If your pipeline is thin, your problem is not closing. It is prospecting.
Prospecting is the engine of revenue. Without it, even the best presentation skills and pricing strategies will not matter. The highest performers in sales training programs understand this. They treat prospecting as a discipline, not an afterthought.
There is a simple three-part framework I use to drive consistent pipeline growth. I call it the Prospecting Trifecta. When executed daily, it creates focus, momentum, and measurable results. This approach is especially powerful in ad sales training, where structured outreach and disciplined follow-up separate top producers from everyone else.
Let’s break it down.
Prospecting without a list is wandering.
The first step in the Prospecting Trifecta is creating targeted lists tied to specific initiatives. This is not a random collection of names. It is a defined project.
Examples:
New business accounts in a specific industry
Past advertisers who have not renewed
Prospects for an upcoming event
Targets for a new digital marketing solution
Each initiative gets its own list inside your CRM. If you do not have a CRM, use a structured spreadsheet. The key is clarity and segmentation.
Why does this matter?
Because focus drives activity. Activity drives conversations. Conversations drive revenue.
In serious sales training and corporate sales training environments, list discipline is non-negotiable. When you attach 40 to 50 qualified prospects to a single objective, you give yourself direction. Instead of asking, “Who should I call today?” you already know.
No list. No focus. No pipeline.
Once your list exists, the next step is execution. That is where the Pomodoro Technique becomes powerful.
The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, who used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer while studying. “Pomodoro” means tomato in Italian. The method is simple:
Work in focused 25-minute intervals
Take a 5-minute break
Repeat
After four cycles, take a longer break.
Research in productivity and cognitive science supports the concept behind it. Most people can sustain high levels of mental focus for about 20 to 30 minutes before attention declines. Short breaks help the brain reset and improve sustained performance.
Here is how you apply it to prospecting:
For 25 minutes:
Make calls
Leave value-driven voicemails
Send personalized emails
Then step away for five minutes. Stand up. Refill your coffee. Reset your brain. Do not just switch to social media or another task. Actually disengage.
Then return for another 25-minute block.
This creates controlled intensity. Instead of scattered outreach all day, you execute with purpose. In structured sales training and high-level ad sales training programs, focused activity blocks consistently outperform random multitasking.
You do not need more time. You need better focus inside the time you already have.
The third piece of the Prospecting Trifecta is your outreach rhythm.
Polite persistence produces profit.
Here is the cadence:
Day 1
Call. Leave a voicemail that references the email you are about to send.
Send a new email with a strong subject line and clear value.
Wait three business days.
Repeat:
New voicemail
New email
New subject line
Wait three business days.
Continue this pattern for five total outreach attempts. On the sixth attempt, offer an exit:
“If I am reaching the wrong person, could you point me in the right direction?”
This cadence stretches across roughly three to four weeks. It is not aggressive. It is professional. It creates familiarity without being pushy.
Many salespeople quit after one or two attempts. That is not prospecting. That is hoping.
Strong sales training emphasizes cadence because consistency builds credibility. In ad sales training, especially where decision makers are busy and distracted, multi-touch persistence is often what separates you from competitors who disappear after the first voicemail.
Email alone is easy to ignore. The phone alone is easy to miss. Together, in a disciplined pattern, they create presence.
If you want to strengthen your pipeline, commit to these three prospecting habits:
Create focused lists tied to specific initiatives.
Execute in 25-minute Pomodoro blocks with real breaks.
Follow a disciplined three-business-day outreach cadence.
Prospecting is not glamorous. It is structured, repetitive, and intentional. But it is also the lifeblood of revenue.
When you embrace disciplined prospecting habits instead of chasing shortcuts, your confidence increases, your conversations improve, and your results follow. That is the foundation of effective sales training and elite ad sales training.
Master the trifecta, and you will never have to worry about an empty pipeline again.
There is a big difference between making a lot of sales calls and making a lot of effective sales calls.
Most salespeople already know they need outbound calls in their process. That is not the debate. The nuance is this: volume only works when your outreach is relevant. If you are dialing for dollars with generic messaging, you are not building pipeline. You are building resistance.
And that is why cold calling gets a bad reputation.
The problem is not cold calling. The problem is lazy calling.
Today, prospects are busy, distracted, and constantly being pitched. They are not looking for another sales rep to “check in” or “touch base.” They are looking for something valuable that helps them make a smarter decision, avoid wasted spend, or solve a real business problem.
Too many salespeople fall into one of two traps.
The first trap is going too heavy on volume with no strategy. That turns into random outreach that feels generic, forgettable, and annoying.
The second trap is chasing “quality calls” but making too few calls to win the week. That turns into slow momentum, inconsistent pipeline growth, and a whole lot of hoping your inbox saves you.
The truth is, great selling requires both.
You need high volume and high quality.
That means you do not choose between working smarter or working harder. You do both. You work really hard and really smart about it.
Here are three things to remember when you are using outbound cold calls as part of your sales process.
Sales volume is not about how many people you call. It is about how many right people you call with the right message.
If you are calling a business owner or decision maker and your pitch sounds like something you could say to anyone, you are already losing. Generic outreach typically does not work anymore. It gets ignored or shut down fast.
Relevance comes from two things.
First, understanding their world. That means you know their business model, their customers, their market, and what challenges they are dealing with right now.
Second, having a reason to call. A real one.
Not “I wanted to introduce myself.”
Not “I was hoping to earn your business.”
A reason that connects to them, their goals, and something you can actually help improve.
If you cannot explain why your solution matters to them in the first 15 seconds, you are not making a sales call. You are making noise.
Sales volume without relevance is just interruption.
There is a misunderstanding I hear all the time.
Salespeople say, “I am focused on quality calls.”
That sounds great, but what they really mean is they are making fewer calls and hoping those calls magically carry the entire week.
That is not strategy. That is fear dressed up as professionalism.
A high-quality call does not mean a low number of calls. It means each call has purpose, preparation, and value.
You can absolutely make high-volume calls without being robotic. But you have to commit to the process.
If you want a bigger pipeline, you have to earn it. And that means outreach volume is still part of your game.
The goal is not to call everyone.
The goal is to call enough of the right people consistently, with relevance and value built into every attempt.
