Conversations That Sell ─ Collaborate with Buyers and Make Every Conversation Count

Today’s buyers want more from sales professionals than a simple consultation. What they’re hungry for are meaningful, collaborative conversations built on mutual value and trust, that result in a Win3...where they, the seller, and the organization, achieve a winning outcome.

Conversations That Sell introduces sales professionals to the collaborative conversation skills they need to capture the buyer’s attention and secure business. Based on the author’s five-step sales system, What’s in It for Them (WIIFT)—Wait, Initiate, Investigate, Facilitate, Then Consolidate—the book shows readers how to:

‧ Prepare for an effective sales call
‧ Identify sales opportunities and the factors that drive buyers to act
‧ Adjust their approach to the type of buyer—Achievers, Commanders, Reflectors, and Expressers
‧ Make conversations flow easily
‧ Address problems, opportunities, wants, and needs
‧ Work through objections
‧ Advance and close sales
‧ And more

Packed with valuable tools and examples, salespeople in all industries will discover how to increase their short- and long-term sales success by keeping the focus of every conversation where it belongs—on the buyer.

NANCY BLEEKE is president of Sales Pro Insider, a training and consulting firm specializing in sales effectiveness. Her clients include Motorola, CVS-Caremark, Celestica, MassMutual, and Rexnord.

Table of contents

Contents

Foreword, by Jill Konrath

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I
Selling in Today’s Transparent World

1 The Importance of You in Selling: Being a Real Part of the Solution
Your Role in the Solution You Sell
Fake It ‘Til You Make It: Does That Work'
There’s Nowhere to Hide in a Transparent World
Adopt and Adapt Best Practices to Escalate Your Value and Sales

2 Collaborative Selling:Where Every Conversation Matters
and Everyone Wins
Why Collaborative Selling Works
Collaborative Selling Is Consultation Plus
When You Collaborate, Everyone Wins
How Collaborative Selling Works in Challenging Situations
Is Collaborative Selling Worth the Effort'
Quick Tips for Collaborative Selling

PART I I
The What and How of Collaborative Sales Conversations

3 Systematized Success: Make Every Conversation Count
Five Steps to Systematic Sales Success
Prepare to Succeed
Prove the Value
Quick Tips for Using the WIIFT SystemTM

4 Tribal Types:Work and Sell with Buyers the Way They Want to Be
Worked With
Introducing the Tribal Types? Model
Achievers
Commanders
Reflectors
Expressers
Identifying and Using Tribal Types
Strategies for Selling with Tribal Types
Quick Tips for Using Tribal Types

5 Wait: The Conversation Starts with You
Five Actions to Prepare for a Conversation that Counts
Action 1: Eliminate Your Distractions
Action 2: Focus on What’s in It for Them in This Conversation
Action 3: Review Notes from Previous Meetings or Research
Action 4: Check Your Mirror and Materials
Action 5: Prepare Your Mind to Engage with the Buyer
Quick Tips for Preparing for Your Sales Conversation

6 Initiate: Win Them at Hello with a Purposeful Start
Five Actions to Ensure a Purposeful Conversation Start
Action 1: Greet
Action 2: Explain Why You Are Connecting
Action 3: Ask Questions to Engage and Get Them Talking
Action 4: Use Appropriate Eye Contact and Open Ears
Action 5: Focus on What They Are Communicating—Words and Intent
Adjust Your Initiation to the Situation
Quick Tips for Initiating Your Conversation

7 Investigate: Investigation or Interrogation'
Five Actions to Investigate Compelling POWNsTM
Action 1: Ask Relevant, Open-Ended Questions
Action 2: Listen Actively
Action 3: Ask Follow-Up Questions
Action 4: Paraphrase What the Buyer Has Stated
Action 5: Qualify and Confirm Your Opportunity
Group Investigations
Quick Tips to Investigate POWNsTM

8 Facilitate, Part I: Create Collaborative Solution Presentations
Focused on the Buyer
Five Actions That Make It Easy for Buyers to Connect to Your Solution
Action 1: Explain Your Solution by Connecting Whats to WiifTs
Action 2: Include Others in the Presentation and Ask for Feedback
Action 3: Provide Proof to Support Your Solution
Action 4: Present Costs Followed by Value
Facilitating a Group Sales Conversation
What to Do When Your Solution Doesn’t Fit
Quick Tips to Facilitate the Presentation of Your Solution

9 Facilitate, Part II:Work Through Objections
Action 5: Ask for and Work Through Objections with Stop, Drop,
and Roll?
Prepare to Work Through Objections
Tap Into Emotions That Affect Working Through Objections
Skip the “Buts” That Hinder Collaboration
Strategies to Work Through Objections with the Tribal Types
Traps to Avoid When Faced with Objections and Concerns
Turn Objections Into Opportunities
Quick Tips to Work Effectively Through Objections

10 Then Consolidate: Close Every Conversation with Purpose
Know What You Are Closing
Five Actions That Consolidate Your Win3 Conversations
Action 1: Complete a Decision Readiness Check
Action 2: Confirm the Value Your Solution Will Provide
Action 3: Ask for a Decision or Commitment to Action
Action 4: Identify the Next Steps with Specifics
Action 5: Close the Conversation
Quick Tips for Consolidating Your Conversations

PART I I I
The Factors That Make or Break Your Sales

11 Will You or Won’t You Succeed' It’s Your Choice
“Skill and Will”: The Dynamic Duo of Sales Success
The Success Drivers of Top Sales Professionals
Quick Tips to Build Your Drive to Succeed

12 The Tools of the Trade:What’s in Your Toolbox'
Sales Conversation Preparation Tools
Powerful Technology-Based Tools
The Most Important Sales Tool: You!
Quick Tips to Use What’s in Your Toolbox

13 Now What' Action Time!
Target Your Success with Ready, Aim, Succeed
Get Ready
Take Aim
Act to Succeed
Take Action, and Update and Confirm Your Plan
Celebrate!
Quick Tips to Achieve Your Goals