SalesGym Concept Overview
Sales Messaging - Competitive Advantages
Overview
World-class sales execution starts with fantastic fundamentals. Just as a house needs to be built on a strong foundation to last for years; dynamic, results producing selling is built on a few critical communication skills. The good news is that these core skills can be broken down into easily understood frameworks and through consistent practice can be mastered. The first of these concepts is what we call sales messaging, which is the foundation of clear, concise communication that builds value, credibility and leads to better questions that uncover bigger opportunities.
Ingredients Matter
We often hear companies and sales people say they have a “process”. Sometimes that sales process is 5 steps or 6 steps, but in our experience world-class selling starts at an even more granular level. To help explain this, imagine a pasta sauce for a moment. Let’s say this particular sauce is a family recipe brought over from Italy over 150 years ago and is legendary within the family. The recipe has the exact quantities of the specific herbs and spices and even detailed cooking instructions on how to make this masterpiece. No matter how good the recipe is, if the ingredients that are used are not the best quality, the taste of the sauce will not be the same. If instead of vine ripened tomatoes that are hand picked from the garden outside the kitchen window just moments before being put into the pot, the chef uses frozen tomatoes that clearly show signs of freezer burn, the sauce will never be the same. Sales messaging is like the fresh ingredients. It is the core verbal ingredient that makes compelling value statements and sets up great questioning.
Sales Messaging & Sales Process
We have found that for nearly all sales professionals, strong verbal skills around sales messaging forms the foundation to become more skillful at the sales process. As such, we start with sales messaging then move into the sales process in upcoming coaching sessions.
Sales messaging includes skills like:
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Differentiating Factors
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Competitive Advantages
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What we specialize in
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Voicemail Messaging
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Success Stories to set up suggestions
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Challenger insights
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Positioning of Assertive Questions
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Describing Big Ideas
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Solution Phrasing
Elements of the sales process include:
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Pre-call planning
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An agenda to open the call
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Resistance-lowering questions
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Assertive, insight led questions
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Discovery summaries
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Pivoting to ideas & solutions
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Testing for resistance/objections
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Responding to resistance
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Closing for commitment / next steps
SalesGym is about practice and repetition to build verbal sales fluency. Ideally we want to become more clear, concise and persuasive while we get better at using relevant conversation-opening questions. Many of the drills we’ll practice are focused on developing these skills.
We Start With Headlines & Questions
Great communicators tend to use what we call “headlines” to introduce their key competitive advantages and value propositions because they help the listener understand and organize what you are saying. Rather than drown the customer by relating every single possible shred of value of their product or service, the best sellers choose a few of the most important points to make and make them well. They put a sufficient amount of detail into their descriptions to pique the curiosity of their customer and then they typically ask a great question that engages that customer on a meaningful issue that generates productive momentum in the conversation. This combination of best in class headlines followed by insightful, thought provoking questions is the heart and soul of sales messaging.
Client-Oriented Phrasing
When we observe top performing sales professionals, one of the things we notice immediately is how often and skillfully they weave what is called, “customer-oriented phrasing” throughout the interactions they have with clients. Instead of telling the client their opinion or the companies opinion, they share with the client what their best and most satisfied customers are saying about their product or service. Instead of saying, “What I think is great about our company is…” they say, “What our customers tell us they find great about our company is…” They learn to make it sound conversational and compelling. This approach brings in the thinking of others and has been shown to lower resistance to our message. The more we use customer-oriented phrasing in a conversational way throughout the sales process, the better. So as you review your company’s headlines, we suggest that you identify the customer-oriented nature of the language. Our goal is to help you deliver these customer-oriented concepts in your own voice that feels authentic and natural for you.
Open-ended “Transition” questions
After you use a headline or two to describe the powerful benefits of your product or solution, it’s important to ask an open-ended question that focuses the conversation on one of your strengths and helps you maintain control of the conversation. The best questions are open-ended and support a possible buying decision.
- What to do next…
Now that you understand the concept, the next step is to look at some specific examples that top communicators in your company use when communicating with customers.
GO TO YOUR COMPANY’s EXAMPLES