When you do that, you stop relying on luck. You stop relying on referrals only. You stop hoping renewals land on your desk.
You build a pipeline you can trust.
If you want more productive cold calls, you need to stop treating prospecting like a side task.
Prospecting is not something you squeeze in between meetings.
It is not something you do when you have “a few minutes.”
It is a real skill and a real sales activity that deserves real time.
High-quality outbound calling requires:
Research before the call so you sound informed, not scripted
A clear reason for reaching out that connects to their business
A simple, confident next step, not a long pitch
This is where most salespeople miss the opportunity. They want the shortcut. They want the silver bullet. They want to work smarter, not harder.
But the truth is, smart selling still takes effort.
The best sales professionals do not avoid the work. They schedule it.
They create prospecting time blocks.
They protect those time blocks.
They prepare enough to make each call feel like it was meant for that prospect and that prospect only.
That is how you create high volume and high quality at the same time.
If you want outbound cold calling to actually work, remember this: the goal is not more calls. The goal is more valuable calls.
Call the right people. Say something that matters. Do it consistently.
That is how you work hard and smart. That is how you build pipeline. That is how you win more.
Never forget… If sales was easy, everyone would be doing it. They are not. We are the chosen few. This is a great career that will feed your family for a lifetime.
Your sales coach,
Ryan Dohrn
Newton’s law of inertia says it best: an object at rest stays at rest until an external force pushes it into motion. That principle applies just as powerfully to your sales career, your business growth, and even your personal performance. When you stay still too long, momentum disappears. When momentum disappears, results follow right behind it.
That is why one of the simplest and most effective frameworks I teach in sales training is the Rule of Three.
Everything meaningful in life seems to follow this pattern. It takes three “things” to start a fire. Three “things” to move twice the weight of your body. H2O, the foundation of life. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The three little pigs. Three strikes and you’re out. Over and over again, progress shows up in threes.
Sales is no different.
In the sales business, sitting still is dangerous. When activity slows down, pipelines dry up. When pipelines dry up, confidence follows. And when confidence fades, even strong salespeople struggle to close.
This is why effective sales advice always comes back to one thing: controlled motion.
You do not need chaos. You do not need to work nonstop. You need intentional movement that creates momentum.
This applies whether you are in media sales training, broadcast sales training, magazine sales training, or corporate sales training. The principles do not change. Motion creates opportunity. Opportunity creates revenue.
Here is where the Rule of Three becomes practical instead of philosophical.
Ask yourself these questions, and write down the answers.
What are three things you will do this year differently than last year to move your business forward?
What are three things you will do this month that you did not do last month?
What are three things you will do this week differently from last week?
And most importantly, what are three things you will do today differently than yesterday to keep your brain, your business, and your body in motion?
Sales success is rarely about massive overnight change. It is about small, intentional actions repeated consistently.
One new prospecting habit.
One new follow-up strategy.
One new recommendation you bring to a client.
That is motion.
One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is waiting to feel motivated. Motivation is unreliable. Momentum is not.
Momentum shows up when you take action first. Once you take action, confidence follows. When confidence follows, results improve. And when results improve, motivation takes care of itself.
This is why modern sales training focuses less on hype and more on systems. Systems create motion even on days when motivation is low.
If you are selling marketing solutions, advertising, or media programs, momentum matters more than ever. Buyers are overwhelmed. Attention is fragmented. The salesperson who stays in motion stays visible. The salesperson who stays visible stays relevant.
Let me be clear about one thing. This is not about grinding endlessly.
There are times when rest is necessary. Recovery matters. Reflection matters. Strategic pauses matter.
The problem is not rest. The problem is staying at rest too long.
In sales, extended inactivity leads to stalled pipelines, stalled relationships, and stalled income. The goal is balance. Rest with intention, then reenter motion with clarity.
Salespeople who apply the Rule of Three consistently see measurable improvement.
They book more meetings because they always have three outreach actions happening.
They close more deals because they always bring three ideas to the table instead of waiting for the client to tell them what to do.
They retain more clients because they consistently introduce three ways to add value.
This approach works across ad sales training, media sales training, and corporate sales training environments because it aligns with how buyers actually make decisions. Buyers respond to clarity. Buyers respond to leadership. Buyers respond to motion.
If you want to grow faster without burning out, keep it simple.
Ask yourself every day:
• What three actions will move my sales forward today?
• What three conversations will create opportunity?
• What three improvements will sharpen my skills?
Momentum is not built in giant leaps. It is built in intentional threes.
Stay in motion. Control the external forces. Get out there, sell something, and make yourself proud. Never forget… If sales was easy, everybody would be doing it. And they’re not. We are the chosen few. Sales is a great job. It will feed your family for a lifetime. Your coach, Ryan Dohrn.
Author: Ryan Dohrn, Billion-Dollar Sales Coach
In my years of sales experience, I’ve seen firsthand that the best sellers don’t just work hard—they work smart. It’s not about luck; it’s about building the right habits that set you up for success every single day. In this episode, I break down the three things that superstar sellers do each day to stay on top of their game. Whether you’re focused on ad sales training, media sales training, broadcast sales training, or radio sales training, these habits can make a huge difference in your approach.
The first habit that sets superstar sellers apart is time blocking. This is something I do every day to ensure that I stay focused on high-priority tasks. By breaking my day into dedicated blocks of time for specific activities, I prevent distractions and avoid the temptation to jump between tasks. Time blocking lets me stay in the zone and be far more productive.
If you don’t block out your time, your schedule will get hijacked by fires that need to be put out. Take control of your day, decide where to focus, and execute. It’s one of the most powerful ways to increase your efficiency in ad sales training and beyond.
“The more intentional you are with your time, the more successful you’ll be.”
WATCH RYAN’S VIDEO ON THIS TOPIC, CLICK HERE.
Superstar sellers understand the importance of staying organized, and that’s where task apps come in. I use a task management app to keep track of all my to-dos, deadlines, and priorities. It’s an essential tool for staying on top of everything, whether I’m engaged in broadcast sales training or planning the next big deal.
When you use a task app, you’re not relying on memory—you have everything at your fingertips. Plus, task apps let you prioritize, so you can focus on what truly matters and not get lost in the weeds.
