sense.  But seeing the numbers in this format is right in your face, isn’t it?  Let’s take it farther.  A lead that is responded to in the first 30 minutes is 17 times as likely to turn into business as one responded to within 24 hours.  In fact, over 20 hours, a lead response has the same percentages as an ice-cold call.

All of this should be intuitive, but let’s take a deeper dive into the psychology of why quick lead response is essential.

1. First Impressions Matter:

The old saying “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” holds especially true in the realm of sales. When a prospect contacts you, their interest and enthusiasm are often at their peak. A swift response demonstrates that you are attentive, eager, and professional. It conveys your commitment to providing exceptional customer service and sets a positive tone for the entire sales process.  In other words, your prospect figures that if you’re that quick about responding to sell them, you’re likely to be that quick about responding to service them.

2. Capture the Prospect’s Attention:

Leads are often fleeting. If you don’t engage with a potential customer promptly, there’s a high likelihood they’ll move on to a competitor who responds more quickly. Today, customers expect instant gratification, and a rapid response can help keep their attention focused on your solution.  And if you don’t respond quickly, they’ll move on to someone who will.

3. Nurture Leads and Build Relationships:

Timely responses enable you to strike while the iron is hot. By addressing a prospect’s queries or concerns promptly, you’re more likely to keep the conversation going. The more you engage with a lead, the closer you come to building a relationship, which is the foundation of successful sales. It’s in these interactions that you can demonstrate your expertise and tailor your solutions to their specific needs.  When a prospect holds his or her hand up, they are signaling that they are Motivated and are beginning their Buying Journey.  Great salespeople understand and respect this – which is a relationship builder.

4. Stay Ahead of the Competition:

In a competitive sales environment, quick responses can be a game-changer. Your competitors are just a click away, and they are ready to swoop in if you fart around. When you are the first to respond, you are the first to set the stage.  Even if they do talk to other vendors, you become the yardstick against which all other vendors are measured.

5. Avoid Lead Coldness:

Leads, like food, have a shelf life; as noted above, that shelf life is less than 24 hours, and drops off very quickly after the first 5 minutes. The longer a lead sits unattended, the colder it becomes. Cold leads are harder to convert as the prospect’s interest wanes over time. With rapid responses, you can keep leads warm and maintain their engagement.

6. Demonstrate Reliability:

A quick response time is a testament to your reliability as a business or sales professional. It reflects your commitment to customer needs and your ability to deliver on promises. In a world where trust is a valuable currency, demonstrating your reliability is crucial.  Again – quick in sales response means quick in service response.

The bottom line is this – leads are gold.  Customers today have so many options that, if they are holding their hands up and calling to you, you need to react and respond QUICKLY.  If you’re a sales manager, you should have some mechanism for rapid personal response – and remember, personal response means a phone call.  The typical “Thanks for contacting us, someone will be in touch” email is NOT enough.

Bonus info:  If you’re a sales manager, you know that hiring is getting tougher these days.  This technique works just as well in the hiring arena.  When you receive an application or resume’, you should do a quick triage, decide if you want to talk to them, and make a phone call within a few minutes if at all possible. We live in a world of instant gratification – and job applicants are no different. In my Hiring Assistance programs, I teach a four-question phone screening that can aid you in doing this.

Sometimes the hardest questions are the most common.  Here’s a scenario that is repeated every day in sales.  Skeptical Customer: “So, why should I buy from you? We’ve been buying from (company X) for years.”

Earnest Salesperson (smelling the sale): “But, we have great service!” Or, if Earnest Salesperson decides to put a little extra oomph behind it, “We have the best service in the business!” Earnest Salesperson confidently smiles at Skeptical Customer, knowing that at any moment Skeptical Customer is going to reach for his checkbook. Instead, Skeptical Customer yawns and says, “Yeah, but everybody says that. Why should I buy from you?” And another sale dies before its time, and that’s because salespeople don’t know how to build a Brand Service Promise.

It doesn’t have to be that way, but it is that way more often than salespeople would like to admit. Why do we do this to ourselves? Answer: because you – or your boss – don’t have a better idea. Want the truth? Everybody says they have the best service. When everybody says it, it’s meaningless. And yet there are businesses – lots of ’em – where service is the main differentiator between competitors. There are also buyers – again, lots of ’em – who make service the main criteria in their buying decision. Sales result when salespeople communicate “great service” to a buyer who wants to buy “great service.” Of course, to make that sale, your Brand Service Promise has to stand out from the white noise of your competitors promising “great service.” Building a Brand Service Promise that stands out from your competitors – and making it mean something – is a three step process.

