Sales tips, leadership communication skills insight and more from Steve Giglio, sales training professional for more than 25 years.

Stay in the Pain to Partner

Have you ever asked yourself, “What is the point of this meeting?” Here’s a better question to ask: “What is the pain of this meeting?” Let me explain.

Over the years, I’ve noticed, through client role-play and other probing exercises, that people are able to get to the client’s pain point but once getting there, they move right past it onto other topics not as urgent as the one they first uncovered.

Don’t let this happen to you. Let the pain BE the point of the meeting! Stay in the pain.

Make sure when you are vetting a client or partner you understand their challenges and stay inside those challenges to pinpoint the largest pain point you can solve. Then, play the pain point back to them and watch them elaborate on it. You’ll recall my most favorite probing question, “Really?” Use it so that you fully comprehend, and empathize, with their pain. You want this elaboration because with it will come an understanding of the urgency to solving this pain.

Then and only then can you begin to deliver your recommendation/solution. So next time you are in a meeting or on a call, make the pain the point!

 

Show Your Homework

When meeting with a client where it’s important to recommend a course of action, be sure to show your homework. Your due diligence illustrates forethought and respect.

It also shows that you have put considerable effort into understanding their business and have earned the right to make recommendations. Often salespeople come to a meeting without the correct level of homework completed, therefore their ideas are viewed skeptically versus relationally.

Don’t give into the excuses for not doing homework…”I don’t have time,” or “I know enough about what I need to know already.”

Try presenting your homework and notice your client’s engagement. You will create a level of trust that then gives you the status of adviser, rather than salesperson…which will lead to more sales! Let me know how it goes.

It’s Your Meeting….Take Control of It!

In my last post, I listed six things to stop discussing with your clients. Did you do it? How did it go?

The reason those things are important to eliminate is that when a meeting diverts into those areas, you’ve lost control and it will be hard to get it back.

So this week, let’s look at my key steps to controlling a meeting, even before it begins!

Send out an agenda

So often, this is overlooked. I cannot stress enough the importance of a setting an agenda prior to a meeting or call. If you just said, “Yes, Steve. Everyone knows that” then I’d ask you to recall the last 5-10 meeting you or someone else hosted. Did they all have an agenda, in advance?  Probably not. You must set the agenda because it creates AGREEMENT on what will be discussed and decisions that need to be made. Just as importantly, it puts you in control of the meeting right from the start. Send it out at least 24-hours in advance to give people the chance to review it and comment.

Start with agenda

As last week’s post directed, don’t start the call with the weather, a joke or a story about your weekend. Jump right in and state, “Everyone has had the agenda since yesterday at 1pm. I’ll quickly go over it and then we can begin.”

It’s important that your agenda have a timeline. Make sure people know how much time will be spent on each issue. I suggest using exact times, like this:

1:00 pm Review agenda

1:05 pm Past business

1:15 pm New business

This way, both you and the attendees can tell whether the meeting is on track or running ahead of or behind schedule. Try it and see how much more in control you’ll be when you know exactly where the meeting is vs. the agenda.

Review and Plan

At the conclusion of each agenda item, review what was discussed. Then, determine the next steps and who will own them. Ever been to a meeting where a lot was discussed yet nothing got done as a result? Bypassing this step is why. Don’t do it!

Send a Timely Recap

After the call or meeting, people will jump back into whatever they were doing prior to it or had planned to do after it. You might, too! It is critical that you create time (put it on your calendar) to create the recap notes and send it out to participants. You want them to have a bulleted list that recaps the following:

  • Challenges Discussed
  • Resolutions
  • Next Steps
  • Owners
  • Deadlines

You should close the email with something like: “If I you don’t send back comments or questions, I will assume that you agree with this recap and your assigned tasks/deadlines.” Talk about taking control!

Privately Talk with the Meeting Hijacker

Even if you’ve done all the steps above, your meeting can get hijacked by someone who will manipulate the meeting, sending it down the rabbit hole and into long discussions that ignore your agenda. After the meeting, call that person and discuss what happened. Relationally call them out by asking something akin to: “It might be me, but it seemed that you were upset or frustrated when we were talking about X. Maybe I missed something so, can you let me know what’s on your mind?”

You need him or her to get past whatever it is so that things can move forward. Your goal is to neutralize them for the next call. “I understand. In the 20 minutes we have…let’s find out the real issue here because we all have to move forward on this….we need everyone on board.” I bet they will think twice about hijacking a meeting of yours again!

Try these tactics for your next call or meeting. Don’t skip any! Let me know if you see a change in how the meeting goes and the control you have over it.

