Sales Coaching: Be Deliberate with the Questions You Ask | Gap Sell Keenan #44

This week on Gap Sell Keenan, we're joined by a gamification company, where Steve from Outbound Game steps in to identify and tackle potential issues within our training protocols. This episode serves as a prime example of the critical importance of understanding your customer and pinpointing the deficiencies in their environment. Without a clear grasp of the potential problem areas, it becomes increasingly difficult to conduct a focused and effective call.

Tackling Discovery Fatigue
Discovery fatigue takes center stage in our discussion, highlighting a prevalent issue in sales where prospects lose interest mid-call or throughout the sales process. This disengagement typically stems from two core issues: inadequate preparation by the seller and a lack of problem-focused coaching. Sellers frequently step into calls without a comprehensive understanding of their client, the client's business, and the specific challenges they face. This lack of insight often results in bland and unproductive interactions that fail to resonate with the client.

Problem-Solution Gap
There's a noticeable disconnect in effectively linking the problem with the appropriate solution. To effectively bridge this gap, it is crucial for sellers to dedicate time to crafting personalized profiles of their prospects. Additionally, it's imperative for leadership to precisely articulate the problems their products are designed to solve. This strategic alignment is key to avoiding misunderstandings and ensuring that the solution presented is relevant and compelling to the prospect.

Refining Discovery Calls
Addressing discovery fatigue isn't about curtailing the discovery process; rather, it's about refining its execution. The shift needs to move away from a transactional approach to one that is rooted in empathy and insightfulness. By adopting this perspective, discovery can become a process that not only engages the client but also provides them with valuable insights, enhancing the overall effectiveness and outcome of the sales interaction.

This week we've got a powerhouse guest who's got some serious business acumen and problem identification skills. 

Marc, showcases his complete understanding of his business world. He's not just playing the game, he knows it inside out. 

We're all about learning here, and it's always refreshing to see leaders continuously pursue learning to make themselves better for their teams. 

Sellers still struggle with answering what problems they solve. You need to get into the nitty-gritty of your audience problems, where these problems start, how big the problem is, and who is most likely to struggle with this BEFORE you start to sell. 

Dive into the mindset shift that's separating good sellers from the great ones! 

In this week's episode of Gap Sell Keenan, Keenan sheds light on the profound change in sales mentality. 

Are you still stuck in the predator sales mindset? It's time to escape the traditional hunter approach and embrace curiosity like a 5-year-old encountering something new. 

Discover why clinging to a preconceived agenda can hinder your success and how embracing the unknown and improvising can set you apart as a true Gap Seller. 

You’ve prospected well, you’ve set a meeting, you think it goes well, but the buyer disappears after. What happened? You botched it somewhere. A lot of sellers fail to effectively communicate and highlight the buyer’s problem. You’ve created a scenario lacking in urgency. The buyer is not going to be motivated to change, nor are they going to believe that they need whatever you’re selling. 

Closed won sales are built upon understanding the buyer’s perspective. When a seller fails to highlight the buyer’s problem, it’s likely because you don’t know enough about the problems you can solve or the buyer’s situation. 

You must create a sense of urgency to motivate change in a buyer. Buyers will remain in a state of complacency or continue along with the status quo believing that their current process is adequate. They may not see a reason to change, improve, or explore a new opportunity. You need to push these buyers to challenge their current assumptions and make them aware of the true costs of inaction. Not by presenting a solution, but by highlighting the magnitude of their inaction. 

In this episode we see an example of that. Our seller does not highlight why Keenan and ASG should focus expansion on international markets. There is no highlight of a problem that Keenan and ASG are currently facing.  

Selling in competitive markets can be brutal. Kelly Biggs of WSI Biggs Digital is in one of them. Listen to how she ties her services to revenue and books a second meeting.

This week we see an emphasis on addressing the business problems that an organization may be struggling from. Stick to the business problems and stay away from comparing your product to competitors. 

In recent episodes, a clear theme has emerged - there's a lot of telling and not enough asking in sales. What distinguishes a successful salesperson from an average one is the ability to influence the sale. It's not about regurgitating industry facts and figures; true influence comes from understanding, articulating value, and asking the right questions. Just as at a party, where someone who talks only about themselves is a conversation killer, in sales, being a product feature parrot is a turn-off. Instead, the key is to ask, understand, and convey the value you can bring to your prospect's business. In the world of 'Good Selling,' it's all about asking, learning, and listening. Encourage your customers to share their needs, desires, and obstacles. Are you engaging with them in a way that invites them to open up about their business?

If you’ve watched enough Gap Sell Keenans, you know, one of the top 3 problems salespeople face is asking the right questions. Oftentimes, they don’t fully understand where they are trying to carry the conversation or get lost along the way. Asking the right questions in a discovery call is an art and you want them to lead you to a problem as quickly as possible. We don’t want to waste our time as sellers or the prospects time inching our way to a problem. 

In this week’s episode, Matt does a pretty good job of that. He knows the problem he can solve and he asks questions directly to get to answer “does Keenan have a problem I can solve?” 

Your old-school selling methods won't cut it anymore. Pushing product is out, understanding your customer's challenges is in. 

In this episode of Gap Sell Keenan, we see the importance of searching for problems and not being product-centric.

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Hi I'm Keenan, I am the author of the Best Selling Sales Book and Amazon #1 Hot New Release Gap Selling. As well as CEO of A Sales Growth Company. 

From inbound to outbound, from ABM (account-based marketing) to content marketing, from inside sales to outside sales, and more I wrap the 37 years of sales experience I gained into sales acceleration strategies that win for our clients.

Through A Sales Growth Co. I have helped companies increase sales 300%. I have positioned companies to raise millions of dollars in funding, rebuilt sales cultures, implemented ABM strategies, built sales teams for multi-million dollar mergers and stopped negative sales growth for all types of companies, from start-ups to Fortune 25.

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