5 Lessons in Sales Every Business Owner Should Know.

Lesson 1 – Have Multiple Stages

To excel in sales, employing multiple stages is essential. Think of selling as baking a cake: it requires precision and careful steps. While you could opt for the quick microwave route, the result is far from satisfactory compared to a perfectly baked cake. Each ingredient must be added at the right time and in the right order. Rushing risks burning, while going too slow may result in a flat outcome and turning off the oven could result in the prospect going cold. Just like a cake, sales need to be nurtured through various stages to perfection.

Consider the efficiency of an A&E department with a minor injury or illness: no matter the time, there’s always a waiting room bustling with patients. Imagine having a similar scenario in your business—a room filled with eager prospects waiting to be served. When you leave A&E, you often walk out with a prescription—the sale. Remarkably, you’re convinced of their diagnosis 80-90% of the time. How would your business thrive if your customers were similarly sold on your solution?

Now, let’s examine the stages you encounter at A&E. First, you provide details at reception—a brief exchange ensuring you’re not in immediate danger (qualifying the customer has a budget or their problem fits with the scope of your business). Then, you move to triage, where more in-depth questions are asked, and some pain relief is usually provided. Finally, you meet with a doctor for a thorough assessment, including some more in depth assessments, until a prescription—the sale—is determined.

Recap: A&E comprises three distinct stages for minor injuries or illnesses:

• Reception (5 Minutes)
• Triage (15-20 Minutes)
• Diagnostic (1-2 Hours)
• Proposal (Making the Sale)

How can you integrate this A&E procedure into your business?

• Would you trust a prescription without proper examination?
• Would you wait if the process took too long?
• Would you believe someone who appeared inexperienced or sloppy at any stage?

By adopting a multi-stage approach, you ensure thoroughness and increase the likelihood of a successful sale.

Lesson 2 – Understand Customer’s Motivations

Understanding why individuals seek your product or service is paramount in sales. While the adage “sell the hole, not the drill” holds truth, it’s crucial to delve deeper. People don’t desire mere holes in their walls; they envision hanging cherished family photos or enhancing their home’s ambiance with a beautiful chandelier to compete with the Joneses. Recognizing these underlying motivations is key.

Thus, Lesson 2 emphasises the importance of discerning why individuals are in front of you in the first place. What do they seek to gain, or what problem do they wish to solve? Beyond the tangible product or service, it’s crucial to grasp the emotional need driving their decision-making. Understanding this emotional underpinning enables tailored sales approaches, leveraging the power of emotion in decision-making.

Remember, emotion is the catalyst for action in sales. Without tapping into this emotional energy, the sales process may stagnate. By aligning your sales pitch with customers’ emotive needs, you can create a meaningful connection and get the sale over the line.

Lesson 3 – Master the Art of Questioning

In sales, asking great questions is paramount. It’s through questioning that you uncover the core motivations and needs of your prospects. You need a strategic set of questions to delve into why they’re seeking your product or service, their preferences, and their pain points.

• How do you find out why they want the hole? By asking questions—lots of them.
• What are their reasons for buying the product?
• What is their budget?
• What are their time frames?
• What are their favourite colours?
• What problems are they facing?

But don’t stop there. Dive deeper:

• How are these problems affecting their business or home or life?
• What are their goals, and how important are they?
• How would achieving these goals make them feel?
• Conversely, how would they feel if they didn’t achieve them?
• What alternatives have they considered, and why didn’t they work?
• Would achieving their goals bring them happiness?
• Is there any additional information crucial to their decision-making process?
• Who else is involved in the decision-making process?
• Are they in discussions with other businesses or service providers?
• Are they ready to make a decision today?
• How does your proposal align with their expectations?

The list of potential questions is endless, but the goal remains the same: to gain a comprehensive understanding of your prospect’s needs and motivations in your eyes (and their eyes!!!). Drawing parallels with A&E, where questions are integral to diagnosis, sales success hinges on the art of inquiry.

• How did you injure yourself?
• Does this area hurt when I press it?
• Let’s run some tests to get a clearer picture.
• Have you eaten recently?
• Are you allergic to anything?

In sales, as in healthcare, effective questioning leads to accurate diagnosis and successful outcomes.

Lesson 4 – Harness the Power of Scripts

Once you’ve outlined your sales stages and questions, it’s time to craft scripts. Despite common reluctance, utilising scripts is crucial for consistency and effectiveness in sales. Even seasoned sales professionals often follow a set sequence of questions because they yield results.

While you may not personally require a script after years of experience, your sales team undoubtedly benefits from them. Scripts ensure uniformity in approach and allow for the replication of successful techniques across the team. Moreover, identifying outliers in your team who you can learn from is paramount. That may be you as the business owners or you  may have 1 or 2 sales people who perform way above the rest.

Here are key considerations for reviewing their approach for script development as follows;

• What questions do they ask?
• How do they initiate the conversation?
• How do they generate desire for the product or service?
• What strategies do they employ to close the deal?

By documenting and refining these elements, you create a framework for success that can be easily disseminated among your sales team.

Lesson 5 – Embrace A Diverse Range of Mediums

In the sales process, it’s crucial to diversify the mediums through which you engage with prospects. While face-to-face conversations and phone calls are standard, integrating additional mediums enhances engagement and understanding.

Consider incorporating the following mediums into your sales approach:

• Video Content: Invite prospects to watch informative videos showcasing your product or service.
• Physical Samples: Provide tangible samples that allow prospects to interact with your offering firsthand in their hands.
• Trial Offers: Offer trial periods or demos to allow prospects to experience your product or service before committing.
• Assessment Reports: Furnish detailed reports summarising assessments or evaluations conducted during the sales process.

By offering varied mediums, you make your offering tangible and relatable, reducing the risk of loss. Drawing parallels with the A&E experience, physical interactions play a vital role in establishing trust and authenticity.

In A&E, the physical examination, administration of medication, and diagnostic tests contribute to the patient’s sense of progress and reassurance. Similarly, offering tangible experiences in your sales process reassures prospects and enhances their understanding and trust.

Reflect on your interactions with healthcare providers—how satisfactory were stand alone remote consultations compared to combining remote consultations with concrete experiences, such as sending blood tests through the post or arranging a clinic visit, healthcare providers instil confidence in their diagnoses by adding additional stages.

Likewise, in your business, tangible experiences foster trust and credibility, ultimately driving sales success.

So, there you have it—five essential lessons in sales that every business owner should know.

Bonus Lesson 6 – You Can’t Always See the Woods for the Trees.

In the hustle and bustle of running a business, it’s easy to get lost in the day to day grind.

If you want a fresh perspective on your sales approach and want to explore how to integrate these strategies step by step. I invite you to schedule a complimentary hour-long session with me. Together, we can discuss practical ways to implement these strategies tailored to your business needs.

Please click here to book a free session with me.