 

Six Things to Stop Discussing with Clients

It has been said that you get just one chance to make a first impression. I have found that that holds true even with people you know. Let me explain.

When you have a meeting with an existing client, how the meeting or call starts is critically important. This “first impression” will give your client some insight into how the next 30-60 minutes is going to go and how vested you are in the outcome.

So why, then, do so many people waste that first 5-10 minutes with idle banter? If you really listen to what you are saying from the client’s perspective, you might be shocked to realize the relationship damage, subtle as it may be, that you are doing.

That is why I want you to stop discussing these six things with your clients immediately.

The Weekend/Vacation

People get on a call, that their client is paying for, and say, “I can’t wait for the weekend” or “Thank God it’s Friday” or “Just a few more hours until my vacation.” What that says to a client is, “I can’t wait to stop doing work for you,” a message not likely to be well received by your client.

The Weather

If you have many people on a call, all of them in different geographic areas, bringing up the weather can be a real time suck since everyone will want to tell everyone else what the weather is like in their area. And to a client, time really is money and you are spending it pretending to be Al Roker.

Other clients/work

“We’ve been really busy with a few projects that have taken up a lot of time.” That forces the client to think, “So…..who was working on our stuff?” Clients want to feel, while knowing it’s not true, that they are your only client.

Jokes

Clients are paying you to do serious work. Having a good sense of humor is one thing, spending any time telling jokes is a waste of time…their time. And it says that you aren’t taking this call seriously so perhaps you have the same attitude about their business.

Your Health

“I’ve been out the last few days, sick as a dog.” Clients will, of course, be empathetic but, they’ve got a business to run. You just told them, in their mind, that no work got done in the last few days. If you have to note your absence, be sure to immediately tell them how work got done despite you being out, by whom and the results they achieved.

Reading what you sent

This probably happens more than any of the things on this list. People prepare a status update and then proceed to dictate every point to them. Stop! If you sent an update, assume your client can read it! Don’t ask them if they want you to “walk them through it,” because they will politely say yes and then dread you actually doing it. What they really want is your insight into the issues, concerns, future plans, etc. That’s what they pay you for!

Stop discussing these six areas and it will open up a space in every client encounter for you to begin a meaningful conversation right from the first “Hello.”

In my next post, I’ll provide some tips on how to do exactly that!

 

 

 

 

Managing Summer Time

Summer is a season of vacations, beaches, time with family and other distractions. However, you’ve still got business to manage and clients to satisfy. Perhaps more than any other time of the year, summer presents time management challenges for you and your team. It’s up to you to make sure work gets done. Here are some time management tips to help.

Read more

Cognitive Dissonance: Your Secret Weapon

“We might not be the right company for you.” Said no one ever, right?

Not so. I say it often and coach my clients to do the same. “Steve…you counsel people to TELL their potential client that their company might not be the right fit?” That’s right. I put it in the category of Cognitive Dissonance, having thoughts that are inconsistent. Allow me to explain.

The Unexpected Opens the Conversation

So often, I see people go into a meeting with a predetermined goal of securing new business without giving serious consideration to the possibility that their firm might not be the right one for this client. Get the business….get the business…get the business. That’s the sole focus.

How do you know you are right for them already? You’ve barely just met and already you’re thinking about marriage! What I say often to potential clients is, “I’m not sure I am right for you. That’s why I’m here, so we can discover that together.” Wow…does that open up the conversation! They were expecting me to sell my service in whatever way possible, not to admit that I might not be their guy. From that point, they start to see that I’m not there to sell them something they don’t need, but to determine if I can provide something that they do.

Unidirectional vs Open-ended

If you come into a presentation focused only on selling, you are setting up a unidirectional conversation. In your mind, it can go only one way. But, if you let them know that your goal is to determine whether you are a fit, that leaves the floor open for them to give you information that will help make that determination. And best of all, you are working together to see if the relationship will be mutually beneficial. Let me repeat one word here: together! From this one small shift in your normal method of communication, you have already created an alignment that distinguishes you from everyone else who comes through the door.

Objective Inquiry

Now that you’ve shattered their preconceived notion on how the meeting was going to go, you can get down to business in an atmosphere of objective inquiry. You’ve prepared probing questions so, now is the time to dive into them. As you listen to the answers, you are not looking to find openings where you can sell your product/service. Rather, you are looking for evidence that this relationship could work out for both of you for the long term. They will be doing the same.

