The Salesman.com Podcast

Remember when the thought of having sales conversations and collaborating from home made your stomach turn?

How do you make a good sales pitch when you're in your kitchen? What if everyone's laptops stopped working? Would talking to a prospect through a screen feel weird?

Well, virtual selling became a reality for sales reps when COVID-19 forced the selling workforce to go remote. But now, working from home is welcomed (perhaps even preferred). Case in point:

At first it was a necessity, now the virtual sales process seems like the best way to close deals. So if virtual selling is here to stay, what do we need to do to get better at it, fast?

Read on as we cover virtual selling best practices and tactics to help you master the art of selling from home.

Virtual selling or remote selling is the process of interacting and converting a lead virtually instead of connecting in person.

The most important part of the virtual selling process for B2B sales teams is “video. ”

Video conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype have adapted to the virtual sales world. They offer a more convenient way for sales reps to communicate, follow up, and sell without ever having to meet the prospect in person.

At the same time, there's more to virtual selling than using technology to make sales calls. It's an opportunity for you to establish trust, build relationships, and convert your prospects into paying customers.

Virtual selling skills aren't different from that of in-person selling. Confidence, fast-thinking, empathy… the personality traits are the same.

The difference is around the communication format.

You need to practice and train with video to iron out any issues and familiarize yourself with this new way of selling.

According to a study conducted by RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, buyers considered the following four factors when asked what has the most significant influence on their purchase decisions when interacting with sellers virtually?

You'll also find the following four skills helpful to simplify your virtual selling:

While these skills may not come naturally to every sales rep, you can learn them. Of course, you could learn these skills from sales videos on Youtube or podcasts, but virtual-specific sales training is often a quicker pathway to success.

Sales training is an essential part of a successful sales professional's career, and virtual selling is no exception.

If you're serious about leveling up your digital selling skills, consider working with a sales training company to brush up your knowledge and skillset. Why not sign up to the Selling Made Simple Academy and close more sales in the next 28-days or your money back.

The only way to succeed with virtual selling is to reimagine your sales process for virtual selling. But, first, you have to figure out ways to use video and other digital elements to become more engaging when carrying out selling activities.

With this in mind, here are 6 virtual selling techniques to set yourself up for success:

Sales reps often assume their virtual calls will go exactly how they imagined without planning ahead. (News Flash: They don't.)

You must set expectations and make the process as clear and straightforward as possible for the buyer, which is only possible when you plan ahead.

Start your pre-call planning by:

Remove any confusion or doubts the prospect may have. This clarity will lay the foundation of a successful sales interaction.

Prospecting is the most critical part of the virtual selling process. You'll find yourself competing against endless emails in your prospect's inbox, so the pressure to get attention is high.

Prospecting virtually involves using video sales tools like Loom and Vidyard. You can use them to create personalized videos and speak directly to the prospect.

Not only will this make your email stand out, thanks to the more interactive video element of your email. But by allowing the prospect to see your face, you will build an instant connection with them too.

Think of this as a video form of a cold email. So the usual rules of providing content and value to the prospect still apply.

At this stage, you're already well-adapted to the concept of holding virtual meetings. But whether or not these sales meetings are successful depends mainly on the virtual selling tool you use.

It would be best to have a reliable video conferencing tool like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex Meetings ready to rock and roll. Or any other means that offers a frictionless and secure video environment to communicate smoothly with your customers. We also recommend using popular tools that are easy to install and set up.

Once you have the prospect on call, the other part of your job starts: gauging the prospect's body language and interest and conducting the meeting accordingly.

Virtual selling lets you connect with a person on a deeper level than on a phone call. You can see their reactions—positive and negative—and adjust your approach to ensure better outcomes. When selling virtual you can judge body language and other rapport cues that you'd otherwise have to be in person to see.

The goal for sales professionals when keeping the camera on is to give the prospect your full attention during the meeting and try to study their reactions.

But none of this will be possible without the cameras. So encourage the prospect to turn on their camera and keep yours on too any time you're engaging in the virtual sales process with a prospect.

Although handing off the buyer from one person to another during the sales process should be avoided, sometimes they're inevitable.

Business development representatives (BDRs) often start the relationship before handing it off to a sales professional. Subject matter experts and service teams may also be involved in answering technical questions the buyer may have.

See? Hand-offs are inevitable.

But think of all of this jumping about, from person to person from the prospect's viewpoint: they began building a relationship with you, and when they start to trust you, you introduce them to someone they've never had a relationship with before.

This issue becomes even more grave when selling virtually.

To win at selling virtually, you have to make the hand-off as seamless as possible. For example, you can either introduce the new person through an email, giving the prospect more context around how the new person can help them. Or, even better, you can have the new person join in on a virtual meeting and formally introduce them to the prospect.

When virtual selling, you'll find yourself following up after sales meetings and after sending over proposals to prospects.

You can email a video to follow up with the prospect, recapping everything discussed in the sales meeting. This video will help you get your message across exactly how you intend and make it easier for the buying team to share it among other decision-makers too.

You should also include videos within your proposals to get ahead of objections and provide more transparency. Start your proposal by walking the prospect through the details and what documents should be reviewed in your video.

These tactics will improve your chances of closing the deal and establishing trust with the prospect's organization. This is a must for both sales and marketing teams in 2021.