To effectively build a Brand Service Promise, you must do three things: first, you must Define exactly what your great service means to the customer; you must Offer Proof of your specific service, and you must Have Consequences for failure to provide that service. Sound tough? It is – but it isn’t. Some of America’s best companies have been built on this simple philosophy.

First of all, Define your great service. Preferably, you’ll do that by offering something that your competitors don’t. Start out this way: get your key people together. Include salespeople, customer service people, department managers, and anyone else whose primary responsibility is dealing with the customer. Go around the room and ask each person to come up with one specific thing your company does to add value to its product or service offering. Then, next to each thing, write the advantage to the customers. Make this a no B.S. meeting – only list those things you really do consistently, not the things you only do on your best day when all the stars are aligned properly and the boss is in a good mood.

When you have all the ideas in the room, you have a nice feature-and-advantage list for the sales department. Now, on the board, go over each item and ask which competitors do the same thing. When two or more competitors do it, erase it. It’s good for the salespeople to know, but it’s not your “great service” offering. You should be able to come up with one or more things that make you unique, are specific, and have tangible advantages to the customer. (If not, get to work and figure out something you can do.) You have now defined your service offering.

Next, you must Offer Proof. A good way to do this is with a specific written service policy. A better way to do it is with written references from happy customers who have received quality service from you. Either way, salespeople should carry a “brag book” (which can be digital, or even on your phone) and be prepared to prove their “great service” promise.

Of course, in today’s world, your customer won’t settle for YOUR proof.  They are probably going to look up their own proof – which means that your Google reviews, for example, have to be strong.  If your Google review index is a 3.7, you’re not a provider of “great service.”  Get those reviews up!  Consider other sources of feedback, as well – Facebook reviews, LinkedIn recommendations, etc.  It all matters now.

Finally, you need to Have Consequences for not living up to your Brand Service Promise. The most common form of this is a money-back guarantee, but it doesn’t have to be the only consequence. Other forms of consequences for failure to provide service could include merchandise or merchandise certificates, some sort of gift to the customer (such as a catered lunch for their employees), or other “make good” gesture. The key here is that the consequences need to be part of your written service policy, and they should be presented to the customer as part of the service presentation, rather than decided upon after the fact.

Perhaps the best one used to be Domino’s Pizza. Now, I can’t think of anyone – including Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan – who would say that Domino’s is the best pizza you can buy. Monaghan’s concept was that, if you called Domino’s for a pizza, you’d have it in 30 minutes or less (thus Defining his “great service” proposition). Domino’s made that Brand Service Promise part of its advertising (Offering Proof with their written policy), and gave you the pizza free if it took longer than 30 minutes (the Consequence for failure). This simple Brand Service Promise grew Domino’s from a single college-town pizza joint to one of the largest fast food companies in America. Domino’s was eventually forced to drop this policy due to a couple of lawsuits resulting from overzealous delivery driving, but it’s still rare to get a Domino’s pizza in less than 30 minutes. Yes, I still order them every now and then when I want a flashback to college.

Domino’s service promise has been copied in one form or another by restaurants from coast to coast. One common version is where a restaurant usually known for dinner will institute a “timed lunch” offering, where lunch is guaranteed to be served within a certain time from ordering, or it’s free. Another version is the “quick oil change” outlet that guarantees a full oil change and fluid check within 20 minutes, or it’s free. Both service promises are targeted at busy people who don’t have time to linger over small tasks.

Let’s put the three-step process to work for a hypothetical business. Whenever I go new car shopping, I’ll always ask the salesperson, “Why should I buy here when there are several other dealers selling the same car?” The salesperson will enthusiastically reply that they have – you guessed it – “great service.” No sale. But what if the car dealer put some meat into the promise? A program could be started where the salesperson could honestly reply, “Because buying a car here gets you extra privileges in our service department. When a car that’s been purchased here is brought in for routine maintenance, we guarantee that the maintenance will be finished within X time, or it’s free, no matter what. With or without an appointment, we put you to the head of the line if you buy your car here. Here’s a copy of our service policy.” Now, there’s a service promise that means something.

