This week’s guest on B2B EQ is a sales savant with 20+ years of experience. He teaches sales reps how to earn the right to ask questions, which questions to ask, and when to ask them. He's the host of both the Surf and Sales Podcast and Sales Rants with Richard. Joining the show this week is Founder of The Harris Consulting Group Richard Harris! Host Tim Harris sits down with Richard to dive into the essential soft skills for sales reps, highlight the importance of active listening, and explore what it means to earn the right to ask questions.

Takeaways:

• Soft skills are hard skills, but those skills have been in place since day one. Sales skills are human skills, every time we try to convince someone of something, we are selling to them. Recognizing this allows you to build off of the foundational skills you already have.
• Sales reps need to stop handling objections and start marinating in them. A buyer backing out of a deal can be frustrating, but instead of rushing to give them a lower price, respond to the root cause with empathy, and show genuine caring.
• While having a plan for your calls is a good strategy, you don’t want to get too caught up in it. If your responses are too scripted and planned out, you’ll spend more time thinking about what you’re going to say next, rather than listening to the customer.
• You’re going to ask questions on a sales call, but you don’t want it to be an interrogation. You need to earn the right to ask questions by establishing the parameters, creating a good space for conversation, and giving your customer space to ask questions back.
• Sales reps are in control of calls, but to get there you need to get your customer to warm up first. Before you hit them with typical questions, start by asking what led them to this call. That question will get them talking, and then you can dive deeper.
• Buyers are busy, but they’re not that busy. While buyers do need to focus on reports, they still have time to talk with you. Buyers may be too busy for you today, which can feel frustrating, but you need to ensure you are properly following up with them.
• Showing up to every call with a defeatist attitude will negatively impact your results, and pretending everything is alright won’t get you anywhere. Reps need to acknowledge the problems, and figure out the best way to move forward.

Quote of the Show:

• “Sales skills are really just human skills.” - Richard Harris

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rharris415/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rharris415
• Company website: https://theharrisconsultinggroup.com/
• Podcast: https://www.surfandsales.com/the-surf-sales-podcast
• Podcast: https://theharrisconsultinggroup.com/sales-rants-podcast/
• Book: https://www.amazon.com/Owning-Your-Job-Search-application-ebook/dp/B08TQHBVQF

Ways to Tune In:

• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b2b-eq/id1672326834
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1T2zlqNsSYATzXFPH1DquY
• Google Podcast - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mYXN0Lndpc3RpYS5jb20vY2hhbm5lbHMvajRuNnNjYmc2Ni9yc3M