Virtual selling enables you to build a solid relationship with your client and get deeper insights into their needs. You can use this information to customize your pitch, improving your chances of actually making the sale.

Virtual selling isn't only about the technology—you'll still need your awesome selling skills to close deals. Sales leaders get this wrong all the time. You're likely not doing in person meetings anymore and so it's time to put the COVID 19 pandemic behind you, start to sell virtually and embrace the video call as the best way to engage, deal with challenges and win more deals.

The post 6 Tips To Master Virtual Selling And Crush Your Sales Quota appeared first on Salesman.com.

Any salesperson worth their salt knows using the right words in a pitch means the difference between a monumental win and a colossal failure.

But only the best sellers understand that there's far more at play here than just words. There are plenty of other ways to subtly nudge buyers towards a yes decision. And using neuro-linguistic programming is one framework for tapping into those techniques.

But what is neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)? Does it work? And how can you use NLP in sales?

This guide takes you through these questions and more. We'll also look at a proven 4-step framework you can use to sell more with NLP.

First off, let's define neuro-linguistic programming.

Coined by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in The Structure of Magic I and II, NLP is a framework for explaining and influencing how people think and behave.

Initially, NLP was based on the idea that we operate according to an internal and unconscious “map.” Unfortunately, that map doesn't always reflect the reality of the world. And by using a system of language, strategies, and subtle behaviors, we can influence and change that map—both in ourselves and others.

One of the most influential aspects of NLP is that so much of our lives are built on unconscious thought and communication. According to Bandler, “The greatest personal limitation is to be found not in the things you want to do and can't, but in the things you've never considered doing.”

Bandler and Grinder also believed that NLP could identify the patterns of thoughts and behaviors of successful individuals. After they were identified, others could then learn how to replicate that same success.

NLP has been applied to everything from improved work productivity and career progression to phobias, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

NLP has a place in the world of B2B sales too to help influence and build rapport with buyers.

Research on the use of neuro-linguistic programming for treating health conditions is scarce.

One review of five randomized controlled trials found that only one trial indicated any support. The other four showed the opposite. Another report from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health found zero clinical evidence supporting NLP.

That being said, there's a growing body of research supporting the use of NLP too.

It seems that, as of now, there isn't enough data out there to say conclusively if NLP works as a tool for B2B sales professionals. But, as the authors of the first review put it, their conclusion “reflects the limited quantity and quality of NLP research, rather than robust evidence of no effect.”

However, many professional salespeople swear by its application in sales.

The science may still be out on NLP's effects on health conditions.

But most NLP studies focus exclusively on treating conditions like anxiety and depression. Not for influencing the successful close of a sale. And as you might expect, research on that topic, in particular, is even scarcer.

But instead of thinking of NLP in sales as several specific practices, it's better to view it as a set of principles.

As a professional salesperson, you know that clinching the deal is about more than just words. Other factors affecting the sale include your:

These almost invisible cues all influence whether a buyer trusts you or thinks you're just plain lying. They may not know why they feel that way. But they still feel it all the same.

The value of NLP is that it identifies what's causing buyers to feel that trust or distrust. It's a way to step back, examine your subconscious behaviors, and find ways to use them to your advantage.

In the end, NLP in sales isn't about manipulating others. Instead, it's a way of refining yourself. And it's one more way to prove to buyers that your product is the solution to their problems.

There are plenty of ways you can apply the principles of neuro-linguistic programming to your processes. Below are four of the best NLP techniques for sales you can start using today.

The emotional anchoring technique helps induce a specific emotional response they've had in the past. These emotional responses can then be associated with a particular outcome (like buying your product).

Let's say you're selling a product that lets your buyer achieve greater productivity. A positive outcome of that greater productivity is the ability to attain hard-to-reach goals and impress the C-suite.

An example of emotional anchoring when pitching to this buyer might look like this:

By anchoring a powerful experience, you can then tie that anchor back to your product. The result is an intense association that's more likely to win buy-in.

One way to achieve emotional anchoring is by using emotionally rich language to “prime” a buyer for a specific feeling. This, again, is a technique that many of the best salespeople use intuitively. Even when they aren't well versed in neuro-linguistic programming or language manipulation.

Also known as “magic words” or “power words,” marketers of all kinds have used these phrases to elicit emotions of rapport and persuasion. Some examples of NLP phrases for sales are:

For positive emotions:

For inspiring curiosity:

For triggering urgency:

For building trust:

Try peppering these words into your communication with prospects. You'll be surprised at just how powerful they can be. They can help you break through sales objections, influence a buyers behavior and change selling outcomes.

Like attracts like. It's a core tenet that's hardwired into our brains. And we're more likely to get along with those similar to us. So a skilled communicator can use that tendency to their advantage.

Mirroring body language is a technique that puts the buyer at ease and breaks down mental barriers. It can be done by copying the mannerisms, gestures, and posture of the buyer. But it can also apply to communication styles (expressions, humor, cadence, cordiality).

The trick, though, is walking the fine line between mirroring body language too closely and too subtly. Too closely, and they're likely to catch on and become suspicious. Too subtly, and you won't achieve much of an effect at all.

Here are a few tips to make your mirroring more successful:

This is one of the more challenging NLP techniques to learn.

The “swish pattern” is a way to inspire buyers to recognize pre-conceived notions they hold in their own heads. These can be biases, investment hang-ups, prejudices—anything that happens automatically in their minds. Once they're out in the open, you can then show them why overcoming those notions can benefit their business.

