Your time is valuable, as well as your prospects’. When you find a good prospect, you don’t want to lose them because you said the wrong thing.
I want to equip you with seven things prospects want to hear. Keep these in the back of your mind as you communicate with future customers or clients, and I believe you’ll witness prospects that are more engaged, and more eager to work with you.
Read more from this blog series about how to keep prospects engaged.
Want more content like this blog series? This month’s Masterclass explores the topic of Following Up with Prospects. I share all the Do’s and Don’ts, plus tips to make your prospecting plan go smoothly and end with a successful sale.
1. Solutions
Prospects don’t want products or services. What they want is a solution. Spend more time focused on the problem you can solve versus the product or the service you sell.
People don’t want whatever you offer, they want the outcome you can provide them. Zero in on that. That means you’ve got to be listening to them. Take the time to understand what they’re looking for. That’s the way you help them, which remember, is the true purpose of sales.
2. No presentations
Skip the presentation. If people wanted a presentation, they’d go to YouTube, right? And they more than likely will go to YouTube.
It’s death by PowerPoint. Please, skip the presentation. Customers don’t want that.
3. A listening ear
Don’t sit there and pitch me. What I want is a listening ear. I want you to hear me and take the time to understand what I’m saying.
4. Keen insights
This isn’t just a broad, general plan. It’s not like “weather talk” at the office. “It’s going to be warm tomorrow… Hey, it could rain.” You want to share keen insights that focus on their industry, or their business. These kinds of observations really don’t come about unless you’ve studied them, and understand them.
How many times have you received a LinkedIn message where somebody wants to connect with you and it’s very obvious they haven’t even looked at your profile. No way you’re going to connect with them. However, you would share with them, and discuss things further if they shared something insightful about the business or industry they’re in.
5. Challenging Questions
Don’t ask stupid questions, ask questions that really challenge their thinking.
Please, don’t sit there and think, “Mark, I can’t do that, this is a prospect I’m speaking to!” I disagree. I want to ask challenging questions right up front. Consequently, if you’re not the right prospect for me, I don’t want to be talking to you.
My time is valuable. For this reason, I’m not going to hesitate to ask questions that provoke some deeper thought on their part.
6. Simplicity
This doesn’t oppose my previous point about questions. Simplicity means don’t confuse. Don’t use wonky words.
You want to be simplistic enough that you share insights that they can understand on their terms.
This is one of the things that people come back to me and say, “Mark, I enjoy your content so much because you speak in a language that I can understand.”
Strive for that same thing with your customers, because your prospects want that. They want simple language that they can understand, not confusing messaging that makes them question if they should work with you.
7. Confidence
Prospects don’t have time to deal with salespeople that aren’t confident. Either come knowing your stuff, or go somewhere else. And don’t come back until you do know your stuff.
This is one of the reasons why I say you have to sell into a very specific vertical. You have to be very focused on knowing who your ideal customer profile is. What are the outcomes that you’re looking for? Because deciding that helps you become more confident, and this is what prospects are looking for.
Read more about what makes a good prospect. Or, check out my Masterclass all about developing your Ideal Customer Profile.
The most valuable asset you have is your own time. The second most valuable asset you have is your customer’s time. Therefore, you better find a way to keep their attention.
I get so disappointed when I hear salespeople struggling to find prospects and be able to close deals. You will never have more deals to close than you have prospects to prospect.
If you sit there and say, “I don’t have enough deals to close.” Have you thought that maybe you’ve been prospecting enough, but you have not been following up enough? Do you have the tools to nurture them far enough along to where they become potential customers for you to close?
My Masterclass this month will teach you how to Follow Up with Prospects. I’ll teach you how to keep prospects engaged, execute a plan, and overcome objections. We’ll also explore acceleration techniques when you need to move things along.
In fact, act now and receive an invitation to my webinar in which I’ll share my personal follow-up plan–available only to those who get the course in this early-bird enrollment period!
This course is live now! For only $59 you can become my student and improve your follow-up skills. Check it out.
For the same price, you can enroll in The Sales Hunter University under the Level 3 annual plan and receive every Masterclass–ever! That means my past courses such as Email Prospecting and Phone Prospecting are yours, in addition to all future Masterclasses. Plus, Level 3 offers drop-in office hours for more facetime with me, as well as live coaching every month. It’s an amazing deal and has been transformative for many salespeople. Learn more here.
Copyright 2021, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.
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