“Stay organized, stay ahead. Your app is your digital assistant, making sure you never miss a beat.”
WATCH RYAN’S VIDEO ON THIS TOPIC, CLICK HERE.
Last but certainly not least, superstar sellers know that sales isn’t just about closing deals—it’s about building relationships. That’s why client retention is one of the most important things I focus on. Once you’ve made a sale, your job is far from over. You need to nurture those relationships, stay engaged, and continue to provide value.
Happy clients are loyal clients. When you invest in the long-term success of your clients, they’ll reward you with repeat business and referrals. Client retention isn’t just about keeping them happy—it’s about creating partnerships that last. This is crucial in both radio sales training and media sales training, where long-term connections often lead to sustainable success.
“People buy from those they trust. And people stay when they feel valued.”
For more insights and strategies to boost your sales success, WATCH RYAN’S VIDEO ON THIS TOPIC, CLICK HERE.
AUTHOR NOTE TO READERS: This article was written to assist my clients in the advertising sales sector. I say all the time, “if you can sell a newspaper ad, you can sell anything.” I think we all can learn from these street smart sales superstars. So, take the info and translate it for your industry. – Ryan Dohrn, Founder, Sales Training World
Every single sales call with an advertiser is valuable. So valuable that you do not want to waste time asking questions that will not help you close the deal. After 30 years of selling and marketing media, I find that you have three to five questions, and that is about it, on every sales call. More than that and you might as well turn on a bright light and point it into your advertiser’s eyes and take the interrogation to the next level. I am kidding, of course. The issue is that many media sales warriors have been misled to ask the wrong questions. When you first start your training as a salesperson, there is usually a conversation about asking the three critical sales questions that are core to your success. Those three questions normally include the following: Are they the person that can make advertising decisions? What marketing are you currently doing? What is your budget for marketing? But what if I told you that I deeply believe that these are not the best questions to ask on a media sales call? Would you read on? Or would you roll your eyes? Well, thanks for reading on because I feel we need to sell differently, now more than ever before. In previous blogs I have stated that if we keep selling traditional media in traditional ways, we are destined to get traditional results. So, what can we do to be bigger, badder, and better in the media ad sales business? I believe it starts with reformatting the questions we ask. I deeply feel that we all need to think like a doctor and not like a salesperson.
Consider this: you go to the doctor looking for relief from some type of ailment. They will normally ask you these three questions. What is causing you pain? How long has this been a problem? What have you done so far to fix the pain? If we can be in the business of removing pain, like a doctor, we have a repeatable pattern for ad sales success. Let’s start with the old questions and move to the prescription for success.
Do we need to know if the person is the decision maker? Of course. But, if we only meet with decision makers, we will not have enough meetings to get to our sales goal. In addition, in the media business, we are working with a different buying structure compared to “normal” companies. Unlike a copier salesperson, we are working with marketing directors or business owners. Both are in a unique position, unlike an acquisition clerk at a standard company, to make decisions or highly influence decisions. There are normally not many layers to get to a marketing decision. So I suggest that we swap this question out for a new one. Keep reading, it is coming up.
Do we need to know what marketing they are currently doing? Of course. That helps immensely. But, this question leads the advertiser to hijack your sales call and talk about the other things they are doing. You have just invited them to talk about your competition on your sales call. There is a better way to handle this question and get the answer that you need to move your ball down the field towards a touchdown. We need this answer, but we should ask it in a different way. So, I suggest that we swap out this question for a new one. Keep reading, it is coming up.
Do we need to know their budget? Of course. But how many times have you been given an accurate answer? How many times have you been told, there is no budget? Asking an advertiser their budget forces you to live in their often unrealistic reality of what it takes to market their product or service to your readers. You are asking them to force you into their reality instead of guiding them to the actual reality of what it takes to have a presence, be competitive, or dominate the pages of your publication or website. Asking for budget without showing them the reality of marketing is a waste of a question. Again, we need this answer. But I suggest that we swap out this question for a new one. Keep reading, it is coming up.
When it comes times to asking questions of an advertiser, I have a proven three-step process that has worked over and over again. I truly feel it is the prescription for getting the answers we need and for closing deals. It will probably sound like just what the doctor ordered. So, what is your biggest problem or pain point? How long has that problem been painful? And, what have you done to fix that problem or alleviate that pain? Let’s expand on this three-step process of questions, right now.
Question #1: I like to ask, when you agreed to meet with me today, what is the one business challenge or point of pain that you think I can help you solve? This helps the advertiser get specific with you. It allows you to provide them with specific solutions to specific problems. This helps you get clear on their points of pain. They may have one or they may have five. Ask them to get clear with you, and take notes. Sympathize with them. Tell them they are not alone. Reference that you have heard this pain point before and have some ideas to help. Once you know their pain, now you want to enhance the pain … just a touch.
Question #2: Pain is a real motivator in problem-solving and customer relations. If you can be seen as the person or company that removes the pain points a business owner is facing, your secret media elixir will sell like wildfire. After I ask and identify their pain points, I will ask this simple question: “How long has this been a problem?” Normally, the answer surprises me. I am trying to enhance the pain. I want to make it very real for them, especially if they have been advertising with a competitor for years. I want them to subtly realize that they have been advertising elsewhere and this darn problem still exists. I am not looking to make them feel dumb, however. I just want them to see that they still have the pain point and they do not like the pain. Once the pain is real, I dig just a bit deeper by asking my third question.
Question #3: What have you done to fix this problem? I might even ask how much money they have spent to try and fix the issue. Oh wait, did I just ask their budget? Well … sort of. I want to enhance the fact that they have spent money and time and the problem still exists. Again, sympathize with them. Tell them they are not alone. Reference that you have heard this pain before and have some ideas to help.
Your doctor does the same thing when you come to their office. Right? What is the problem? How long has this been a problem? What have you done so far to fix the pain? If we can be in the business of removing pain, we have a repeatable pattern for ad sales success.