Let's look at an example.

Say you have a buyer that's extremely averse to investing in optimizing the e-commerce side of their business. Despite all that's changed in doing business digitally, they still prefer the “old school” way of doing business. You, however, represent a service that offers 24/7 live chat for helping online customers.

So, how do you convince a buyer like that to sign on for a focused e-commerce service like yours? Even when there's little rapport in the customers relationship?

The swish pattern technique involves showing the buyer the value of investing in the e-commerce side of their business. Pointing out specific statistics and trends is helpful here.

But then (and this is the trick), you have to install a new self-image that comes about because of the investment. A great strategy here is pointing out case studies of similar past clients. Ideally, they'll be clients that had the same hang-ups as your prospective buyer. The more you're able to put your prospective buyer in the shoes of satisfied past clients, the better.

By swapping out their old ideas (e-commerce doesn't matter) with a shiny new self-image (e-commerce can help me thrive in my career), they're one step closer to signing off on the deal.

Using NLP for sales forces you to be more aware of your subconscious behaviors, both verbal and non-verbal. With that newfound awareness and a few new skills and key strategies, you can fine-tune your pitch or sales presentation to meet the specific needs of your buyer. And that, of course, means closing more sales.

Give the four-step NLP framework for selling a try today. But always remember, NLP is about getting better at connecting buyers with your valuable product. Not about manipulating them into a sale.

Looking for other techniques to refine your sales skills and close more deals? Get your exclusive online sales training today for FREE. Just click below to get started now.

The post 4-Step Process To Master NLP in Sales appeared first on Salesman.com.

On this episode of the Salesman Podcast, Christian Kinnear (SVP of International Sales, HubSpot) explains how the buyer journey has changed since the pandemic and what you need to do to take advantage of these changes.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

The post How The Pandemic Changed The Buyers Journey (And How To Leverage It) appeared first on Salesman.com.

Every sales professional has one aim: more sales.

Without sales, growth stagnates—which won't bode well for your organization's bottom line. And while securing deals is no easy feat, finding a sales framework that can be rinsed and repeated to ensure scalable, predictable, and measurable growth is entirely different.

To be at the top of your selling game, you need a scalable sales process—a proven sales methodology that best represents your product, values, goals, and market.

But how do you choose the best selling method for you?

This Salesman.org guide will examine eight successful sales philosophies to help you find your perfect fit and skyrocket your win rate.

Neil Rackham popularized the SPIN selling philosophy in his 1988 book, making it one of the oldest sales methodologies still in practice today. And despite the decades passed, SPIN is just as relevant (and reliable) today in the B2B world.

SPIN is an acronym of the four elements your sales questions should revolve around: Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff. Each of these four elements will help you uncover prospect pain points and challenges, making it easier for you to establish a solid rapport with them.

The SPIN Selling model involves asking:

No shocker here—Customer-centric selling puts the customer's convenience, challenges, and goals at the forefront. It's based on the titular book written by Michael T. Bosworth, John R. Holland, and Frank Visgatis.

This sales process focuses on the customer experience and using it to distinguish your brand from the competition. It encourages you to have meaningful conversations with prospects to understand their needs and pain points and then offer appropriate solutions.

Instead of making presentations, you'll hold relevant conversations about how your solution can be modified to match the client's requirements when selling to the prospect.

The customer-centric selling sales philosophy involves:

The target account selling philosophy focuses on selling to a select few targeted accounts per sales rep instead of targeting a large number of accounts with less focus.

You'll select a specific number of clients who match your ideal customer profile following this sales philosophy. You get to know their portfolios in more detail, allowing you to build and nurture a stronger relationship with the prospect.

Target account selling can be a good fit for sellers who work with large enterprise sales accounts with longer sales cycles and specific total addressable markets. However, the selling method isn't the right fit for broad markets, small-ticket items, or clients with transactional sales cycles.

The target account selling philosophy involves understanding:

N.E.A.T. selling is primarily a qualification process developed by The Harris Consulting Group and Sales Hacker. It's the more flexible and adaptable alternative to the traditional BANT, AI, and ANUM processes when qualifying buyers against your products and services.

N.E.A.T. stands for:

The sales philosophy is intended to be a flexible guide to help you ask the right qualifying questions as they naturally evolve in the conversations.

The N.E.A.T. business methodology involves:

Yes, more acronyms!

The MEDDIC sales philosophy was the brainchild of Dick Dunkel and Jack Napoli when they were at the PTC business back in the 1990s. They developed this sales framework for complex enterprise-level B2B deals to help them qualify customers by finding the answers to six critical questions.

MEDDIC is one of the more disciplined, tech-driven, and tightly controlled sales philosophies. It involves:

P.S: You can also adopt the more advanced version of MEDDIC: MEDDPICC (Metrics, Decision criteria, Decision process, Paper process, Identify pain, Champion, Competition). We have explained the process in more detail here.

If convincing your prospect feels like ice skating uphill, you should try the Sandler philosophy.

The Sandler methodology challenges the traditional norm of the seller convincing and pursuing prospects. Instead, it states that both parties—the prospect and seller—must be equally invested in a deal.

The first step in the Sandler system is to uncover the customers needs and then customize your sales pitch based on these needs.

Instead of behaving like a typical sales rep, you'll become your prospect's trusted advisor. You'll focus on adding value.

