Can you connect in 30 seconds or less?
It is increasingly difficult to get someone’s attention; we are all competing with the 21st Century workspace environment, a cacophony of tweets, emails, likes, meeting requests… a million voices all trying to sell something or tell them what to do.
How do sales reps stand out? Make your first impressions positive and your message about THEM, not you.
It takes a little research and preparation, but if you base your introduction on a compelling business success story (based on information you’ve gathered about your client) and make it about how you succeeded with another client just like them, your chances of gaining their attention increases exponentially.
Are you in or out?
The 30 second timer starts as soon as you’re introduced. To direct the conversation toward your intended outcome, create a succinct story that will demonstrate your track record and measurable results. We call this your credibility introduction.
Where to begin? Between your research, industry experience and insight, you can probably predict their most likely business issue. Is their growth outpacing capacity? Are their competitors creating a price squeeze? Have revenues slowed because adopting a new system is taking too long? Whatever it is, you will want to establish your credibility and relevance.
With the business issue on the table, now is the opportunity to prove your experience is worth listening to. Having a few “been there, solved that” stories in your pocket is key. Succinctly describing how your company helped solve problems that mattered and resulted in real value is crucial. VALUE is the operative word, and don’t hesitate to use it. It sets the context for how working together will generate results.
Write a customer-focused Credibility Introduction in 4 steps
Here’s a breakdown of how to gain your prospect’s attention within seconds. This sample script puts it all together for you:
Step 1: Compare Stories. Write a business scenario that is similar or parallel to that of your prospect.
Step 2: List Challenges and Opportunities. Jot down problems, challenges or opportunities that create the need for your solution, product, or service.
Step 3: Define Metrics. Define the measurable impact or value of solving, improving, or changing what you identified in step 2.
Step 4: Transition. Draft a transition that gains your prospect’s permission to explore their business issues. Determine, together, if a partnership with you could generate similar results.
Here’s an example:
Step 1: Compare Stories. “Hi, I’m Peyton Gandry from YieldNet Associates. Recently, we were engaged by another firm in your area to address their challenges with process automation.”
Step 2: List Challenges and Opportunities. “This client had employees who were reluctant to adopt new technology. When they opened a new territory, they also experienced a leadership shake up at headquarters. That perfect storm led to a 30% decrease in their production capabilities.”
Step 3: Define Metrics. “By partnering with YieldNet, they solidified the relationships between sales and support staff, which helped drive adoption. There was a dramatic improvement in their processes, and within six months, their productivity improved 40%.”
Step 4: Transition. “Can we discuss your current automation processes to see if there is an opportunity for YieldNet to bring similar value to you?”
Notice what’s NOT in this introduction? Any detailed description of your products and services! Until you establish your credibility, what your product or service does is less important than discovering what your prospect thinks.
What can go wrong?
Not doing basic research. Telling a story that is irrelevant to the prospect is a big credibility fail. One sales executive who was selling salesforce automation tools told a great success story only to find out the prospect sold through indirect sales. They had no salesforce to automate! So be sure to do your homework. The smart place to start is to understand your current clients and the measurable impact you have brought to them.
Getting lost in the weeds. Often, sales reps are so knowledgeable about their products, they get carried away with the HOW of the problems they solved. Instead, the story should focus on WHY the problems were WORTH solving. Let the outcome of the story set up the value you can now bring your prospect.
Taking too long to tell your story. Practice your stories out loud. It takes timing and re-telling to get a rhythm and flow.
Follow these steps to tell a compelling story and you will gain permission to discuss your prospect’s business. If you do your research, rehearse your story, talk about metrics and make it about them, you will begin to build a credible relationship to earn their business.
Happy Selling!