Now, I am not suggesting that these are the only questions you should ask. If you read this blog often, you know that there are many other questions to ask. I am simply suggesting that we have limited time on that single valuable sales call, and we want to ask the best questions to get the best results. The other thing is that there are so many age-old sales questions that make us sound like every other media salesperson. In most markets, the questions that you ask will set you apart from the other salespeople that are calling on your same clients. Do you believe that questions separate you from others? The answer is yes.
Two final points. If we keep selling traditional media in traditional ways, we are destined to get traditional results. So let’s change a bit. And remember, if ad sales was an easy job, everyone would be doing it. We are the chosen few. Let’s always be looking to improve our media sales game.
What a crazy year—it seems like it was March just yesterday! But we’re moving into that time of year when we need to close out 2020 in as strong a way as possible. And we also need to be looking at 2021 and Q1, Q2.
So what are we going to do in the remainder of 2020 to close more sales deals as we roll into the New Year, and close them faster? Our goal as a corporate sales training company is to help you win!
Here are 10 time-tested ideas that work for me.
1-Present Options and Recommendations in the First Sales Meeting
I’ve said this before in the past, but I want to reinforce this simple fact: the conversion rate is 70% higher when you recommend a product. A full sixty percent of people make decisions based on FOMO, that fear of missing out.
So why it is that so many sales people go on a discovery meeting and then leave that meeting to create a customized solution and proposal?
In some instances, I get it—this specialization that you’re trying to bring in front of your customers. But it’s hard enough to get meetings as it is, much less have to schedule a meeting, go to discovery, leave the meeting to create a proposal, come back and track the person down to present the proposal. Then after all that they’ve got to think about it. And then you’ve got to track them down again.
You might say, “My process is a lot more streamlined.” But I doubt it. I’m here to be real with you.
So when I’m on a sales call, I’m ready to present options in that very first meeting. And I am ready to make recommendations and proposals on the spot.
2-Use Research to Your Advantage
If you want to move from the transactional selling that has been necessary during COVID to relational selling, you’ve got to use research to connect more deeply with customers.
As I share in my sales training, I use tools to do this. LinkedIn is one obvious example. And some of us have LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and it’s a really great tool. I’m also using a Chrome extension with a website called Crystal Knows (www.crystalknows.com). And the shortcut is that Crystal does virtual personality profiling. The extension syncs with LinkedIn when you’re in Chrome to pull up personality profiles and traits of the people that you’re looking at. This tool is not free, but it’s not expensive, either. And I use it all the time.
So, I’m using research to connect more deeply with sales clients. It’s called “building quick trust.” And “quick trust” must be built within 5-10 seconds. You’re going to do that most effectively by having more information on the customer, their company, etc. So dig in on LinkedIn and make sure you’re prepared for all your calls.
I realize this is kind of 101, but are you actually doing it?
3-Ask Better Questions
Your questions simply have to be better. One of your main questions that makes me nuts and that I hear when I’m doing sales training is this: “Tell me more about your business.” C’mon, you’re better than that.
Or “What keeps you up at night?” Okay, c’mon, you’re better than that one, too. And then, “What’s your budget?” You can do better than that.
Those are three questions we do need to ask, but maybe ask them in a more vibrant kind of way so that we don’t sound like every other salesperson that’s calling on that customer.
Here are four that I really like to ask: 1.) “When you agreed to meet with me, what business challenge or problem were you hoping that I could help you solve?” That is one of my absolute favorites.
The next one is similar, but it’s more of a storytelling kind of approach. 2.) “If I could give you a magic wand that you wave, what would you want to see happen as far as our relationship goes—what’s your buy-in from me?” Or “If I could wave a magic wand for you, what business challenge could I help you resolve?”
The next question I like to ask is, 3.) “When you think about competing here in our community and against others in your industry, do you want to be seen as having some sort of a presence out there? Do you want to be competitive? Or do you want to be dominant?”
And the reason this works for me is because, sure, I can ask them their budget for buying whatever product I’m selling. But they’re going to give me a number based on their reality.
Let me stress it again, when I ask this question and give them those three options, that’s going to lead me towards a budget number that’s based more in actual reality–rather than simply their reality.
The other question I like to ask on a regular basis is, 4.) “If everything went perfectly, if our relationship was perfect, you buy the product I’m selling, and then … what do you want the end result to be? What would the perfect end result be for you?”
Or, more simply, you could say, “If I’m going to keep you for a lifetime as a customer, what do I need to do?”
I think those are just better questions than, “What keeps you up at night?”
4-Prepare Yourself to Talk About COVID Delays
Delays are happening right now. People are delaying Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4. Be prepared to talk about it.
Jot down the most common objections you’re going to get on one side of a piece of paper. And on the other side jot down what your answers are going to be. And be prepared for delays.
5-Revamp Your Proposal
You’ve got to think about revamping your sales proposal based upon the research that I hit on before. Let me give you two tidbits that might help motivate you to do this.
From our Sales Training World research, we’ve found that when we looked at 1,200 pages of 100 different proposals that 79% of our test users simply scanned the proposal, and only 16% actually read it. So I think we sales pros need to remove about 50% of the text from our proposals.
Another telling find in our research is that nearly all of the most successful businesses we looked at had proposals that presented three pricing options.
And then, the last finding was that these successful businesses used proposals that were full of pictures and a wealth of examples.
So, be thinking of the research out there and revamping your slide decks, your capabilities decks, and these kinds of sales tools. And again, remember that only about 16% of people actually read what it is you’re putting in front of them.
6-Give More Than One Pricing Option
Why do I love three pricing options? I love three pricing options and I stress them in my sales training because if you give somebody one choice, it’s sort of a yes or a no. If you give them two choices, now you’re starting to get them thinking. But if you give them three choices, they will typically buy the middle option.
So you create your pricing and your proposals around the middle option.
To reiterate, present three pricing options. I want to see a good, better, best in almost every situation. Or a presence, competitive, dominant—or a gold, silver, bronze. However you word it, present three pricing options if you want to sell more.
7-Set a Very Specific After-Proposal Follow Up Plan
So you’re on the meeting (remember, I suggest you go there with a proposal), and you’ve gone there ready to sell them something—ask great questions, share testimonials, and show them what you’ve got.
Then when the client says, “I need to think about it,” you’ll be ready for that too, and you’ll be ready to implement three steps, which are No. 1, tell them “Let me back up and in 48 hours check in.”
