Thu, 14 February 2019
Emotional connections are an important part of life but sometimes sales professionals forget that those emotional experiences can help us make genuine connections with our prospects. In some cases, those emotional connections can help us close more deals. On Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing some ideas for ways that you can build emotional connections with your prospects. TSE CERTIFIED SALES TRAINING PROGRAMThe TSE Certified Sales Training Program began as a result of my inexperience as a seller. I wasn’t a great sales rep, but I went through training that transformed me. I created TSE Hustler’s League, which was my own version of a sales training program. Since then, that program has evolved into the TSECSP. You can take the course alone or with a group to gain from group coaching. The new semester will begin in April. CONNECTING WITH BUYERSSalespeople often overlook the importance of connecting with buyers on an emotional level. At some point in your life, you were likely interested in someone but you were afraid of letting that person know. You might have even been rejected by that person. Imagine your buyers in that scenario. They encounter emotional experiences daily. They have problems and challenges daily that they need help solving. If you step into that role, you have an opportunity to create emotional connections. BEST CLIENTSThink back to those clients you’ve successfully brought on board. Perhaps they were afraid of losing their jobs if they couldn’t solve a problem at work. Or afraid of losing track of invoices. Or unable to follow up on opportunities that came through their pipelines. They likely signed on with you because you were able to demonstrate to them how they could solve a problem. You created a connection by helping them. SENDING EMAILIf you’re sending email as part of your prospecting process, are your subject lines boring? “Join us for a free webinar.” Your prospect doesn’t care about your webinar. He cares about his problem. He doesn’t care about your business or your product until you show him how it can help him. Tap into his struggles to help him care about your business. If you’re dealing with finance directors who are frustrated with the invoicing process, try this subject line: “Dave, are you frustrated with these invoicing situations?” That may not be exactly his struggle, but if the rest of your ideal customers are struggling with this issue, it’s likely that Dave is, too. If Dave is, in fact, frustrated with this issue, he’ll likely click on your email. When he opens it, the first line will include his name, and will immediately tie back to that subject line. “We’ve helped more than 10,000 finance directors solve the problem of not being able to process invoices on time. We’ve helped them avoid miscalculations and lost invoices.” PROVIDING SOLUTIONSOnce you’ve made an emotional connection with your buyer, you can offer the solution to his problem. Then, after you’ve explained the remedy you offer, you can invite him to join your masterclass or webinar. It’s possible that your prospect won’t respond to the first email because he’s busy, but you can grab his attention with email number two. When you demonstrate your understanding of his pain and his challenge, he’ll likely feel connected to you. USING VIDEOSVideos help you build emotional connections because the prospects can hear and see your emotion. Tools like BombBomb, Loom, Wistia, and Soapbox allow you to embed videos directly into your email so that your prospects have an opportunity to make a human connection. That 20- or 30-second video allows them to hear and see your emotions. You can share an experience you had in the past or a solution you’ve provided to a previous client. Sellers who do this well throughout the pipeline can tap deep into emotions. It’s one thing to tell a prospect that you can save him $50,000. It’s quite another to talk about the extra fees that a company is needlessly paying each month because of missed reports and missed opportunities. People lose their jobs over those kinds of issues, and VPs feel the pressure to fix those problems. When you can demonstrate how your company can prevent those people from losing their jobs over missed reports and missed opportunities, that $50,000 savings feels more personal. BUILDING VALUEBuild value in your stories and demonstrations. Tap into their frustrations. Reiterate their challenges and explain how you can help them tackle those challenges. Work to build emotional connections. This stuff works, which is why we share it here. “EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS” EPISODE RESOURCESThis episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If you put in a lot of hard work in 2018 but weren’t able to close many of your deals, we can help you fix that. We have a new semester beginning in April and it would be an honor to have you join. Visit thesalesevangelist.com/CST. Check out BombBomb, Loom, Wistia, and Soapbox to help you make emotional connections with your prospects by embedding videos into your emails. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. |
Thu, 10 January 2019