Additionally, you'll also ask questions to identify any challenges in the qualification process. There's a lot of emphasis on relationship building, lead qualification, and deal closing.

The obvious benefit is that you can forego continued engagement if your product or service doesn't match your prospect's problem. You can determine this through accurate analysis of customer requirements and an in-depth needs assessment.

The Sandler system involves the following:

This sales philosophy focuses on one of the five personalities: the Challenger.

As a Challenger salesperson, you have a unique view of the world. You're ready to put in the necessary work to understand your prospect's business and needs, and you love a good debate.

More than 40% of high sales performers use a Challenger-style persona. But even if you're one of the other four sales personalities (the Hard Worker, the Lone Wolf, the Problem-Solver, the Relationship Builder), you can always learn to become a Challenger.

Now the question arises what makes Challengers so successful at selling?

Challengers follow a “teach-tailor-take control” process, which includes:

Solution selling is a popular sales philosophy created by Michael Bosworth in 1988 that does away with a product-centric approach and instead focuses on the benefits, impact, value, and relevance of a tailored solution.

The premise here is simple: salespeople should sell benefits, not features.

This sales model encourages you to focus on your product or service's unique benefits to each prospect. But before that, you have to ask the right questions to understand the main problem your prospect is facing and develop an effective solution.

Here's what a typical sales funnel that follows a solution selling roadmap would look like:

Salesman.org's Selling Made Simple Academy™ has a simple philosophy: Make selling simple. We break the selling process down into 33 pieces and give you a simple step-by-step framework to reach success in each piece.

Want to find the sales philosophy that works for you and helps skyrocket your win rate? Get started here.

The post 8 Sales Philosophies to Simplify Selling and Skyrocket Your Win Rate appeared first on Salesman.com.

On this week in sales we’ll be looking at: spaced learning, the Netflix of cars sales, “inclusive” sales training and much more!

CRM Marketing Company Optimove Secures $75 Million

The funding will support continued investment in strategic hiring and M&A, expansion of the company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Marketing platform, and rapid growth.

Optimove’s SaaS technology combines a Customer Data Platform (CDP) with a Multichannel Marketing Hub (MMH) designed for uniquely empowering brands to deliver personalized marketing campaigns to connect and engage with existing customers.

And unlike more traditional solutions that rely on common, rule-based orchestration, Optimove places customer data at its core, layering advanced AI-based campaign orchestration on top.

https://pulse2.com/crm-marketing-company-optimove-secures-75-million/

How 3 college friends built a $1 billion business selling used cars 

Carro — a play on the words “car hero” — is a Southeast Asian online auto marketplace designed to simplify car deals using artificial intelligence technology.

In a region with a vast and growing, digital-savvy middle class, price-sensitive consumers were increasingly opting for second hand models.

Expanding middle class combined with low car ownership rates in Southeast Asia were really the main factors that stimulated new car sales.

Carro capitalized on that demand, rolling out its online offering for individuals and wholesale dealers across Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia in the years that followed. Meantime, it added end-to-end financial services like loans, insurance and aftercare.

By 2019, inspired by streaming giants Netflix and Spotify, the company launched Singapore’s first car subscription service, allowing users to lease a vehicle for a monthly fee, with tax, warranty, and maintenance all included.

“What we saw was the changing behavior of car ownership. Really the gap in the market was to look for people that want that flexibility. And more importantly, they actually want to try out new cars,” said Tan.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/05/carro-3-college-friends-built-a-1-billion-business-selling-used-cars.html

Sales Training: Boot the “Boot Camp” for Spaced Learning

Sales training and return on investment (ROI) have a complicated relationship. While sales leaders generally agree that training is valuable and necessary, it doesn’t always translate to desired results. A big reason for why training doesn’t stick is the way it’s traditionally been delivered and whether it’s reinforced.

Even today, instructors deliver most formal sales training efforts through real-time or virtual workshops. This fire-hose approach of delivering a ton of content at once, or during a few days, covers a lot of information, but most sales reps aren’t able to retain much of it.

SPARXiQ’s Modern Sales Foundations program provides 25 to 30 hours of learning and application exercises, and we recommend consuming the information at the pace of an hour per week.

Employing a virtual version of the flipped-classroom concept, salespeople watch the core content on a topic on their own time before joining together as teams or cohorts to conduct a follow-up reinforcement meeting. These follow-up meetings are best led by the frontline sales manager, who then becomes a continuing resource for the team while also leading by example.

https://www.td.org/atd-blog/sales-training-boot-the-boot-camp-for-spaced-learning

Seismic Unveils Inclusive New Sales Enablement Training Program

Enableship, a program designed to foster an inclusive community that provides sales enablement training and opportunities for underrepresented groups.

“The enablement space is booming, and yet, it is disproportionately white compared to the U.S. population,” said Donna DeBerry, Seismic Vice President, Global Inclusion

https://www.demandgenreport.com/features/news-briefs/seismic-unveils-inclusive-new-sales-enablement-training-program/

The post The Netflix Of Cars Sales? “Inclusive” Sales Training? And More! appeared first on Salesman.com.

On this episode of the Salesman Podcast Justin Michael and Tony Hughes explain how technology fits into the modern sales process and why you need to start leveraging tech sales to win more deals.

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Coming soon.

The post Want Superhuman Sales Skills? Then Try Tech-Powered Sales appeared first on Salesman.com.