Then No. 2, if they need more time and 48 hours isn’t enough, ask them, “If you need more time, what are we going to do?”
And finally, No. 3, ask “What if we miss each other?” which is how I psychologically try to program my customers. “If you stand me up for this date, then what?”
It’s also worth noting that we need to be prepared for when their answer is “no.” I’m not going to beat them up about it. But I might say, “I’d rather get a ‘yes,’ but if it’s going to be no just tell me ‘no.’” Or, “If the timing isn’t right, tell me ‘no’ so I can quit bothering you.”
A very specific follow up plan that I stress in my sales training is: after I get finished with my sales call, I check back in 48 hours. So, consider these follow-up statements: “If you need more time, let’s text about it.” “If we miss each other, then what?” “What do you need?” And then, “If the answer is no, tell me ‘no,’ I’m not going to beat you up about it.”
8-Talk About the Love You Have for Your Customers
A lot of times salespeople feel like they don’t want to talk about their clients. But you have to.
In the land of COVID, stranger danger is real. People are more likely to buy from you if you’ve helped other people be successful. That’s why I’m always open to share and talk freely about my other clients.
Yet, in nearly every slide deck I see, in just about every proposal that I see, there’s no mention of anybody else that we work with—our clients. Why is that?
“Well, you know, we really can’t talk about other people,” many say. But stop. We’re not talking about being unethical. I’m talking about singing from the mountaintops.
Don’t be afraid. Tell them how much you love your customers and how much they love you, and that they’re going to love working with you, as well.
Go ahead and sing that love from the mountaintops.
9-Get Clear on the Path to Making a Decision
Some people will tell you to step It up in advance. I don’t think it’s the appropriate thing to do. For example, “Okay, what’s your timeline here?” “Do you have the authority to make this decision?” That reminds me of how we used to do things in the ‘80s. And most buyers don’t respond to that.
But if I get to the end of the sales call, and they’re showing excitement, they’re giving me buying signals, I ask them, “So what does your path to making this decision look like? “You seem like you love this idea. Do you love it?” And if they say, “I love it,” then great. I’ll say, “So what’s your path to getting this approved?” and “What do you need from me?”
And then I’ll ask, “What do you think is going to be the biggest roadblock that you’re going to run across? What can I give you—video, can I reformat this slide deck for you, could I record the sales deck using a tool like Loom or Soapbox and give it to you to show your boss?”
A lot of sales trainers out there would say, “Never meet with anyone who’s not the decision maker.” Well, that’s easy to say if you’re not really responsible for selling anything.
I think we have to meet with people that are in the chain of command.
So remember to ask, “What do you need from me?” Get really clear on this with your clients and prospects.
10-Deal with It if Somebody’s Answer is “No”
If you’re going to close more sales deals, you’re going to need to rock through them. If a customer’s answer is no, I’m not going to beat them up about it.
A lot of times people will say, “Never give them the opportunity to say ‘no.’” Okay, that’s a copyright 1996.
You have to recognize that in today’s world we’re having to resell people all the time. So if you really make them angry because you jump back down their throat when you’re in full-press sales mode … if the answer is “no” or “not now,” your answer should be something like, “We’ll get together and we’ll work together at some point in the future.”
Some people will say, “Well, you never get a second chance to sell them.” I just don’t agree with that. I feel like we have to resell these people over and over again.
If the answer is “no,” that just means “not right now.” And actually, that’s alright.
Rock through those deals.
In closing, remember—I say it all the time—if sales was easy, everybody would be doing it. And they’re not. So we’re either crazy or we’ve found careers that will feed our families for a lifetime.
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Let your calendar, not your inbox, drive your day. Don’t fall victim to the idea of answering an email real quick. We talk about this in every corporate sales training workshop. A 30-second interruption can take you 2-minutes to reengage. Most people thrive when a structure is in place. Randomly working on random projects at random times is not a recipe for success. Block out time on your calendar for tasks and be dedicated when the time block pops up. Set the task to repeat daily if needed.
Create mini-goals. When working remotely, it is smart to set small goals that are very short term. For example, setting a goal to finish a proposal before you take a coffee break. It’s important to set little goals all throughout your day. A big win at the end of the day is normally comprised of small wins throughout the day.
Switch it up. When things aren’t rolling forward to your satisfaction, you might just need to change the routine. If you used to have great success prospecting for new business at 4 PM and it’s not yielding the result for you that you desire, move the time block to 3 PM. Sometimes switching it up can mean rearranging your office. All too often people stay the course when things are not working. There can be some great benefits from changing the direction if you’re not getting the results you desire.
Don’t be a web camera zombie. Creating human interaction by sharing your webcam can be extremely beneficial in team environments. All too often, a poor set up in your home office or remote location can make you look like a webcam zombie or a person in witness protection. This is sort of a joke but, it is a reality for a lot of people that work remotely. Many people say to me, “does sharing your webcam really matter? “ Yes! Experts tell us that 65% of important cues in conversations are visual.
Set time limits. Here have you ever looked down at your clock and realized that 90 minutes had gone by and you hadn’t even come up for air? It happens to us all. Setting time limits for everything that you do is critical to your success. Experts from various fields have reported increases in productivity from 75% to 150% by simply setting up a timer next to your desk and using it to keep you on task.
Fight the urge to multi-task. According to Neuroscientists at the Mayo Clinic, our brains aren’t built to do more than one thing at a time. And when we try to multitask, we damage our brains in ways that negatively affect our well-being, mental performance, and productivity. Reduce stress and get more done. Stop trying to multi-task.
Celebrate wins. No matter the size or scope of the victory, always celebrate wins, especially if your team is working remotely. Working remotely can be an out of sight out of mind type of scenario. Create encouraging interactions by celebrating wins and uniting your team around common victories.
If there’s one thing that this health crisis has helped us understand is that we truly can survive without being in an office every single day. I truly believe that another thing has been defined, without live social interaction we are just not as happy as a team or as people. So, will we figure out how to work remotely forever? I hope not.
As we navigate the changes in our world right now, I think it’s important to focus on the Customer Needs Assessment as a part of my corporate sales training blog.