Brand Service Promises don’t have to be elaborate. If your company gets a lot of phone calls for service or support, how about a promise that the phone will be answered by a real human being who is empowered to help? The cable TV company’s promise that “our person will be there between 8 A.M. and 6 P.M”. doesn’t mean much to me – but the air conditioning repairman’s Brand Service Promise that he’ll be there at 4 P.M “and if you don’t mind, allow me a half hour either way” does. Make it matter to your customers, and it’ll matter to you.

Of course, every business doesn’t necessarily have to have a Brand Service Promise. Businesses that differentiate from their competition on price (like Wal-Mart), by product (like Apple Computers), or by emotional appeal (like a sports or entertainment business) don’t usually provide Brand Service Promises – but if yours does, make sure to define it. Your salespeople and your customers will thank you.  And if I can help, let’s talk.

“Hi, Troy.  I’m blah-blah with blah-blah company.  I’d like to talk to you about your printing needs.”  It was the most typical of cold calls.  I guess I should be thankful that the person wasn’t using an auto-dialer, so I didn’t get that 5 second pause where I said, “Hello?  HELLO?”  Still – this was a bad cold call.  And most salespeople who cold call (yes, some still do, and it works if it’s done well) still do them that way.  As Tony Soprano would say, “Who gives a ****?”  I didn’t care, in the slightest, about her desire to talk to me about my printing needs.  I care about my business.

The reason that most salespeople don’t get results at cold calling is that they stink at it.  And the reason that they stink at it is that they don’t know how to motivate a prospect.  I’ve talked about the steps in the Buyer’s Journey before – and if you haven’t read that article yet, go do it now.  Seriously.  Do it.  That will make the rest of this article make sense.  I’ll wait.  OK, got it?  Good.  Now that you understand Motivation and its place in the Buyer’s Journey, let’s talk about how to motivate a prospect.

When you are making a prospecting contact to any prospect in any fashion – on the phone, in person, by social media, by email, or by carrier pigeon, your real desire is to Motivate them to enter their own personal Buyer’s Journey.

People become Motivated when they feel dissatisfaction with the status quo.  That’s when they embark on a Buyer’s Journey.  Calling someone and saying, “I want to talk about selling you my stuff” does not motivate them, unless you fall ass-backwards lucky into someone who just happens to be embarking on a Journey already.  Most of the time, however, that approach results in a “no thanks,” and a disconnection.

Doing the “I want to talk about” is LAME.  And it’s LAZY.  Salespeople do it because they aren’t interested in learning how to motivate customers – or maybe just because no one has told them that this is a lame approach.  So I’m telling you.

If you want to get an appointment – whatever the prospecting platform you choose – you must motivate your prospect by provoking dissatisfaction with the status quo.  Period.  How can you motivate a prospect?  Well, there are a few options.

1. Paint a desirable picture of the future. In my experience, this has been the best prospecting approach.  When people buy your stuff, they win, right?  So, in ONE sentence, use your words to paint a picture of them winning with your stuff.  For example:  “Our websites deliver three times the incoming leads of the typical website used by your competitors.” The key to this approach is that you aren’t doing the typical “looking for pain;” instead, you’re saying that, no matter what they are doing right now, you can help them do it better.  They can be standing atop the mountain looking down – IF they will meet with you.  When a prospect envisions a desired future state, dissatisfaction with the status quo follows.  Most food and beverage commercials on TV work on this principle – they just show someone drinking an ice-cold Pepsi, and the prospect (you) thinks about how much better life would be if you, too, were drinking an ice-cold Pepsi.
2. Point out how you solve a common problem. For instance, one of the industries I have worked in over the years is the rental laundry (uniforms, mats, linen, etc.) industry.  One of the biggest issues in that industry is shortages – meaning that the mechanic turns in four shirts for laundry and gets three back.  One approach for that industry would be an opening statement about how the salesperson’s company solves shortages.  Word of caution here – if you are going for this approach, you have to be very specific with your solution statement.  “We are better than our competition” or “We have the best service” isn’t a winner.  “Here is the system we use to solve this problem, and it works” is the way to go.  As my mentor, Patricia Fripp, likes to say, “Specificity brings memorability.”  And it gets you appointments.  Platitudes don’t.  In this case, you aren’t creating dissatisfaction with the status quo (as you did in the option above); you are instead highlighting an existing dissatisfaction and promising to alleviate it.
3. “Here’s how we helped your neighbor/competitor/someone else you know.” People like to be like other people, and if you have helped someone succeed that has a commonality with your prospect, this can provoke dissatisfaction as your customer thinks, “Why are they doing better than I am?”  Yes, we’re raising the old green-eyed monster here, but this can work.  Basically, the dissatisfaction comes from thinking that someone else, of whom they are aware and share some common factor with, is achieving something that they aren’t.  A couple of notes here:  First, if you are going to name names in your story, make sure you have permission.  And second, your prospect doesn’t have to know the person you are talking about – they just have to be aware that this person exists.  Finally, you don’t have to name names – but the story has to be real.  “A steel company located near you” is fine – as long as it’s real.  Don’t lie.