50% of salespeople are using LinkedIn to beat sales quota. Social selling is the new name of the game.

In fact, 90% of C-level executives ignore cold calls altogether, especially since 84% prefer consulting social media before making purchasing decisions. As a result, cold calling to fill your pipeline is on its last legs.

On the flip side, three-quarters of all sales representatives are not getting any social selling training, and you can see why I wrote this article.

So how do you generate prospects using LinkedIn? And what should we avoid doing on the platform too? So let's get into some LinkedIn prospecting tips.

LinkedIn prospecting is the process of searching for, identifying, and connecting with LinkedIn users to convert them into new potential customers.

Time and again, we have heard the maxim, “It's not about what you know; it's about who you know.” That is true for prospecting on LinkedIn too. People choose to be on LinkedIn to make professional connections, and part of that hunt is being approachable too. This makes LinkedIn the perfect place to find and nurture new potential customers.

But, approaching unsuspecting LinkedIn users and bombarding them with the features of your product won't work. Instead, researching your prospects on LinkedIn and curating a message that resonates with their interests is a better way to start a conversation.

With over 770 million users worldwide in 2021, it is no surprise that LinkedIn is a forerunner in connecting B2B buyers and sellers. But don't let the vast numbers ease you out of your responsibilities. According to Forbes, the three golden rules to prospecting better are:

Now lets see how we can implement these golden rules with 8 LinkedIn prospecting tips.

Just like all industries, sales prospecting has its own best practices. So let's go through what works (and doesn't) when prospecting for new business on LinkedIn. Here are 8 tips when prospecting on LinkedIn.

First impressions matter; there are no two ways about it. They are crucial for your success in sales. When using LinkedIn for sales prospecting, your profile is your first impression. And within your profile, your headline is what sells you. So, how (and why) do we go from this:

To this:

If you ignore the headline field, LinkedIn won't leave it blank. Instead, the headline field will revert to your job title and corporation. While that's not a sin, it does not help you stand out. Generating new sales leads means hooking potential customers, and a captivating headline will help you do just that.

Next, pay attention to your audience. Who is it that you're trying to reach? And what message would compel them to act? Another consideration? Don't use technical jargon where your customer won't resonate with it.

Thirdly, make sure your USPs (unique selling points) are right there at the forefront.

Do you provide a better-quality product than your competition? Then put it in your headline. Please keep it captivating but straightforward enough for your customers to learn about you before they respond to your messages.

To sum it up, you have 120 characters to pitch your prospects. Use them wisely, intently, and resourcefully.

Posting content regularly will seem daunting at first. With minimum likes and little to no engagement, it can even seem pointless. But we all have to start somewhere.

Posting aimlessly will accelerate your chances of giving up on the process. So follow these tips from the experts at Forbes to build your consistency.

LinkedIn Pulse is the platform's blogging service. Now, imagine your LinkedIn profile is your resume while your LinkedIn Pulse profile is your cover letter. Creating blog-style content on LinkedIn Pulse can help establish you as an expert as the articles you compose show up with your name.

More content posted on the LinkedIn platform also establishes trust and familiarity, which can exponentially increase your chances of gaining prospects. It can also allow you to show off your technical expertise in a friendlier and more compelling way than your CV-like profile permits.

When creating content for lead generation and LinkedIn prospecting, make sure you're focusing on a specific target audience and you build relationships with them. You don't need to invest in a prospecting tool to connect with your decision makers. Relevant content is a strong sales process to turn your audience from potential prospects into an incoming connection request.

LinkedIn Search is capable of more than it is given credit for. In addition to searching for names, job descriptions, regions, role titles, and industries, you can also integrate Boolean operators to specify or broaden your search results.

Using operators like Quotation marks, Parentheses, NOT, AND, and OR can help you refine your search and take you faster to where you want to be. Consider the following examples:

Also, consider setting up search alerts for recurring searches that you make every week. These search alters will massively speed up your LinkedIn prospecting efforts.

Search for a specific word string and click the Create search alert button. LinkedIn will then share a list of new search results based on that search string right in your notifications panel.

When you search for prospects and then do cold outreach via a LinkedIn search or InMail messages make sure you build relationships before you go for the pitch.

While LinkedIn sales navigator is not a small investment, it can help your LinkedIn prospecting efforts.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is similar to LinkedIn Search. But LinkedIn Sales Navigator comes packed with more targeting power. For example, while LinkedIn Search allows you to search for a manager within a company, but LinkedIn Sales Navigator goes further and enables you to search for companies with a specific range of employees. Sales Nav allows you to keep filtering and refining your search until you reach your desired level of specificity.

Once you have a result you are interested in; you can save them as well. The ability to save your LinkedIn searches acts similar to search alerts, and you will be notified of new results adhering to your requirements as and when they are updated. These saved searches and alerts allow you to act faster, find those time-critical sales leads and become more effective at sales prospecting.

While cold calling worked in the past, since then, social anxiety has increased. The result? The increased popularity of text messages – and in our case, LinkedIn prospecting messages. Response rates on text messages are 295% higher than on cold calls. But don't spam them.

With all the LinkedIn prospecting tools at your disposal, you're doing it wrong if you are still sending out non-personalized messages. A well-drafted LinkedIn message is your most valuable weapon, second only to a fully established profile. And sending out a templated message with just a personalized introduction is not enough either. Depending on your sales strategy, it might serve you well to customize the body of your message according to the individual requirements and interests of the recipient.