If you’re in a leadership role, right now you might be saying, “No, Ryan, don’t talk about not doing a CNA.”
Here’s my point, though. We’re living in a world where people are limited in cash, limited on funds, and certainly limited on patience. For the most part, I think everybody right now is actually limited to some degree in their cognitive abilities. So how do we expect someone we’re selling to to actually understand what they need vs. what they want?
Think about this regarding the Customer Needs Assessment. Very often it focuses in on what they want, and not what they need. Think about all the questions you ask. “What’s your budget?” “What are your goals?” “What keeps you up at night?” “What’s the biggest business challenge for you?” “How can we help you overcome that?”
It’s all focusing on what they want. They want paying customers, they want new business, they want to retain business. Want, want, want.
It really should be called the Customer Wants Assessment, right? Think through this with me before you shut down on the idea. Be open-minded. I sell every day, just like you do. I’ve been in sales and marketing for 30 years. I didn’t stop selling to become a consultant; I love the sales business.
So here’s a radical idea: Maybe we need to find our joy in that, in the sales business.
So this Customer Needs Assessment, where we ask them what they need—it really focuses on what somebody wants. So if we don’t actually guide them toward what they need, they’re going to come back to us in the coming weeks or months and say, “I didn’t get any ROI.” They didn’t get the return on investment that they needed. And so a lot of the time they didn’t get what they needed because we gave them what they wanted.
So here’s what I want you to consider in addition to the CNA: putting forth powerful recommendations.
Let me give you some background on my thoughts here.
There are a lot of impatient people out there right now. How many of you feel cranky right now? I feel cranky. I’m cranky about the world, I’m cranky about politics, I’m cranky about COVID. I’m just cranky. And it’s difficult to deal with cranky people you’re selling to. They try to tell you what they want, and you’re trying to convince them what they need, so I’d like to talk to you about recommendations instead.
Were you aware that Nielsen, the TV ratings and audits company, reports that recommendations are the most trusted form of information? This is a tool we can use as salespeople, and this is something I stress in my sales training. We can coach our customers on why they need something, and what they need to buy. And then we can get them to a point where we not only fulfill their wants, but we actually get to the heart of what they need.
Harvard Business Review had a review of 600 top sales professionals, and here’s what they found out: Most sales reps rely on a customer to coach them through the sales process. Now, the superstar sales reps that I work with in my sales training, we coach the customer. We know the questions we need to ask the customer to find out what it is they truly need beyond what they want.
But still, most customers are going to struggle to identify an exact need. For example, they might say, “I need more customers.” So I may say, “When you say ‘customers,’ can you be more specific? Tell me more. Give me some detail about that.”
So, to guide customers to a recommendation, I’m doing a great deal of comparative selling.
Creating a comparative conversation helps you draw out ego, helps you draw out emotion, and helps you draw out logic.
Sometimes in the advertising business, where I spend a lot of my time, I’ll say things like, “Who do you feel does a great job of marketing here in our community?” I suppose they could say, “Nobody does.” But typically they give an example of somebody.
And then I’ll say, “Do you want to be like them, better than them, less than them? Do you want to be competitive with them, or do you want to dominate them?” I work to determine what’s the circumstance for them.
What I don’t ask them is what their budget is. Because if you ask them what their budget is, they’re probably going to give you a number based on their reality. Not the reality of marketing in the community where you live.
My next tool to guide customers to a recommendation is sharing success stories through comparative selling.
Let’s say, for example, that you sell in the software space. When you create a comparative conversation, you’re actually comparing the customer that you have on the phone to other customers that you’ve had in the past that are very, very happy.
Here’s an example. When I sell, I ethically share stories about my current clients. I share what they love about me, what they love about the software, what they’ve loved about the company, what they’ve loved about the experience–and I can begin to compare customers.
I use these comparative conversations so I can recommend products based on the happiness of other customers, realizing that other customers’ happiness will oftentimes translate to the happiness of this new customer that I’m trying to get.
It’s easy—and it’s all about sharing success stories.
But sometimes we salespeople don’t like to do this, and the reason we don’t is because we feel like we’re talking about a customer behind that customer’s back. But we’re not. What we’re actually doing is shouting from the mountaintop how happy other customers are with us.
And if they’re happy, then this new customer probably will be, too. And happiness is ultimately what we’re seeking.
Now, you might get really technical about this, and you might say, “Well, Ryan, I’m not looking for happiness, what I’m looking for is making sure they have the ROI that they demand.” But I am here to tell you, when push comes to shove what most people want to do is what others have done to be successful.
Just last weekend I was talking with a friend of mine. She said, “I’m having some great luck losing weight.” I said, “Cool! I would love to drop 15 pounds. I think it would make me happy and make my wife happy. What are you doing?”
And she told me about her weight management plan. So I immediately went home and looked it up online to find out how I could get involved in this.
The point is, her success story led me to make a great buying decision, for me. This is a simple buying example, but it can resonate through everything you do.
Consider that when you have a linear conversation, a one-way conversation with a client, what you do is keep them inside their own bubble. And it’s not until somebody gets out of their bubble—OUT of it—that they realize, “Oh, other people out here are happy, they’re being successful, and I want to be like them. What are they doing? What is their weight loss plan? How did it work for them? What made them happy?”
As a salesperson, if I can help customers be happy—happy like other people–then all of a sudden they start buying what it is that I’m selling. It’s a simple sales concept that works and that resonates with customers.
I’ve had the opportunity to walk through and be a part of almost every sales training program in America, from Carnegie to Sandler. And a problem I see is that they focus on a one-way conversation where you identify somebody’s pain and then you fix that pain.
That’s great in theory, but as a salesperson you can actually take it to the next level by telling them about other happy customers whose pain you have eliminated. It’s about proving that you have done something for other people.
It’s about getting beyond the old fashioned Customer Needs Assessment to start recommending products, sharing success stories, and creating comparative conversations.
And remember, in these conversations, be mindful of the questions that you ask. Make sure those questions take you to a better place.
So, what are the questions?
I try not to ask the same questions that have been asked for the last 10-15 years, the ones that make you sound like all the other salespeople that have shown up either face-to-face, on Zoom, or on the phone.