Whichever approach you take, you must deliver your statement concisely and clearly. In 10-15 seconds, your prospect will make a decision about whether or not to give you an audience.  A concise, powerful Motivation Statement will be key to making that happen.  Then, ask clearly and confidently, for the appointment.  Again – this is the approach to take, no matter what platform you are using.

Most salespeople fail at prospecting because they don’t know how to motivate a prospect.  Now you do.  So if you haven’t been getting the results you think you should, take a good look at your approach and re-tool it.  As I always say, “Cold calling never works.  Unless you do it, and do it well. Then it still works pretty nicely!”

Years ago, when I was in high school, we did a short unit on Philosophy.  You’ll have to forgive me for not remembering which class included this unit – high school was quite awhile ago.  In any case, the teacher began the unit with an anecdote that, for him, summed up philosophy.  As part of a college philosophy class, the instructor brought the class in for the final, and told them that the final was one question, written on the blackboard.  The question was, “Why?”  The students began writing furiously, some filling page after page with verbiage answering the question, “Why?”  One student quickly finished and left.  When the grades were posted, this one student received the only “A” in the class.  His answer?  One word – “Because.”

I recount this story because it’s funny, and as they say, if it isn’t true, it ought to be.  I also recount this story because it seems to me that the most important questions in professional selling are the ones that begin with the word, “Why?”  Not coincidentally, these are also some of the questions that frighten salespeople the most (because they’re scared of the answer).  They shouldn’t.  Being a true professional salesperson entails a thorough knowledge of one’s products, one’s customers, and oneself.  It also entails a level of intellectual curiosity that demands that questions be asked and answered; questions unasked can never uncover a need or a buying motive.  With that, I’d like to give you my top five questions that begin with “Why,” and how asking these questions consistently can make you a better salesperson.

Why do my customers buy from me?  Salespeople usually have no problem with asking why customers do not buy from them; postmortems on lost sales are part and parcel of a learning process.  However, salespeople who attempt to understand why they win business better position themselves to continue winning it, now and into the future.  It’s the difference between playing offense and playing defense; knowing why they buy from you teaches you to win.  Knowing why they don’t conditions you to prevent loss.  Both are important, but ultimately, knowing how to win is the most powerful thing you can learn.

Why would a customer be interested in seeing me?  Like it or not, prospecting for appointments is part and parcel of most good salespeoples’ routines.  This isn’t a bad thing if you do it right.  Unfortunately, too many salespeople endeavor to use their precious phone time to educate, rather than to motivate.  You can teach your customer all about what you do without interesting him or her in seeing you; instead of that, why not look for what excites and motivates customers to invest the time with you?  If you’re stuck, ask the customers who do give you appointments about why they did.  It can be a great educational experience that helps you get more appointments in the future.

Why should a customer buy my stuff over my competitors’?  I’m sure you can recite features and benefits of your products as if they were tattooed into your brain.  The more important question is how those features and benefits stack up against your competitors’ products, and for what needs are your products more appropriate?  Can you identify those needs that make your product a better purchase – and which ones do not?

Why would fellow salespeople want to network with me?  Networking is a great way to build your business and generate referrals – but do your networking partners truly win when they work with you?  Are you as active in generating referrals as your networking partners are for you?  If you can’t come up with reasons for networking partners to want to be a part of your network, you might consider making some changes in how you handle your relationships.

Why do I sell? I saved the best for last.  Sales is a tough job, and without the proper motivation, it’s even tougher.  Without knowing or understanding what it is that makes you want to sell, the peaks may never be as high as they could be, and the valleys could be career-killers. For a little self-analysis, make a list of the things you love about sales, and keep it handy.  There will be times when you’ll need it.