That does not mean to draft long stories referring to their problem and how your product can help solve it. Your best bet? Aim to craft a clever yet subtle message that piques their interest and makes them want to know more. You can then set up a follow-up call to turn the warm lead into a hot sale.

Not adding – or at least inviting – your current customers to your LinkedIn network is a schoolboy error. These customers can add to your credibility by giving recommendations, testimonials and increase your reach exponentially by providing you with quality referrals.

While your current customers may not want to refer you directly, you can still leverage their reach and connections when connected with them on LinkedIn.

Keep it original. Plain and simple. Especially if you don't want your account to be restricted, yes, you read that right. LinkedIn has the authority to suspend accounts or even ban users they deem unfit to be on the platform.

While LinkedIn automation may make your life easier, LinkedIn is smart enough to realize when taking non-human actions. For instance, automating your profile to send out connection requests in the order of hundreds per day will get your account banned. Other examples of lousy automation include visiting a vast number of pages very quickly and generating artificial engagement.

Even without automation, you can still get your account banned with your actions. For instance, sending out too many connection requests to people you do not know will cause LinkedIn to assume that you're using automation tools.

Joining LinkedIn groups gives you an avenue to reach prospects with similar interests as your ideal buyer persona.

Even more important than connecting with like-minded people is standing out as an expert in your field. While there are thousands of sales reps on LinkedIn, you can showcase your expertise in your niche by joining and adding value within relevant groups.

What's worse than not being a part of LinkedIn Groups? Joining groups and then misusing them. Don't treat LinkedIn groups like an opportunity to shove pitches down the throats of your potential buyers. Instead, play it strategically and narrow down the groups you can be an active member of. Then slowly increase your influence as an authority within the group.

Social selling on LinkedIn is here to stay. While social selling may seem daunting at first, knowing your way around it helps establish authority, cultivate trust, and generate sales. And that, in the end, is what we're after, right?

So personalize each connection request. Leverage LinkedIn Sales Navigator for your lead generation. Avoid any LinkedIn prospecting tools that don't help you get in front of your target audience. And start generating sales from all of those gold mine LinkedIn profiles.

The post Powerful LinkedIn Prospecting: The 4 Dos and the 4 Don’ts appeared first on Salesman.com.

With each new iPhone, self-driving car, and AI assistant that's released, it's clear that technology is advancing. And it's advancing fast.

In fact, Moore's Law observes that the number of transistors (a.k.a. computing power) that can fit in a given space doubles every two years.

But what does that mean for you, a B2B salesman? It means it's time to get into tech sales.

Technology sales can be a highly lucrative and surprisingly fulfilling role for the right candidate. And if you're from a B2B background, you've already got the skill set needed to thrive.

But what is tech sales exactly? What kind of earning potential does it offer? And is making the transition from your current position worth the trouble?

This guide will take you through the answers to these questions and more. Inside, we'll be looking at what a tech sales job entails, necessary skills, estimated salaries, career paths, and how to break into the industry.

Much like sales positions in other industries, tech sales is all about selling. But rather than cars and clothes, high-tech services and devices are the products.

Most buyers will be businesses rather than individuals. As a result, B2B salespeople will be better acquainted with the unique sales process than B2C sales reps.

Technology sales is also a broad term. And companies that employ professional tech sales reps can be as varied as having a few employees or hundreds.

What's attracting so many to the profession today is the lucrative pay and growing market.

“Tech” refers to a wide range of products in the technology industry. Generally, though, tech sales professionals will be selling one or more of the following:

Sure, the pay is excellent, and there are countless advancement opportunities. But is transitioning to technology sales a good career choice? What about job security?

Have a look at the statistics below to better understand why moving to tech sales is a great long-term move, too.

So what exactly does a tech sales representative do, anyway? Below is just a glimpse of what a typical day looks like for a tech salesperson.

You sure don't. A common misconception in the tech industry is that you need to have direct knowledge in tech to thrive. In fact, nearly half (43%) of all open jobs in the industry don't require any technical background.

That being said, you will need a few other particular skills to succeed as a tech sales representative.

The skills you need to thrive will vary between companies. But even still, most successful technology sales professionals will have the following qualities.

In such a booming industry, it isn't surprising that successful tech sales professionals are compensated well at most tech companies. Whether you're selling software or technology tools a career in tech can be lucrative.

Average Tech Sales Representative Pay: $53,586 per year (Glassdoor).

Average Tech Sales Pay, All Positions: $77,395 per year (Glassdoor).

Tech Sales Pay Across Major Companies

Beyond the average base bay, tech sales representatives also tend to earn great commissions. Commission rates will, of course, vary between companies. But reps tend to bring in anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 per year in extra pay.

Below are positions that may open up for many tech sales representatives who are interested in having career in tech.

The tech sales field is highly competitive—there's no getting around it. It isn't just straight selling talent that separates the candidates for each tech sales job. There are a few things you can do to stand out from other applicants.

The tech industry is only getting bigger. There are more sales positions at tech companies than ever before. And if you're considering transitioning into tech sales, now's the time. It pays well. It offers plenty of upward mobility. And for salespeople more interested in solving problems than selling, it can be very fulfilling.

