How do the top salespeople continually blow away their quotas so effortlessly? Do they have some kind of secret formula they follow to ensure success consistently? Yes – and much of it has to do with how top sales performers adhere to the key sales activities in their sales process and clearly understand the buyer’s engagement levels along the way giving them a roadmap/foundation for sales success.
A top sales performer knows the importance of maximizing their time to either move a deal efficiently from lead generation to close or lose early.
And believe it or not, it all starts at the beginning when you engage the prospect. Here are three simple ways you can better engage prospects, win more deals, and become a top performer.
#1: Do More, Earlier in Your Sales Process
Top salespeople know that the more research you do earlier in the process, the better you will be prepared for anything that comes next. If you spend time understanding who the key decision makers and influencers are and what they are trying to accomplish – business outcomes, personal wins, their key priorities and why – and these key stakeholders are engaged, at all levels in the discovery process, the better you can determine if this is where you want to spend your time.
#2: Use Good Old-fashioned Value Linking
By gaining a better understanding of what the prospect is trying to achieve – at all levels of their organization – and the impact if they do not achieve them, you can better position your solution and pricing – and become more of a trusted partner. How many times have you known in your heart that you have the right solution for your prospect/customer, but the deal stalled? Or you lost the deal after spending a ton of time on it? Or you got the verbal OK but the contract sat forever in procurement? We have all been there.
Top salespeople are experts in good old-fashioned value linking. They become that go-to person who best understands the business outcomes and priorities the key decision makers are trying to achieve, and they know when they are at the right levels of the organization. If they cannot determine specific business goals and priorities or clearly understand the impact of doing nothing, they will not waste their time and will either figure out a way get this information or move on.
#3: Prepare for Meetings
Top salespeople know that preparing for meetings with key decision makers is a critical and great use of their time. They would never just show up and wing it. If the meeting does not go well, it may take an inordinate amount of time to get a second meeting or they may never have the opportunity. They want to validate the information they have gathered, fill in their gaps of knowledge and test the buyers level of engagement to best ensure everyone’s success.
Top salespeople know that prospects will be glad when you ask questions about what they care about day in and day out. It shows that you’re confident and knowledgeable and that you care more about their priorities than your own.
So learn from top sales performers and take the time to ask better questions early in the sales process, connect the dots, use it as a way to gain credibility, reduce the sales cycle time. And hopefully, you’ll drive more revenue now that you understand how to engage prospects and win more deals.
