¿Cómo adapta su enfoque de descubrimiento a prospectos específicos?

We teach our team to consistently come to discovery with a perspective. Some perspective can be built through research like industry, use case, strategy. Some perspective is intrinsic. Being naturally curious about what your customer is wanting to accomplish and sometimes more importantly why. What- This could be anything from cutting operating expenses to mitigating risk to increasing revenue. Understand why this is important to your customer. Why- What's at stake for your customer? A promotion? Props? A raise? Perspective will shape your discovery. Start there and branch out.

There's a delicate balance to strike. If you ask too many questions without adding value you may not have earned the opportunity for a second meeting. I typically like to think about these calls as a chance to get deep enough to get an understanding, not deep enough to know their business. What this means to me is 1-3 questions within each topic and within each question ensure you're adding value by providing an example of a customer who's seen success with a similar strategy, industry standards of what the prospective customer can expect or a similar problem another customer faced and their strategy to solve for it.

This is the most important bullet in my opinion. It's necessary to not only understand what your customer's goals are, but you (as a seller) need to exhibit engagement and authentic interest. A buying influence can smell a fake sales rep from a mile away, and will withhold vital information. This is why, in the consultative selling industry, it's imperative to hire sales reps who take a legitimate interest in the industry, and genuinely strive to resolve customer pain points. For instance, as a scientist myself, I found it easy and enjoyable to sell into the academic field where I could communicate empathetically with customers, identify pain points, and easily navigate conversations.

When customers are actively listened to, they feel: Validated: Their concerns matter. Safe: They can express without judgment. Understood: Through empathetic responses. Engaged: It's a two-way conversation. Trusted: Solutions offered are in their best interest. Premature pitching disrupts this. It's like offering a band-aid for a deeper wound. Salespeople should practice patience, ensuring they grasp the full story before suggesting solutions. This approach not only tailors solutions effectively but also fosters genuine relationships.

There's two types of listening: 1) Listening to respond 2) Listening for understanding Ensure you're the second. A couple tricks if you're on a phone or zoom is to keep yourself on mute while the other person is talking. The half second it will take you to come off mute may keep you from interrupting someone and will help you continue to listen because you won't be heard if you speak.

This is so important. I do my best to always match the other people(s) energy and tone. Some people love energy, others view too much energy as "shot out of a cannon" energy which can be off putting. I like to early on understand what the one thing they'd like to leave the call with to ensure I'm actively listening and providing a value to the time they're giving. Early in calls I prefer to listen more than I speak so I can understand and gauge the person's communication style, tone and energy so it enables me to match it easier.

Adapting to their verbiage and lingo is a good tip. For example, if they refer to their staff as reps rather than agents, then use reps thereafter. A common mistake is to not adapt to the customer and use lingo and wording from your internal company, no matter how "correct" it may be.

Your follow up starts while still on the call. Many salespeople make the mistake of asking what the next step should be. Don't do this. Instead, make a recommendation of what the next step should be based upon your expertise in the industry and sales. Agree on what that follow up will look like, schedule anything that needs scheduling then move into follow up documentation.