I have been a sales leader for more than 5 years. I have had the pleasure of managing dozens of sales representatives during that time. On field rides with my representatives, I have been part of some exceptional sales conversations, where we effectively close the customer for the next step in the sales process. I have also been part of some conversations that have soured quickly, and we leave the customer’s office empty handed.
The difference in the qualities of someone who can have a productive sales conversation and someone who is less effective may not be what you’d expect. It’s not sales tenure. I have seen some senior representatives have some pretty terrible sales calls. And I have seen some rather “green” reps lead exceptional conversations. Whether the rep is extroverted by nature or a little more introverted also plays little to no role in the outcome of the sales conversation. Instead, the key difference between a polished rep who can consistently move deals forward, and a rep who struggles, is their ability to abide by a sales framework.
When I say “sales framework” I am NOT referring to a sales script. Sales scripts don’t work. Period. There are too many “sales gurus” out there online trying to sell courses and trainings where they share their “perfect sales script” that “works every time”. Real life sales isn’t a scene out of The Wolf of Wall Street. There are no secret scripts or magical words you can say as a salesman that is going to close deals consistently.
Instead, I am here to provide you a framework for your talk track. A framework is simply the structure of your talk track when you go to sell. Successful reps have their sales framework down pat. They keep it simple and they consistently execute on it. And then it’s rinse and repeat for the next sales call.
Reps that struggle to have productive sales calls often do not abide by a framework. There is no structure to their line of questioning. This leads to the inability to ask the right questions, inability to pivot during the conversation, inability to handle objections and the inability to close for the appropriate next step. A sales call should not be complicated as long as you abide by a framework. It allows you to have reproducible results over and over again.
In this newsletter series, I will be discussing the 3 fundamental pieces of the framework my team uses when in a sales conversation:
1. Discovery questions
2. Influence belief in the customer
3. Close for next step
In each part, I will dive into how great reps execute on these fundamental pieces. What types of sequenced questions they ask, how they consistently change their customer’s perspective in a single meeting, and what exactly they close for.
If you are a paid subscriber, I’ll provide actual templates that my team uses to prepare for sales calls. Additionally, I’ll provide the structured framework we use for each of the 3 parts of the sales call listed above. If you are interested in being a paid subscriber, simply click the “Upgrade” button on my website’s homepage. For just $10 per month, you’ll be provided a host of resources that will get you closing deals more consistently.
Sincerely,
S.M.K., The Sale’s Mentor’s Playbook