I strive to ask the questions that other salespeople don’t. In that vein, I don’t ask, “What keeps you up at night?” I would rather ask a question, something along the lines of, “If we could help bring you one perfect customer, what would that customer look like?”
Or, “When you agreed to meet with me, was there a business challenge you were hoping that I could help you solve?”
I’ll say it again, rather than asking, “What’s your budget?” … especially in the ad sales world where I spend a lot of my time in the advertising business, I’ll say, “If we could help you be bigger and better than your nearest competitor, what would that look like?” “In the past, what have you done to solve these types of problems?”
Or I might use something back from my good old Sandler days like, “What is the biggest challenge that you’re facing right now that you think I can help you solve?” Or “How long has that been a challenge or a problem for you?” “What have you done in the past to fix that problem or remove that problem from the greater equation of your business?”
When you ask your questions, remember these ideas I espouse in my sales training programs: Most people want to be led. Most people like recommendations. Most people don’t like a linear conversation—they want to know what others are doing and what you have done to help other people.
So, in closing, the Customer Needs Assessment isn’t dead, necessarily, but if we don’t breathe some new life into it, if we keep doing the same thing we’ve always done, we’re going to get the same result. If we want to see a different result, we’ve got to do something different.
That’s why we’re advisors … try to be an advisor, don’t be a salesperson. Breathe some new life into your Customer Needs Assessment.
And managers out there—sales directors, sales leaders—look at the questions your salespeople are asking prospects and customers. Make sure that they’re updated. Make sure they reflect the current situation that we’re in.
Then finally, always remember. If sales was easy, everybody would be doing it. And they’re not. So we’re either crazy or we’ve found a career that will feed our families for a lifetime.
About this blogger:
Ryan Dohrn is an award winning sales coach and offers sales training to thousands of sales executives each year. He is also an international motivational speaker and the author of the best-selling sales book, Selling Backwards. Ryan is the President and founder of Brain Swell Media, a boutique sales training and sales coaching firm with a detailed focus on sales training and sales coaching for companies in 17 unique industry sectors from media to tech to aviation. He is also the owner and Publisher of SalesTrainingWorld.com an online portal for sales training success.
Contact information:
Ryan R. Dohrn
President/Founder, Brain Swell Media LLC
Publisher, SalesTrainingWorld.com
Ryan@BrainSwellMedia.com
http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
Follow him on Twitter.com/ryandohrn for daily tips and advice.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandohrn
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The dramatic impact that the novel coronavirus has had on the United States and the world is undeniable. There are many different ways to view what has happened, and I do not wish to be political—I trust that everyone can handle politics in their own way.
For our sales conversations, though, I believe that we need to start getting back to business—whatever that means for your particular company as it relates to sales and marketing.
In that vein, let’s talk about seven ideas to help us get back to business from where we now stand. These are realizations I’m finding to work well for me in my own sales life, and that I’m sharing with others as part of my larger sales training efforts.
Idea 1: The time to get back to sales conversations is now.
There are a lot of people out there talking on the internet and social media about selling during COVID-19—and it was tough. I must reiterate: The conversations out there were tough. And now, at the time of this writing, we’re almost two months into this and the conversations are largely OK now. Maybe one out of 50 folks I’m calling on has been personally impacted or has had something happen in their families, and they’re not ready to talk. I get that. I totally get that.
It’s for those folks, when I get them on the phone, I just apologize, sympathize, and say, “Hey, when you’re ready to talk, I’m here.”
But one of the things I hear sales reps doing right now in my sales training (marketers, too) is starting every conversation with, “Hey, Bob. How are you doing?” And that’s just wrong.
Now, if you’ve known the person for a considerable period of time, then you might consider them a colleague and you might start the conversation that way.
But if you’re calling on a new prospect, and you don’t know them from anybody else, I think asking them about their personal health is not the best way to start the conversation.
In addition, everybody is starting the conversation that way. And unfortunately, it leads to a pretty negative start to a sales call.
So what I like to do is put a little different spin on it. I might say, “Hi, Bob. I’ve got some news to share with you—some good news, as a matter of fact. Would you have time for a new idea?”
Or, “Hey, Bob. I see some light at the end of the proverbial business tunnel, and I’d love to chat with you a little about some new ideas. What do you think?”
I think that’s a very appropriate way to start a sales conversation. In fact, I think it’s so important that I want to caution you again, when you start the conversation, “Hey, Bob. How’re doing?” you might get somebody who says back to you, “How the (blank) do you think I’m doing?” And again, I’m not at all saying that you shouldn’t sympathize. What I’m saying is that everybody is starting the conversation with, “Hey, how are you going?” and a lot of the time it leads to a pretty negative conversation and gets things off to a fairly negative start.
In the end, though, how you kick off the first conversation is up to you and to your personal preferences. For me, it was a bit tough to get past the “Hey, how are you doing?” It really was, and so I get that.
To recap, if you’ve had a relationship with somebody for years, it’s natural that you’ll want to ask them how they’re doing.
But otherwise, my advice is to always start the conversation with a bit more positive phrasing—to kick off a more positive conversation.
Idea 2: Recognize that a lot of people are still working from home.
Here’s what’s really interesting about COVID-19 on a positive side, if there is a positive side. And that’s that everybody pretty much knows how to do a GoToMeeting or a Zoom meeting. They’re comfortable with it and that makes it a little bit easier to sell that way.
We taught my mom how to run a Zoom meeting the other night. So c’mon, if I can teach my mom how to run a Zoom meeting, if you do happen to run across somebody who really doesn’t know how and is not the most technologically savvy, you can teach them, too.
But since many people are still working from home, the odds of catching them in a non-distracting environment are good. There are always spouses and kids and pets, but there isn’t typically the normally distracting business environment. (And if you looked your customer or sales prospect up on LinkedIn, you might be prepared and already know they have six kids, or whatever the case may be, as they’re working from home.)
So to recap here, recognize that a lot of people are still working from home.
Idea 3: Respect that prospecting times have changed, marketing times have changed, and reception times have changed.
So first off, let’s talk about pre-COVID times. In pre-COVID times I’d be telling you to call folks at 11:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. I choose 11:15 because most people don’t book meetings before lunch, so there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to get through to them. And then 4:15 because most people don’t book meetings before going home, so your chances of getting through to them are pretty good.
