Many of the clients who work with me share that one of the reasons they contact me is to improve their close rate. Specifically they have spent the time and investment to bring in opportunities and quote solutions but they have seen close rates drop since April.
In my no smoke and mirrors process working with sales teams I assess the sales team and each salesperson’s skills in 21 competencies then prescribe training and coaching to close any sales skills gaps we discover.
Would it shock you to learn just over 50% of salespeople have never received sales skills training? (No wonder they struggle with selling based on value, negotiating and closing!)
The need for sales skills training is becoming more apparent when helping teams adapt and become stronger in virtual selling skills,
If you want to improve your sales close rates and win more sales at higher profit margins, you need to improve the questions you ask your customers.
“By the nature of your question you can demonstrate industry experience, competence and build trust” ~ Mark Roberts
As I coach my clients’ sales teams I often join their calls with customers. I consistently experience the need to improve the sales team’s skills in the following areas.
Build Rapport/ Build Virtual Relationships
Since moving to a virtual sales model where Zoom video meetings have become the norm, I have experienced salespeople skipping key steps like building rapport at the beginning of the call. Make sure and take the time to build rapport. Focus on people first, products and solutions second.
Discovery Questions
Create a list of great discovery questions you feel comfortable asking. Include industry terminology and make the questions open-ended so the customer shares their current challenges.
Qualifying questions
Once you have actively listened to your customer and clearly identified challenges your product or service solves we need to qualify. An old school system still provides salespeople a great deal of value today called BANT.
B- do they have a budget or will you be helping them create a business case to win budget?
A- Authority, does the person, team, you are speaking with have the authority to make the purchase and if not who does?
N- Do you clearly understand the need and how they will measure success? What is the economic impact of not solving this need?
T– Timing, when do they need this problem solved, how long has this been a problems?
If you want to significantly improve your close rate on profitable sales:
- Improve Rapport building and building virtual relationships
- Create Strong Discovery Questions
- Equip your sales team with BANT questions
If I can help your team let’s schedule a call.
