Month: October 2021

The most powerful 30 words in sales

I have always sold premium products but it was in 2005 that I knew I had to create a script that would help me navigate the buyers initial question.

“what’s the price”

I was selling $70K product and my nearest competitor was $30K.

I got a lot of hang ups.

Over the years the script has been modified, tested, changed, and evolved into what it is today

In my view the most powerful 30 words in sales.

30 words that can change your business

30 words that will enable you to increase prices, eliminate discounting and increase your lead conversion rates.

Now when a buyer calls and asks that age old question “what’s the price” you cannot ignore it.

But you cannot answer it either as doing so gives the buyer frame control, the discussion then revolves around the price, the sales process is de-railed.

“Hey Mr buyer that is a great question and I will answer that no problem, before I do though I want to let you know”

And now come the 30 words

We are a premium product (or service)

We understand we are not for everyone

To see if we may be a good fit

I am going to ask you some questions

This 30 word stretch may seem innocuous but there is a lot going on, it is all about frame control.

You are telling the client up front you are not cheap, that you are prepared to walk away, that you are selecting them as much as they are selecting you and that you are in control of the questions.

If you use this 30 word script as part of your overall sales strategy in your business, in the first 60-90 seconds of all new incoming sales inquiries watch discounting reduce and lead conversion rates rise.

There are a number of frames that businesses need to understand, check out the blog on Frame control

https://thesalesstrategist.com.au/what-is-frame-control/

The prize frame

https://thesalesstrategist.com.au/what-is-the-prize-frame/

What is the prize frame?

If you are in business you have likely heard the term “prizing”.

You may use the term yourself. You may even encourage team members to “prize” themselves.

But what does prizing actually mean?

What is the prize frame?

The prize frame is a mindset and in sales it is one of the most powerful and significant shifts a business can make which has an immediate and “forever” impact on everything you do.

In sales invariably the buyer sees themselves as the prize.

They have the money, they have the power to do a deal, write a purchase order, sign a letter of intent, pay a deposit.

And most businesses, most sales people will act supplicant and do anything to get it.

This will then come across to the buyer as desperate and needy and then the buyer will only do business with us if it suits them.

They will negotiate on price, terms, they will seek concessions and only deal with us based on their charity, if the deal is good for them.

And this is no way to run a successful business

To start with its not fun

Nor is it profitable.

The prize frame mindset starts with the self belief that you, your business its products or services are the prize, not the buyer.

That you are the prize

That the buyer has a pain point or problem to solve and that they need you to solve it, you don’t need them.

That you are the prize

That you are an expert in what you do, in solving the buyers pain or problem with your product or service and without you, the buyers pain will remain.

That you are the prize

That you will decide, not the buyer if they are a good fit to welcome into your business

Because you are the prize

And once you and or your team develop this mindset, just watch the changes that occur.

• You start attracting and doing business with the quality buyers.
• The buyers who understand value and don’t constantly negotiate
• Discounting will become a thing of the past
• You will engage buyers that are committed to work with you
• Revenue rises
• Profits increase

All because of a change in mindset

That YOU are the prize.

There are a number of frames that businesses need to understand, check out the blog on Frame control

https://thesalesstrategist.com.au/what-is-frame-control/

“Let’s generate more leads”

I hear it all the time.

Sales are slow lets generate more leads

Our conversion rates are going down, lets generate more leads

We are not achieving our revenue numbers, lets generate more leads.

So off you go to the Marketing or advertising company and pay them to generate more leads, and they can do that, they are expert at it, you want to generate more leads, you are in the right place.

But do you REALLY need to generate more leads?

Most businesses I engage with have a lead conversion rate, the number of deals won from the number of leads you generate that is under twenty percent.

Sure some are lower (as low as one percent) and higher (I have a client over ninety percent) but on average under twenty percent is a fair reflection,

This means they are EIGHTY PERCENT ineffective !

They are generating enough leads, they just cannot close them.

And there is a simple low cost yet highly effective solution that may even mean you can reduce your advertising and marketing expenditure.

