{"id":25165,"date":"2022-12-21T23:15:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T23:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/21\/its-time-to-cast-our-sales-reps-as-guides-not-persuaders\/"},"modified":"2022-12-21T23:15:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T23:15:15","slug":"its-time-to-cast-our-sales-reps-as-guides-not-persuaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/21\/its-time-to-cast-our-sales-reps-as-guides-not-persuaders\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Time To Cast Our Sales Reps as Guides, Not Persuaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you\u2019ve worked in sales for any length of time, you\u2019ve had this experience: You\u2019ve got a prospect you\u2019ve almost persuaded to buy from you. Everything seems to be going great, until they suddenly pull back and change course. They\u2019re no longer interested, they say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s that.<\/p>\n

They exit your pipeline as a closed\/lost deal, and you scratch your head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll signs pointed to a sale. What went wrong?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But when you think about it, it\u2019s actually pretty easy to understand. All of their desire for what you were selling was artificial.<\/strong> You\u2019d created it for them. When you pitch that hard, when you convince and cajole \u2014 at some point the spell wears off and the buyer realizes he might not really want what you\u2019ve told him he wants.<\/span><\/p>\n

For so long, sales has been about persuasion \u2014 and I\u2019m not saying persuasion should no longer be a tool you should use. I simply believe there\u2019s a better way: Prompt your buyer to self-discover the nature of their problem \u2014 and the solution they need.<\/strong> This way, you can guide them to the outcome that best meets their needs. <\/p>\n

\u00a0Join the IMPACT coaches for a deep dive on a new topic every month in our free virtual event series.<\/a><\/p>\n

When salespeople cast themselves in the role of guide, instead of persuader, they end up with happier customers and more revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But to do so, you have to reimagine your approach.<\/p>\n

Which do you do more of, talking or listening?<\/h2>\n

A few years ago, Gong put out a study that looked at more than 25,000 B2B sales conversations<\/span><\/a>. The findings were fascinating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The biggest conclusion was this: Salespeople did was more talking than listening.<\/p>\n

In any given meeting, sales reps spoke about 70% of the time on average. In other words, if a sales call were 100 minutes long, the sales rep would spend 70 minutes talking, presenting, showing slides, etc. The customer would only get what was left over: 30% of the talk time.<\/p>\n

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And this makes sense. All too often, sales reps cram their calls with a dozen slides that list feature after feature<\/span><\/a>. This results in disengaged prospects who feel talked at instead of listened to.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not all the research found. Here\u2019s where it gets interesting:<\/strong><\/p>\n

First off, most sales reps have NO IDEA that they talk this much. When asked to estimate how much they think they talked in meetings, most reps guess much lower.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the researchers found that the most successful sales reps didn\u2019t do the 70:30 ratio. In fact, it was almost the opposite. They only talked about 40% of the time, and they listened for 60%.<\/p>\n

Let that sink in for a minute: The best sales reps listen more than they talk, while average sales reps talk more than they listen.<\/p>\n

Which camp do you and your team fall into?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listen to understand, not just for a hook<\/h2>\n

But not all listening is created equal.<\/p>\n

What I\u2019m talking about is not the glib, self-serving line of questions that every salesperson has in their back pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You know what I mean, the questions that get asked just so the salesperson can find a way in:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tell me about your company.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tell me about your role.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tell me about your competition.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

These are not valuable for the buyer. They\u2019re more like lines in a script that casts the prospect in the role of buyer \u2014 a role they\u2019re not ready for.<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t prompt self-discovery.<\/p>\n

A guide who listens<\/h3>\n

The biggest takeaway from the Gong research should be this: Salespeople should listen more \u2014 and listen better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Salespeople should seek to guide the conversation with appropriate questions and follow-ups, and really listen to what the prospect has to say.<\/p>\n

The most important thing you can do is to get to the heart of their problem.<\/strong> When you truly understand what a buyer is struggling with, you can understand the buyer\u2019s needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

But keep in mind, a prospect might not easily give this up. Heck, the prospect might not even be able to fully articulate the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is where your questions come in<\/a>. Ask. Ask again. And keep asking. It often takes several questions to peel back the layers and get to what\u2019s inside. <\/p>\n

Be patient. Don\u2019t fall into the advice trap where you immediately step in to solve the problem \u2014 especially by shoving your product in their face.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Being a guide doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re passive<\/h2>\n

But let me be clear: Being a guide doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re passive. It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re a therapist or a best friend who\u2019s just there to listen.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re still a salesperson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though your focus is on listening instead of pitching, you still need to provide structure and pacing to the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How do you do that if you\u2019re not the one doing most of the talking? I advise my clients to make sure they do four things:<\/p>\n