The important thing is that their guard is down. You can see it. Many times, I will observe someone’s shoulders drop, they take on a more relaxed demeanor and will talk far more than they might have otherwise. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your forbearance. Allow them the time to get into details about their “compelling event,” the thing that is most on their mind. Use my favorite open-ended question, “Really?” to have them provide more insight. The more you learn, the better positioned you are to discover if your firm has the solutions they need.

“But Steve, my supervisor will kill me if he knew I started meetings saying that I wasn’t sure our firm was a good fit.” No he won’t. Once you start establishing strong relationships based on a mutual decision that your firm IS a good fit, your docket will be full of business that has long-term implications for your firm. Who doesn’t want that?

Can you do it? Let me know your thoughts on this approach. – SG

Stop Being Nice

Perhaps you were raised with the old adage, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” While that is good advice around the dinner table or in the schoolyard, it’s not always true in business. When should you not be nice? When your client’s business future is at stake…and that is more often than you probably realize.

Many times, clients will hide problems from you. They will only give you surface-level information about key issues affecting their business. You will get the filtered version of the challenges they are facing. And why is this? Because you are too nice and don’t ask the tough questions that will get to the heart of the matter.

Deference Is Not Partnership

It’s one thing to respect your clients. It’s another thing to defer to them as the smartest people in the room. So many times, I see people engage with clients as if they are the student at the feet of the teacher. Yes, your client knows their business better than you do. However, you know YOUR business better than they do and that’s why you are in the room in the first place. If you aren’t asserting yourself with that confidence, you will not get what you need from them in order to do better work.

Here’s an example. Recently, I worked with an account director who was charged with renewing a 10-year relationship with a client. I reviewed the probing questions he was going to ask. If questions could be a flavor, these would all be vanilla!

“What can we do for you here?”
“Where would you need help with this?”
“What do you want us to do here?”

So, I said to him, “Where are the questions that ask your client what they are worried about? Where is their competition clobbering them? Where are they vulnerable?” His answer was:
“On no…I couldn’t ask that. That’s too direct and he might not like it.”

In other words, it wouldn’t be nice. But if you aren’t getting information that can get your team working on key issues that affect your client’s future, how can you make recommendations that matter? You can’t, and that’s not good for anyone.

Ask Questions that Matter

So, if you aren’t deferring to your client, how should you act? I tell my clients to act like you are the sole person in charge of increasing their clients’ sales by year’s end. You’re it. You’re the only one. And, your client is the person who has all the information you need in order to help you achieve your goals. Now, if you take this on, do you think you might ask a better question than, “How can I help you?”

Stop being nice, start being commercial. What I mean is that you have to get into the tough business issues that are of great concern to your client, even if your client doesn’t want to reveal them at first. I have worked with a luxury car brand over the past few years. After doing my research on their market, I asked a pointed question that opened my client up and let me know about his greatest concerns. The questions was:

“How worried are you about your aging customer base while the younger generation seems less interested in things versus experiences?”

Wow…did that start us down a different path. In fact, finding 30-somethings who could be convinced to purchase their first luxury car and become a brand loyalist was the issue that kept him awake at night. Did he resent the question, since it pointed to a possible company weakness? No, he didn’t…because it was already on his mind. I just needed to probe to get it out in the open. It was conversations like this, and my recommendations based on them, that has kept this company as a client for many years. Which leads me to…

Discover, Create and Charge

One of the “nice” things many consultants do is either not charge enough for their service or they “over deliver,” providing more service than contracted. Why? Mostly because they fear losing the business and want to demonstrate they are a valued partner. That’s not a strong position and it leads to the expectation of more work, less income.

What I recommend is a three-step process:

  1. First, you must discover what their next problem is before it becomes unfixable. That comes from the probing discussed above. And the problem will always be a commercial one that has a solution.
  2. Next, you must create solutions based on your expertise and that of your team. Remember, that’s what you bring to the table. Use the swagger that you’ve earned by being good at what you do and having gotten prior results for clients so that you can confidently deliver solutions you believe will work. That’s your value.
  3. And lastly, charge them for it! Asking for the contract, the renewal, the money…those are not bad things. If they balk at this stage, it’s not about the money. It’s that you haven’t established their trust and thus, they aren’t realizing what your value is. Figure out where you went wrong, fix it, and ask again.

I’ll leave you with advice from a very unlikely source, the movie “Road House.” In it, the bar manager played by Patrick Swayze advises his staff, “I want you to be nice…until it’s time to not be nice.”

It’s hard for some people to get past being nice. What’s your challenge in this regard? Share it below. – SG

Don’t Let Your Client Get Embarrassed

No matter your role, be it a salesperson, account director, or VP of client relations…you are an extension of your client. You perform a role that is critical to the client’s success. The client is, in essence, your constituent. You have the responsibility to support them, guide them, serve them, and meet their needs by meeting your obligations.