Of course, this is only a small sampling of the “Why?” questions that salespeople need to ask of themselves, their employers, and their customers.  Without the intellectual curiosity to ask them, however, you will never be as effective as you could be.  When you get stuck for a sales question, start with “why,” and you’ll find that you get better answers that are more to the point and lead to more important customer knowledge.

Once upon a time, “How to use sales intelligence” meant using your brainpower!  Don’t get me wrong, you still should use your brainpower, but today, “sales intelligence” means something additional. I’ve been talking for several months now about the need for you to adopt and use technology into your sales skill set in order to maximize your time with your customers.  I’ve mostly been talking about AI tools, with some CRM and social media sprinkled in, but let’s take a step back and talk about another aspect of sales technology.

“Sales intelligence,” in today’s world, means using tech tools to learn more about your customers, your prospects, your competitors, and even your own company, in real time.  Today, I’m going to talk about a couple of the most common – and important – tech tools you can use.  One is free, one costs – but you’re happy to invest in your career, right?  Let’s dive in.

Before we talk about these specific tools, what you should know is this:  These tools keep you abreast of change.  When change happens, money is made (or lost).  For example, let’s say that there’s a prospect company that you’ve targeted, but you can’t get in to save your life – your contact is stonewalling you.  That isn’t fun, and I’ve been there.  BUT – then you get an alert that your contact has changed jobs!  That’s change, and it represents opportunity.  To take advantage of these opportunities, you need to be abreast of change.  That’s where these tools come in.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator:

First, we’ll talk about the one that costs.  Full disclosure – I didn’t adopt this one early, but I have adopted it and I use the heck out of it. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a pretty powerful tool that lets you learn more about your customers and prospects, as well as connect with them. By leveraging its features, you can gain deeper insights into their targets, thus cultivating more personalized and impactful interactions, connections, and relationships.

With LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can (and should) track key updates and activities of their connections and prospects. This includes monitoring job changes, company updates, and shared content, which can offer talking points for initial outreach or follow-up conversations. Additionally, Navigator’s advanced search capabilities enable you to identify potential leads based on specific criteria such as industry, location, job title, and company size. With this info, you can create a database for targeted marketing and sales outreach, as well as stay on top of future developments.

Sales Navigator’s “Lead Recommendations” feature further assists by suggesting potential leads that align with the salesperson’s existing network and preferences. By providing these curated suggestions, the tool streamlines the prospecting process and expands the scope of potential connections.  Yes, I use it, and for that reason.  I’ve scored some wins that way and you can, too.

Moreover, the “InMail” messaging functionality enables direct communication with prospects outside of one’s immediate network, providing an opportunity to start dialogues and create relationships.  HOWEVER – be careful with this one.  People get carpet-bombed with InMails on LinkedIn.  If you’re going to use this, do it carefully and make sure that the messages are PERSONALIZED.

Sales professionals can also monitor company pages to stay on top of company developments and industry trends. This awareness allows you to tailor your pitch to address specific needs or business challenges that the prospect’s company might be facing.   Again – change represents opportunity.  And this can be opportunities to win or to lose.  If your contact is leaving, they can refer you to someone different.  Oh – and you ARE following your competitors’ pages, right?

To take it to another level, LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps you fulfill the “high, wide, and deep” relationship-building that should be at the core of every sales effort you make.  People change jobs a lot these days, and your approach should be to never be left without a contact when someone does change.

Google News Alerts

This is one of the oldest intelligence tools, but Google News Alerts remains a valuable intelligence tool for salespeople seeking to stay informed about their customers, prospects, and industry trends. By setting up customized alerts, you can receive timely updates that enable them to tailor your sales strategies effectively.

You can create Google News Alerts using specific keywords related to their industry, target companies, or even individual prospects. This proactive approach ensures that they receive notifications whenever relevant news articles, press releases, or mentions are published online.

Let’s say that you are targeting a specific company. You can set up an alert for the company’s name. This way, you’ll receive real-time updates on any developments, mergers, acquisitions, or product launches related to the company. This information provides you with conversation starters and helps you align yourself with the prospect’s current needs or challenges.  Admittedly, this approach works better as your prospects get bigger (because bigger companies will have more press releases and news articles), but don’t overlook it for prospects at any level.