Hopefully, this guide has helped you figure out if tech sales is for you. And if it is, use the tips outlined above to make your transition a successful one.

The post Tech Sales – The Lucrative Sales Job You’ve Been Looking For appeared first on Salesman.com.

So many skills, so little time! This may be what you are thinking regardless of where you are in your journey as a sales rep. Since sales is continually evolving, there will always be new information and skills to learn.

If you seek ways to improve your sales skills, you may have typed “how to master the art of selling” in your browser. Unfortunately, a lot of the results were probably related to a best selling book by the same name written by Tom Hopkins (one of the greatest sales trainers) back in the 80's.

Since this book was written about 40 years ago, sales has changed. The book isn't as relevant as it once was. The basics apply, but buyers have changed dramatically. There is also more to modern sales than the art of selling. Selling anything today requires a greater emphasis on the science of the sale.

Instead of relying on your innate skills like the gift of gab and gut feel, you need to learn to:

So with that said, how do you master the art of selling?

It used to be that navigating the sales process when trying to master the art of selling was the only path to follow to close more deals. But, today, the focus is the buying process instead.

The buying process has become more critical than selling techniques for modern salespeople because prospects do thorough research online, and 70 percent of modern buyers define their needs before speaking with a sales rep.

This research makes buyers more informed than they used to be when sales reps were the sole source of product or service information. As a result, modern B2B buyers now have higher expectations of sales professionals.

The new buyer's expectations include:

Let's take a look at 5 skills that are needed to meet these buyer requirements.

Before speaking with a prospect, you need to do your research. Potential customers expect you to know their business, industry, and typical challenges that they're facing.

It also helps if you also keep current with what is happening in the marketplace. And it would be best if you were up to date on your competitors' product and customer support and how it compares to your company's and customer support too.

Sixty-eight percent of buyers agree that sellers that listen to them will influence their purchase decisions.

When practicing active listening, start by asking open-ended questions.

Then, listen more than you speak. This means listening to what the prospect is saying and the conveying feeling the potential customer shares with you.

Acknowledge and confirm your understanding of what the buyer has said by nodding or saying “um hum” so they know you are listening.

Be sure that you are focused on what the prospect is saying and that you are not thinking about what you want to say next.

Keep the prospect engaged in conversation by asking clarifying questions. Clarifying questions shows the prospect that you are interested in learning more from them.

Confirm your understanding by summing up what the prospect said and relaying it back to them.

Active listening builds trust and helps you develop a better relationship with your prospects.

Whenever you are speaking with a lead, you must ask clarifying questions to gain a complete picture of the potential customer's situation, needs, challenges, and goals.

These clarifying questions include learning how the prospect's business would benefit from reaching their desired outcome and how the prospect would benefit personally as well.

And don't forget to discuss money with the potential customer too regarding the availability of funds and their budget for the project. You don't want to advance too far in the sales process to find out that the prospect cannot buy due to a lack of cash.

Uncovering more thorough information makes it easier for you to qualify or disqualify prospects, so you don't waste valuable selling time on deals that are unlikely to close. These potential customers are not a good fit for your product and would not fully benefit from your solution.

Don't only focus on closing on a particular sale. Don't force the deal if the prospect isn't the best fit for your product or service. Instead, move on and spend your time and efforts on opportunities that match your ideal customer profile.

Your ideal customer profile defines the characteristics of prospects that will benefit most from your product. These are the potential customers who will be the most satisfied over the long term. Doing the right thing for the customer during the sales process is a win-win for you and the prospect.

And after you close a deal with customers, remember that they don't disappear. On the contrary, they want you to maintain a relationship with them by continuing to support them.

The next step of learning how to master the art of selling is to guide the prospect through their decision-making process by arming them with insights. This goes against the usual advice on how to master the art of selling because we're going to leverage science and data instead of anecdotes.

When you understand your potential client's situation, challenges, desired end state, and personal and professional benefits to solving their problems, you know exactly what information is needed to complete the buying process.

You also can create the best solution and know confidently that the prospect will sign on the dotted line.

Top-performing salespeople, who reach 125% of their quota or above, are more likely than other sales reps to leverage data to improve their sales skills. This data can be manually tracked, accessed in a CRM, or come from any of the many technologies used by today's top sales teams.

Data is valuable for mastering the art of sales to evaluate your progress toward goals, find more leads, and gain insights when testing and evaluating sales techniques.

Let's look at how measuring and analyzing helps you track your sales progress. If you're not already tracking your sales progress you need to update your sales training.

If you are doing this manually, start with your sales goals. You want to determine if you will hit your target by the end of the month. Then, look at the numbers to figure it out.

Armed with this information, you can analyze it and determine how many leads you need to connect with to close the correct number of deals to hit your monthly, quarterly, and annual goals.

Start doing this early and often so you can fine-tune your efforts to ensure you hit your sales targets.

If you measure everything you do, you'll be able to identify vulnerabilities and work on improving those areas.

Lets go beyond traditional, classroom based sales training. An effective way to use analysis to improve your sales techniques is by using call reviews. Call reviews are the act of listening to call recordings to measure your progress in improving specific elements of your sales call technique.

Call reviews can be completed alone or in a group of peers where the call is critiqued to discuss what went well during the call and what could be done to improve it.

Call reviews can also be done by sharing call recordings with a skilled peer or your manager and requesting feedback for improvement.