FOCUS ON LEAD CONVERSION not generating more leads.

Here is an example of the impact that can be made when a company works a little on their lead conversion and I worked with this team for nine months and the goal, to increase lead conversions from eight percent to 15%.

UP EIGHTY SEVEN AND A HALF PERCENT

That is not a typo, revenue and margin up a staggering

TWO HUNDRED AND SEVETY FIVE PERCENT.

What is frame control?

Frame control happens below the surface of every business meeting you attend, every sales call you make, and every business interaction you have.

If you don’t have frame control you will be at the mercy of the buyer and then your success and the success of your business will only depend on their charity.

While many businesses have heard of frame control very few understand its power.

So what is frame control?

Another person can look at exactly the same thing you are looking at through their frame and see something completely different (see image above)

There are millions of people in business and each brings a unique perspective, a way of looking at things, a frame to every encounter and when your frame and that of the buyer come together one will dominate the exchange, the weaker will subordinate.

And when these two frames come together they collide

And it is not a friendly contact it is a death match, when frames come together the stronger frame completely dominates the other and absorbs the weaker frame. That’s why it is called frame control !

If you and your partner have differing views on the importance of valentines day .. lets say you think it is a waste of time but your partner doesnt..

Frames collide and ask yourself who will win that encounter ?

And so much going on in the world right now.. vaccinate Vs anti vax two frames collide?

And in business what you may see as a 5 million dollar deal the buyer may see as two million of you are lucky.

When you have frame control people are playing by your rules, they accept your frame, your morals your pre suppositions and they accept your leadership

Frame control is the basis for all business discussions and interactions

There are DOZENS of frames in business but these are the most common.

.

The 7 most common frames to be aware of

I will be posting a weekly BLOG on each of the 7 frames above, stay tuned.

How sales fit is your business?

“How sales fit is your business?” is a question I asked over 350 small to medium sized businesses last month. Between them, they invest around $7 000 000.00 a year on marketing:

web sites, SEO, Google AdWords, social media marketing, advertising, video production.

All this money is invested to generate leads, to get the phone to ring, their website visited, inviting people into their business.

In this group marketing is their super-power.

Yet after all this money has been invested in lead generation, and buyers are contacting their business how sales fit are they?

How much is being invested in converting these leads into revenue, into sales?

Fifty-one cents a day!

Less than 1% of their marketing investment, 0.0093% to be precise, an average of $186.00 a year.

At a time in human history when business is the most competitive it has even been, when buyers have more power than ever before.

TODAY in 2021 seventy percent of the buyer’s purchasing decision is being made before businesses get a call.

And that is up from forty percent in 2015.

And this is forecast to rise to ninety five percent by 2025

I say that again by 2025 95% of the purchasing decision will be made before we as businesses get a call

And these are number business just cannot ignore, they will scare many.

And rightly so, because you will get once chance to pitch to these buyers so it better be engaging, because when the phone rings, the email pings or the door swings open and your sales team is not ready.

Another deal lost or a buyer bullying you to get a better price or longer terms.

And today in a covid / post covid market look at what is happening..

• Competition up
• Pressure on margins is intense
• Spending on lead generation up
• Lead conversion rates down
• And when you do close invariably it’s a discussion about price

The biggest challenge facing businesses long term survival today is not a global pandemic or a crowded marketplace or how often you post on social media.

The biggest challenge to business today is how sales fit you are, how you pitch, persuade, influence and sell a 2020s buyer.

In a market where buyer has all the power, has seen the same sales technique thousands of times before and knows how to shut you down.

Being Sales fit will be the difference between a business that thrives and a business that struggles to survive.

Which one will you be?

Being sales fit is crucial, because without businesses knowing it the way buyers buy has changed quickly.

The buyers have been in the gym lifting weights and pumping iron for the past 10 years getting stronger, more dominant and businesses have by and large been sitting on the couch with ice packs on all the bruises they get when the buyers come and beat them up wondering, what just happened.

So how sales fit is your business?