Additionally, by monitoring industry trends and news, you can demonstrate you expertise, relevance, and value to prospects. You can engage in conversations based on recent news articles or reports, showcasing your understanding of the market and your ability to provide solutions that address emerging issues.  This works very well if you’re starting to penetrate a new market or vertical, or even if you’re working the same market you’ve been working for years.

Here are a few other tools that I think you should check out.  Some I’ve used, some I’m just learning about, but you should at least know about them:

1. HubSpot CRM: HubSpot offers a free CRM that’s intuitive and simple to use. This is the one that I use, and if you don’t have a CRM – get this one and get started with it.  It allows you to manage contacts, track interactions, and log important details about prospects and customers. The CRM also offers email tracking, which notifies you when an email is opened, providing insights into prospect engagement.  Confession time – I’ve personally used this feature to win deals.  There’s nothing like seeing an alert that a contact has opened an email of mine and then sending them an email saying, “Hey, I was just thinking about you.”  Once, this feature revitalized a project that had been in my dead proposal file for three years!
2. Crystal Knows: Crystal Knows is a personality assessment tool that analyzes public data to predict someone’s personality and communication style. It’s a useful tool for tailoring communication strategies and building rapport with prospects.  I haven’t used this – but you can bet that I’m going to learn more about it and give it a shot.  I’m intrigued.
3. Nimble: Nimble is a social CRM that gathers information from social media platforms and other sources to provide you with a comprehensive view of your contacts’ online activity and interests.  Again, this isn’t one that I’ve used yet. But the intriguing feature is the social media integration.  Look for more info on this one in a future Navigator.
4. Feedly: Feedly is an RSS feed reader that helps salespeople stay updated on industry blogs, news, and thought leadership articles. It’s an efficient way to keep a finger on the pulse of relevant information.  I’ve used this one a little bit, and I like what I’ve seen.  Again, this is really useful if you’re trying to penetrate a new industry.
5. Hootsuite: While primarily known for social media management, Hootsuite can also help salespeople monitor social media activity related to their prospects and industry, enabling timely engagement.  I’ve used this one off and on over the years, but the feature that I’ve used the most is the ability to pre-schedule social media posts.  As platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn have added post scheduling, this app has gotten a little less useful for me – but the social media monitoring is useful and deserves a second look.

I know I’ve gone down the tech alley quite a bit lately, but that’s because it’s important and relevant.  I was asked the other day whether salespeople should use technology or develop their sales skills – and my answer was, “Yes.”  It’s not an either/or situation.  You need to do both.  Salespeople who know how to use sales intelligence tools will have an edge on salespeople who don’t – and if they continually develop and update their skills, they’ll be stronger still.

Next week, we’ll talk about a pure selling skill that you should incorporate into your approach.

I’m going to present two ideas to you right now that seem contradictory.  First – you should be using AI tools like ChatGPT to make you more productive, effective, and efficient as a salesperson. Second – you absolutely MUST be authentically you when you’re dealing with your customers and prospects.  You might be saying, “Troy, wait, WHAT?”  Bear with me for a minute.  It’s possible to do both.

As a salesperson, your success hinges on your ability to establish genuine connections with your clients. But in an age where technology is becoming increasingly integrated into our processes, how can you maintain your unique personality and authenticity? It’s possible.  You can absolutely integrate your own personality with AI and come up with a very effective result.  Here are seven ways.

1. Start with a Strong Foundation by Defining Yourself

Authenticity is the cornerstone of effective sales communication. People still want to buy from people, and whether you are engaging with prospective clients or nurturing existing relationships, your personal touch sets you apart. Start by laying a solid foundation of your personal brand and core values. Define what makes you unique as a salesperson – your tone, style, and values that resonate with your audience. This foundation keeps you centered as you integrate AI into your interactions.

2. Embrace ChatGPT as Your Intern, Not Your Replacement

My friend Chase Aucoin likes to say that “ChatGPT is the best intern you ever had. It’s smarter than you, has 20 Ph.D.’s, and has no street smarts whatsoever.”  ChatGPT can’t replace you.  In fact, rather than replacing your role, it augments your efforts and makes you more effective. You can use ChatGPT as a tool to streamline tasks, gather insights, and brainstorm ideas – it can even role-play an upcoming sales call with you, as I showed in my recent Webinar. When you are creating messages, provide the AI with your initial input, and then refine the response to align with your personality and communication style. This approach ensures that while AI provides assistance, your authentic voice remains front and center. More on this in a moment.

