Jeremie Cabling on Combatting the Struggles of Selling
What are some of the ways you combat rejection during a sale?
Jeremie says, if your prospect rejects your proposition, it’s because you led them to that objection. Don’t push prospects to objections.
People have the primal urge to feel safe, secure, and in control. A pushy ask like “Do you have time to chat this week?” puts a person’s guard up and stops a sale dead in its tracks. An ask like “Is it a bad time to chat about X” gives the recipient a feeling of agency and power. It asks the same thing as the former question, but it asks in a way that empowers the recipient to respond.
Ask questions that uncover your customers’ wants. Then, dive deeper to understand how they want to feel. Only then you can pull them in by showing how your product/service is the way there.
If an objection does come up, the only 3 responses I use are:
- You’re right in feeling that way, [my prospect very similar to you] felt that too, what they found is [benefit]…
- That’s right, but [benefit]…
- I don’t know, but let’s regroup and I can get back to you on that…
How do you not get discouraged during the sales process?
“I do get discouraged,” says Jeremie (phew I thought it was just us). “If I’m not performing, I can only blame myself or my process. Discouragement is the natural reminder to step back, analyze and correct myself (my attitude) or my process.”
Sales is fun, Jeremie reminds us, but success in sales is almost essential for fulfillment in it. Discouragement is the cue that something needs to change to get better.
Jeremie, what is the best piece of advice you have received in terms of selling and sales?
Most mentors helped me with the technical parts of selling… best times to sell, how many times to follow up with a lead, etc.
Here are my 5 favorite tools of persuasion in relation to sales
1) Reciprocity: people feel compelled to return favors.
Take the initiative to treat others well -> get treated back exceptionally.
2) Cognitive Dissonance: people feel compelled to act in a way consistent with the image they want to project. Show their actions/inactions don’t project that desired image, but your solution is a way how.
3) Signaling: “We can’t help but assume the importance of a message is proportional to the cost of delivering it.”
-Rory Sutherland.
An email < a text < a tweet < a call < a handwritten letter < a personalized gift.
Make your customer feel like they matter by signaling that you put in effort to reach them.
4) Social Proof: Going back to the need to feel safe… People will go along with people that are similar to them.
5) Liking: All else equal people buy from who they like.
What is the biggest challenge you face in sales?
Time management is critical. Your job is entirely dependent on the interaction with other people — largely strangers. You have to balance your daily tasks to keep your sales pipeline full (prospecting, nurturing old leads, etc.) with calls that go longer than scheduled, people flaking your meeting, having to do miscellaneous work for your company, etc.
Some days you’ll feel like there’s not enough going on. Some days you’ll feel overwhelmed. You have to be comfortable with a level of uncertainty.
Originally published at http://ursuladedekind.com on November 13, 2020.