This support means keeping clients informed on any issue and any situation that may need their attention…before it’s too late. Keeping that information from them or, not being aware of it yourself, risks your client being embarrassed in meetings with their teams, superiors, board members, etc. Don’t let that happen!

Avoid Distractions, No Matter How New

Too often, people get distracted with other clients or new opportunities. However, if you can’t keep track of your original client, what is the point of moving on to others? With pressure to “always be closing,” you might think your role is to keep cranking out new business. But business development is only part of it. A critical element to your job is to attract new business by being a worthy steward to your existing client base. So many times I’ve seen people so distracted, they forget this critical role.

Keep Your Client, and Yourself, on Track

It’s your job to stay ahead of your clients’ issues so that they aren’t surprised by anything. You must keep impeccable records of your conversations with them and follow up on all outstanding issues. If they come to you for a status update, you’ve failed them. You have to keep them aware of issues before something that could backfire on them happens. It’s up to you to know when to update your client and give them timely intel that can help them with their job and responsibilities.

Always Look Ahead

You are the eyes and ears of the business relationship. Recently when I noticed a client’s sales team working on autopilot in their presentations, it was up to me to deliver this assessment to my client. He didn’t like hearing it, however, not doing so would have left him vulnerable to lackluster results that he would have had to report to his management team. If you’ve been in that scenario, you know how terribly uncomfortable that can be. I had to think ahead and see the train coming down the track so my client could get out of the way!

These sort of advance warnings avoid ill feelings and embarrassing situations for you and the client. They also establish you as a problem solver, not a problem creator. That’s quite a thing to be for a client! The flip side is that you risk your client being hurt professionally and after that, it can take months or even years for you to regain their trust since “you should have said something.” Always be aware of that and strive to avoid it.

How often do you update your clients? Let me know in the comments below. -sg

Building Effective Teams: Call It Like You See It

More and more often, many of us are selling and consulting with clients as a team versus alone.

In most cases, teamwork makes sense. It is a great way to illustrate the concern your organization has for the client relationship and the diligence you have put towards it.

The concept is easy, succeeding at it is hard. Read more

3 Reasons Why Sales Training Programs Fail

“See that over there,” he said to me as he pointed to a sales training book used as a doorstop. “That’s what happened to the last guy we hired to help our team.”

That was my introduction to a potential new client recently. Clearly, I had my work cut out for me. But his experience was not unique. As I listened to what went wrong, three reasons for why his  program failed came to light. And I could have guessed all three! So, here are the reasons why so many sales training programs fail:

Not Everyone Wants Red

Imagine if you went to a car dealership and the only color they offered was red. Sure, they might sell a lot of cars to people who like red but they would lose so many customers who do not. Sales programs fail because they are not tailored to the needs and wants of those they are training. The “door stop” client even said to me, “All you guys are the same, right?” He’d had far too many red car salespeople in his life.

I first responded by saying that I don’t deliver public seminars where one presentation is supposed to address the needs of everyone in the room. Look…I’m confident in my abilities as a coach and trainer, but I have nowhere near the ego to think that I could create a singular program that applies to all industries, all companies and all people.

I also told him that my work is done on a bespoke basis to each client. Each program is customized based on the client’s industry and current atmosphere. Sales training programs are most successful when they solve a team’s biggest challenge while creating an approach that addresses specific goals.

Lack of Authorship

The second reason sales training programs fail is lack of “authorship.” Trainers that develop a one-size-fits-all program neglect to get “buy in” from their clients’ top-producing associates. By contrast, I interview the “A” players to design the program. In doing so, they become co-authors of their program by informing me of their actual business development dialogue and process. Once they feel some sense of ownership, they are more likely to accept my assistance in improving their skills and the less productive players witness that even the best can get better!

No Follow Up

Perhaps the biggest reason sales training programs fail is that there is no planned follow up that extends the training. So many times, trainers abandon their clients as they move on to the next training. Equally as detrimental is when the executives who hired the trainer do not ensure the lessons are instilled in day-to-day activities of their teams. It’s as if they say, “Ok. You got trained. Go make it happen.” Without any regular check-ins that are based on the training, people will fall back into old habits. It is critical that teams become comfortable with new behaviors. To do this, a system that fosters the growth through more education, observation and training is required. In other words, don’t orphan your teams!

What was your experience like the last time you worked with a sales trainer? Let me know in the comments below. – SG