Sharing call recordings can also be used for skill building when listening to examples of best practices to model in your own sales calls.

A/B testing is a tried-and-true practice employed by marketing professionals to improve emails, landing pages, and marketing messages.

Sales reps can benefit from using this process as well to adapt and change the messaging you use. This will help you continually improve your results. Examples of what testing can be used for include:

Optimize facets of sales calls, scripts or emails with testing like:

Whichever element you are testing, the process is the same.

Start by selecting what you want to optimize, such as your call script. Then use two different greetings or introductions such as a question versus a statement such as:

Test it by using the two scripts on a sampling of at least 100 calls or more. The larger the number, the more accurate the assessment will be.

To measure the effectiveness of the two scripts, you need to analyze the data. You can determine which option worked better by looking at the percentage of leads with the desired outcome. This is also known as the conversion rate.

To find this information, you might run a report in your CRM to collect all the call outcomes for the two groups of calls made using the two scripts. The one with the more significant number of conversions is the more useful script.

When learning how to master the art of selling to the modern buyer, you need to leverage scientific methods. You need to go beyond Tom Hopkins original book on the topic. You need some new skills and a williness to take on some analytical challenges.

It used to be sufficient to lean on your innate skills to sell anything, today's sales reps require additional skills.

You need to understand your buyer so that you can give the prospect what they want. This builds trust and aids in the development of a longer-term relationship.

Monitoring your progress by measuring and analyzing key performance indicators makes it possible for you to fine-tune your performance along the way so you can meet your goals.

Testing variations of call scripts, emails, and voice mails leads to incremental improvements in the results of your efforts.

Leverage these scientific methods on a routine basis to consistently improve your sales skills.

The post How To Master The Art Of Selling (With Data, Numbers And Science) appeared first on Salesman.com.

On this week in sales we’ll be looking at; the counter intuitive science behind why salespeople avoid big opportunities, real-time virtual sales assistants on Zoom calls, the cutest dog in the world and much more!

Defy Partners leads $3M round into sales intelligence platform Aircover

The company aims to give sales teams insights relevant to closing the sale as they are meeting with customers. Aircover’s conversational AI software integrates with Zoom and automates parts of the sales process to lead to more effective conversations.

Zoom’s CTO Brendan – “One of the goals of launching the Zoom SDK was to provide developers with the tools they need to create valuable and engaging experiences for our mutual customers and integrations ecosystem,”

They created Aircover to be a software tool on top of video conferencing that performs real-time transcription of the conversation and then analysis to put the right content in front of the sales person at the right time based on customer issues and questions.

This means that another sales expert doesn’t need to be pulled in or an additional call scheduled to provide answers to questions.

Andrew Levy, CEO Airzoom – “We are anticipating that knowledge and parsing it out at key moments to provide more leverage to subject matter experts,” “It’s like a sales assistant coming in to handle any issue.”

https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/17/defy-partners-leads-3m-round-into-sales-intelligence-platform-aircover/

Bigtincan share price has soared 50% higher in the past 6 months

Sales enablement software developer Bigtincan shares have soared over 50% higher (to $1.33, as at the time of writing).

Revenues for the year ended 30 June 2021 were up 42% (to $43.9 million). However, increased operating expenses meant that the company’s net loss increased year on year, from $12.2 million in FY20 to $13.9 million in FY21.

But the really big news came a few days prior to the release of the company’s results. That’s when Bigtincan announced that it was acquiring US-based sales coaching software developer Brainshark, Inc. for US$86 million.

Brainshark has been around since 1999 and already employs 180 staff. It has more than 900 corporate customers, including international brands like JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) and Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM).

Bigtincan estimated that annual recurring revenues for the combined entities would reach at least $119 million by the end of FY22. By comparison, Bigtincan’s ARR at the end of FY21 was just $53.1 million.

Here’s why the Bigtincan share price has soared 50% higher in the past 6 months

Sales Enablement Platform Highspot Launches Highspot Marketplace

Challenger, Corporate Visions, Sandler and more than 20 leading sales organizations launch new Enablement Packages on the Highspot Marketplace.

Jake Braly, VP Strategic Alliances and Partner Sales, Highspot. – “Consistent rep performance unlocks repeatable revenue growth. Achieving it requires a prescriptive approach to positive behavior change and skill development,”

“In the same way that the App Store lets a user download apps, the Highspot Marketplace lets you download content and training packages from leading sales methodology firms directly into your Highspot environment. This is a huge win for both sales leaders and sales enablement teams that want to scale adoption of sales methodologies.”

300-600 Woman

Why Salespeople Avoid Big-Whale Sales Opportunities

Researchers published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that tests a framework of salespeople's decision-making while prospecting.

The study is titled “Why Salespeople Avoid Big-Whale Sales Opportunities”.

Contrary to the intuition that salespeople gravitate toward big-whale sales opportunities, in reality they often avoid them. This new study integrates contingent decision-making and conservation-of-resources theories to develop and test a framework of salespeople's decision-making while prospecting.

The researchers make three contributions to marketing literature.

Simulations reveal that when high performers or inexperienced salespeople believe their portfolio magnitude is large and conversion uncertainty is low, their quota attainment can improve by as much as 50%. These results call for further research to apply decision-making theories to personal selling when efforts are costly and resources limited.

https://phys.org/news/2021-09-salespeople-big-whale-sales-opportunities.html

Pebble’s Helmet

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