How to frame the first minute to increase your chance of a sale by 80%

You work hard to get in front of a key decision maker such as a CEO. So why do so many sales professionals blow the big chance time and again?

Usually it is because they fall back into well used sales techniques such as asking 101 questions like “tell me about your greatest challenge?” or “tell me about your company?”

However in this day and age people are far too busy to afford you the nicety of their time if you do not have direction and purpose from the moment you step in the door. You will win or lose that client in the first 60 seconds.

And busy senior executives (or anyone for that matter) will not spend the time to explain to you why you have not managed to get past first base. They will simply say they do not have a budget or that they are not buying. Sadly, most sales professionals take this as gospel and wander back to the office believing what they have just heard.

 Here is a simple three step process that will create the winning approach with decision makers that will have you beating those sales targets.

 If you put them into practice you will enjoy far more success because you will: 

• Make the sort of impression that cuts right through a lot of preliminary work and takes you straight to a deep and meaningful conversation.
• Add value for both parties. 
• Set you apart from everyone else that comes through the door.
• Gain instant acceptance with the potential client.
• Reveal their real needs so that you can provide real solutions.

 A special thank you to Owen McCall who has shared some of the following ideas. Owen is a perceptive thinker in the IT world and it is worth looking into how he creates successful IT teams. Go to www.successfulcio.com for more info.

  1)      Do your research.

 In this Google driven age where we can find out so much about an organization at the click of a button, there is no excuse for not having some research done.  We try to encourage people to have a hand full of research, which means a point of interest for every finger and thumb.  With five points of interest you’ll have something to talk about.

 In addition to online information sources you have your own personal connections, trade magazines, association information, news items, receptionists and EAs, etc.  There is lots of information if you but look.

 You may think that research is a pain and somewhat boring but, as the astronaut Neil Armstrong said “Research is simply a way of gaining more knowledge.” Let’s face it; it’s nowhere near as boring as wasting good leads and getting nowhere with potential clients. And your opposition is doing it.

 The client you are going to see has probably done some on you and your company as well.

2)      Be Relevant

 There is certainly room for some small talk but busy people want to get to the point.  When you walk into that room hit them with something that is relevant to a burning need or a situation that needs resolving.

 Nothing demonstrates your understanding of their industry and their needs, and therefore their challenges and frustrations, more than being able to open your mouth and put something on the table that makes sense to them in the first few sentences. Remember that first impressions are made fast and held for a long time.

 By getting to the point (and framing it that way as we will see in the example a little later on) you will also demonstrate that you appreciate how busy they are and that you value the time they’ve given you.

 In this way you will set yourself apart from everyone else that walks in the door and find a high degree of acceptance and a real likelihood of further conversations leading towards a sale.

 3)      Have An Opinion

 This means having the courage of your own convictions to have an opinion about the knowledge that you’ve gained.  Don’t just make observations about the industry. Apply those observations to the potential client and let them know you have the strength of character to have some thoughts and ideas to share about them.

 The advantage here is that if you’ve got an opinion that matches theirs you have an instant rapport and will go straight into a deeper conversation. This cuts through a lot of small talk and cements the idea in the prospects mind that you have intelligence and are worthy of their time.

 But what if your opinion is not the same as theirs?

 Great news - It doesn’t matter.

 If you’ve got the courage of your own conviction but they don’t agree with you, then you still go straight into a deeper conversation about why their opinion differs from yours.  Either way, you’ve gone through the necessity of a lot of small talk and got straight into having some depth and intelligence running through your conversation.

 Decision makers appreciate dealing with people who understand how precious their time is, have done some homework before walking through the door and have the courage of their own convictions.

 Let’s look at an example. 

Suppose you were someone in the IT industry talking to the Chief Operations Officer of a reasonably large organization.  Your research might have shown that they have recently acquired two new organizations and are currently bringing those into line with their own.  Your experience tells you that there is little chance that all three IT systems align perfectly and there will certainly be some migration problems and delays as unexpected events arise.  Armed with this, you might make an observation such as;

 “Mr COO, I noticed on the internet and in the news that you’ve recently acquired X company and Y company.  Obviously just having spent a significant amount of capital on those acquisitions you will want them to be assimilated and streamlined as soon as possible to start giving you a return on that investment.

 “Experience tells us that no two systems are alike and there are certainly going to be some amalgamation issues and that, despite all the due diligence we do, there will inevitably be things that come out of the woodwork that will surprise us and cause increased costs and delays.

 “With that in mind it occurred to me that a way of streamlining that integration that involves an implementation process that takes only a few hours instead of a few weeks would be of value.  An idea that would see a reporting process put in place where you could see the workings of every single computer and PC, even internationally, in one platform so you can see at the push of a button where the problems are and what is holding you up would be of value.

 “On top of that it is a cash flow idea that will not cost a fortune, especially relevant when you’ve just spent one acquiring these companies.”

 The advantage of something like this is that you’ve touched on a number of areas that will be of interest and you’ll go straight into a deep conversation that will lead to a meaningful relationship and increase your chances of moving forward.

 Give it a try – it works.

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