The best salesperson I know on the face of the planet has this on her LinkedIn profile: "A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all." She believes it passionately and she knows what value she creates and exactly what a happy customer looks like. She profiles them and then uses it to positively discriminate in her targeted prospecting and business development activities to build pipeline… smart gal!
But she goes one step further, she thinks about how to connect publicly with industry thought leaders, and how to connect her happy customers with the prospects she is targeting. She positions herself and those who can assist her in LinkedIn and other online communities. This salesperson is genuinely humble and understands the maxim: It’s amazing how much can be achieved when you don't care who gets the credit.
Alignment beats evangelism for anyone wanting to be efficient in how they sell. Understand the business problems you’ve solved for your happiest customers and the tangible benefits they derived after implementing your solution. What was their ROI and what other benefits did they achieve (improved customer satisfaction, better retention, faster time to market, etc.). Insightful questions and telling powerful relevant true stories are the key to engaging in a sales conversation that’s sets a vision and the right agenda. As you plan a sales call, always ask:
- How can I lead with insight?
- What’s my main point?
- Why should they care?
- What questions will I ask?
- What do I want them to do next?
If you valued this article, please hit the ‘like' and ‘share’ buttons below. This article was originally published in LinkedIn here where you can comment. Also follow the award winning LinkedIn blog here or visit Tony’s leadership blog at his keynote speaker website: www.TonyHughes.com.au.
main Image Photo by Flickr: Dan Queiroz