Well, during COVID and post-COVID, 4 p.m. has become the new 5 o’clock. So for me that afternoon time block has definitely changed. It’s turned into more like a 3:15 prospecting block.
But what about the morning time block? I’m noticing that a lot of people are responding to emails earlier in the day. So what I’ve been doing is changing the 11:15 time block to more like a 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. time block—specifically for prospecting.
Here’s the takeaway on that. Look at your client list, monitor your CRM, and look to see when people are responding to your sales calls. Then, as always, friends, keep your emails, keep your marketing short.
Recognize that from a marketing standpoint it’s best to reach people not at random times, but at times that you’re going to get the very best open rate. And be aware that times have changed.
Idea 4: Work with people on their deadlines.
In a post-COVID world, there’s going to be urgency of deadlines as people get back to some semblance of normalcy.
So rather than asking needs, goals, and desires, what I’m really focusing in on are, “What are your deadlines?” Or, “As you get back to work, what are the deadlines being placed on you?” And I look at this from a technology perspective, from a marketing perspective, and from a sales perspective—and then I work backwards from those deadlines.
See, a lot of times in the sales world we sell forward, meaning that we work with folks and we try to push them into our sales funnel, rather than us working with their particular sales funnels or buying cycles.
So one of the things I’m doing and that I’m teaching in my sales training is how to really get intimate with sales contacts’ and prospects’ deadlines. My questions might go like this, “What are your deadlines? “What do you have coming up?” and “What’s going on for you?” And that way I back myself into success as a sales person. I use their own deadlines to potentially drive the conversation forward from my perspective.
Idea 5: You are more likely to do business with somebody post-COVID that you’ve already done business with in the past.
Why is that? That’s because there are two things in sales that really stop us. No 1., with new customers there’s that “stranger danger” effect, and stranger danger is real.
And no. 2, there are going to be valid health issues—safety concerns that your prospects and customers have.
Some of you in the past have been really big on getting face-to-face with your customers. And I’m going to say that over the next six months or so, getting face-to-face is probably going to be pretty unlikely.
The good news though, as I said before, is that people are getting very proficient with Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Meet, and that kind of thing. So I think that video selling has become a new thing that is very important for all of us to embrace.
In addition, you truly are more likely to get a referral from a past customer. So, what’s your referral program? Personally, I like to refer business. I think it’s good for business. I think people appreciate it, but you have to ask yourself, “What am I really going to get in terms of a referral?” And then you have to consider whether or not you have a good referral program.
Idea 6: You must set time blocks and create a good rhythm.
Doing this can really help you get focused. When you’re setting these time blocks, ask yourself, “How has the time zone changed in a post-COVID world?” Think of that, and then realize that you need to get religious about those time zones, those time blocks.
Block them out. Pay attention to those time zones. And really live and die by them. Get consistent. Randomness is really not going to help you.
I share in my sales training that I also use lists in my CRM to keep me focused. Whether you tag customers in those lists, or whatever you do in your process, in those time zones I like to work a lot of lists in my sales efforts. And I think that’s vitally important for sales success.
Idea 7: Sales is a numbers game that you can use to your advantage.
I love relationships, but when push comes to shove math doesn’t lie. So make sure you understand how many sales calls you will need to make and how many emails will you need to send to get a meeting booked with somebody.
And then once you book that meeting, how many sales meetings does it take for you to actually get a closed deal? Use that math to reach sales success.
So to close, it’s OK to sell in a post-COVID world. Of course, be sympathetic, but just realize that now is the time to sell. Get back to work. Stay ahead of the game. And I think we’re going to be successful in a post-COVID world.
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All sales reps at, one time or another, wake up and really don’t want to sell. Maybe it is just one day. Maybe it is all week. Whatever the case, you have been bucked off the horse and you know that you will be in a world of hurt if you do not get back on the horse and ride again. Trust me, this happens to all of us. As a sales coach, I will get on a call with a sales rep that is normally ON FIRE and they will say, “Ryan I just don’t feel like selling today.” I get it.
Lets explore six ways to re-ignite your passion for sales.
1. Change your environment. When times get tough I find a new spot to work. Whether it is a coffee shop or a pool, I change my scenery. I have gone to the lake and rented a pontoon boat. I have rented a hotel room with a balcony and a great view of the pool. I have even caught a cheap flight to Vegas. Change your scenery to re-inspire yourself.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST ON THIS TOPIC, Click here!!
2. Go back to your core training and use math to your advantage. You have heard at least 300 times that every “no” is one step closer to a “yes.” Right? For those of you that have read my book Selling Backwards you know that I work my “Big 50 prospect list” religiously. I work 50 clients every month to get 10 quality meetings. From those 10 meetings I present 8 great proposals. From those 8 proposals I close 4 or more deals. What is your prospecting plan? Figure it out and grind it out.
3. Try the non-sales approach. Go to a web site like Inc.com and find a great article that will be applicable to your prospect or client list. Maybe an article on motivating your team. Then, share that article with your clients or prospects. I truly feel that 40% of your sales communications should be non-sales related. You will be blown away at the number of times a non-sales email will generate business.
4. Seek out inspiration. Watch a Tony Robbins video on YouTube. Listen to my podcast. (Wink). Read an inspirational book or blog. Read Brendon Brouchard’s book The Motivation Manifesto. Get inspired. Seek out motivation. It probably will not seek you out.
5. Dress for success and rock it out! What? I’m not joking. Put on a suit or your best outfit and jam to your favorite and loudest music. I mean JAM IT OUT! Go all out. Put on the makeup. Wear the suit only reserved for interviews. Do your hair. Do it. Dress like you are meeting with the CEO. Then, turn up the volume. Fake it until you feel it.
6. Find some love. Call on clients that love you. When things are really crazy and I feel overwhelmed I will often call on clients that love me or I will call my Mom. Why? Mommy loves you no matter what.
We will all fall off the horse now and again. No big deal. Get up. Dust yourself off and get back in the saddle.
Need a sales coach or sales training? We are here to help. Reach out: Ryan@BrainSwellMedia.com . 803-634-3886