Sometimes small problems grow into much bigger problems, and without emotional intelligence to help you address misunderstandings, these problems can affect your relationships with prospects and clients. Have you ever met up with a friend who suddenly became upset but, to you, the thing they were upset about wasn’t a huge problem? When you react, it becomes something bigger, and before you know it - you are arguing with each other without really knowing what you are even arguing about?! You can have similar situations with a prospect. The client loses interest, or maybe, becomes so upset they no longer want to do business with you ever again. [0:00] What happened? Why does it go wrong? The answer: Emotional intelligence. These situations affect both sellers and buyers, so our TSE Certified Sales Training Program will help you identify these problems before they escalate. The TSE Certified Sales Training Program is designed to help sellers at every level, from new sellers to seasoned professionals. The course has three main sections of four modules each. Tackle each section on your own or participate in a group. [01:58] Surface-level problemsI was running a meeting last week when one of the committee members had an issue outside the topic we were discussing. The challenge she proposed began to derail the entire meeting. What was I to do? I realized that it was a surface-level problem rather than a true issue. We decided, therefore, to have a one-on-one discussion to address it instead. Turns out, there was so much more she wanted to talk about than what was originally mentioned during the meeting. If I had entertained the issue during the meeting, it would have derailed the entire event for the entire group. [02:43] No money was involved, but imagine a similar scenario when working with a client. A client or prospect presents you with a surface-level problem. Then, because of a lack of emotional intelligence, people focus on that problem instead of the underlying issue. [03:37] Emotional intelligenceSuppose your client says they will not renew their contract. They might be upset because the project was late. Perhaps they are downsizing. Or maybe they no longer have the budget for it. Those are not the true issues. [Tweet "When we lack emotional intelligence, we focus on the distractions instead of the core issue. #EmotionalIntelligence"] Emotional intelligence is the capacity to be aware of, to control, and to express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.[04:22] EmpathyIn Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, empathy is defined as seeking first to understand, then to be understood. Back to the client who is no longer interested, we have to dig deeper to find out the true reason for their decision. Someone with a high level of emotional intelligence is able to see things from the prospect’s perspective. Rather than take the lack of interest as something personal, they are able to investigate and realize the core issue instead. It's tempting to think about how the decision affects me:
Instead, as the seller, we need to think about the buyer.
It could be that the buyer didn’t get their second round of funding and now has to do some trimming. The service you provide is still important to them but it is not mission critical to the function of their organization. That is something, as a seller, that you would want to know. [06:11] When you put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and seek to understand, you may find other ways to be of assistance. Is there something else you can do? Is there another value that you can bring? Maybe you can introduce them to someone else in the industry. Bring valueWhen you focus on being helpful instead of on selling your product or service, you have attained a high level of emotional intelligence. Recognize that it is not about you, or your bottom line. It is about serving your client. [07:02] People sometimes lash out or seem angry. Perhaps they had a bad morning or an argument with their spouse. Maybe that team member who annoys you so badly is having trouble paying his bills. Your job is to not react to surface level issues. Your job is to understand the true source of the problem so that you help to find a solution. Your job is to bring value to the situation. Don’t simply react to the emotions. Be a problem solver instead. [08:32] Emotional intelligence is something you can build on. It will help you tremendously in the early stages of the sales process. Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. Connect on a human level and realize that your client is not just the CEO or the marketing director. He is a human being with goals. When you recognize that, you will create a foundation of trust. Then, if something does change, he will be willing to discuss the true issues with you. It will also help you guide your buyers toward a close. Try not to react to difficult situations. Seek first to understand. Remember that there are two sides to every situation: the side they let us see and the side they don’t want us to see. Your job is to identify the real reason for the situation so that you can help provide solutions. Don’t react to surface-level problems. Dig a little deeper. [09:26] "Emotional Intelligence" episode resourcesThis episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. They are offering a 14-day free trial, and half off your subscription when you use the code Donald at checkout. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Previously known as TSE Hustler's League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode, and share with your friends! |