3. Tailor Your Messaging

One size does not fit all in sales communication. Embrace the flexibility that ChatGPT offers and tailor your messages to each recipient. Before reaching out, take a moment to understand the individual’s preferences, needs, and drivers. Incorporate this knowledge into your AI-assisted message to create a personalized touch that resonates with your recipient. The goal is to demonstrate that you’ve invested time in understanding them, building a foundation of trust.

4. Know When to Step In Personally

While ChatGPT can handle routine interactions, there are moments that demand the human touch. Complex negotiations, empathetic responses during difficult situations, and delicate discussions are best left to your expertise. Recognize when to switch from AI-driven communication to your personal touch.

5. Cultivate a Consistent Brand Voice

Your authenticity shines when you have a consistent brand voice across all touchpoints. Whether it’s an email, a social media post, or a chat message, ensure that your personality resonates throughout. ChatGPT can help maintain this consistency, offering suggestions that align with your established brand tone.  The key here is to teach ChatGPT who you are, how you communicate, and what tone you’d like to take.

6. Learn, Refine, and Repeat

Authenticity isn’t about flawless communication; it’s about real connections. Embrace the occasional imperfections that arise from using AI tools – and you WILL have imperfections. If a response doesn’t quite capture your voice, take a moment to revise and refine it. Emphasize that you’re human and learning, which adds a relatable layer to your interactions.  I always say that AI gives you 80% content – the other 20% has to come from you.

7. Be Transparent

When using ChatGPT, don’t shy away from disclosing that you’re employing AI assistance – like I did in writing this article. Transparency builds trust and shows that you value open communication. Most clients appreciate your efficiency in utilizing technology to enhance their experience.  Honestly, I hope you do, as well!

NOTE:  From here on out, it’s all Troy – no AI assistance.  So I let you peek behind the curtain and told you that I used ChatGPT to write this article.  Was it still in my voice?  I think it was; if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be reading it.  Let’s open the curtain a bit more and I’ll show you what I did and how I did it, because maybe that will help you use this tool for your own messaging.

First, I knew I wanted to write an article about how to maintain authenticity with AI, because it’s a huge issue. I had a general idea of the point that I wanted to get across, and of the seven bullets above, six of them were in my head, but not the wording.  So, I prompted ChatGPT to see what I’d get.

A huge factor in success with ChatGPT is in how you prompt it.  Remember GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out.  Here’s the prompt I used:

I’m writing an article for my weekly e-newsletter. I’m Troy Harrison, the Sales Navigator. You don’t need to introduce me in the article, just telling you that for context. The audience is business owners, sales managers, and salespeople. The focus of the article is to tell salespeople how they can maintain authenticity and their own personality while using ChatGPT to help with sales communication. Can you give me about 600 words on this, please?

I took what it gave me, copied and pasted it (note – always use “paste without formatting” so you won’t get a gray box background), and then I hit “regenerate.”  Think of it as you would a doctor – it’s always good to get a second opinion.

From there, I mixed, matched, and deleted bullet points until I had a format that I liked.  Then I went through and added my own verbiage and commentary.  None of the bullet points above is verbatim from ChatGPT – all of them have been changed to reflect my voice.  For instance, ChatGPT likes “buzzwords” a lot, and I don’t – so I took them out and put my own plainer language in.  And the first paragraph was all me, because I didn’t like the way it introduced the topic.

I could have continued to refine the prompt to get closer and closer to my desired article, but honestly, I thought it would be quicker and better to just do it myself – but I’d encourage you, as you’re playing with it, to keep refining your prompts.

One other note – I always put a target word count in, no matter what I’m doing.  ChatGPT likes words even more than I do (mind-boggling, I know), and you might get a 1000 word dissertation when you’re looking for a two-paragraph email.  In fact, I had this conversation yesterday with a prospective client.

What’s the bottom line?  Well, it’s this.  I just created a 1200 word article on an important topic, made sure it was in my voice, and have it ready to send to you.  And it took me exactly 26 minutes. I’m a fast writer, but not that fast – this would have easily been over an hour had I done it without assistance.  Those extra minutes are minutes I can devote to other tasks – just like you can.

Use this technology.

Get better at it – it’s a skill.

Always put your own voice in.

Succeed.

Repeat.

And that’s how to use ChatGPT and still be authentically you.