What to Do to Get a Sale and What You Should Not Do
GUIDE
When Reps take the role of a curious student rather an informed expert, buyers are much more inclined to engage.
-Jeff Hoffman
In the competitive world of sales, it's easy to get caught up with being the best and wanting to be the smartest person in the room.
However, what many businesses fail to realize is that sales is no longer about displaying expertise or offering quick solutions.
It's about establishing trust and understanding with your customers as quickly as possible.
In this article, we'll explore the importance of building trust and understanding in the sales process, drawing on our own experience at Jackrabbit Ops and the lessons we learned along the way.
1. The Gorilla Sales Tactic
At Jackrabbit Ops, we initially employed a unique sales tactic to test companies' RFQ lead times.
By sending requests and timing their responses, we assessed their efficiency.
If the response time exceeded two business days, we would pitch our company as a solution using our AI SDR technology, which promised faster lead closure.
2. The Aggressive Approach:
Unfortunately, we quickly discovered that our approach was flawed.
Our script and response after long lead times were overly aggressive, essentially stating,
"Hi, we tested your system, and it's very slow. We can make it faster today."
This approach shocked our customers and established a conversation rooted in mistrust. We were unknowingly starting our interactions with bad news.
3. The Importance of Understanding:
It became clear that we were neglecting an essential aspect of successful sales
—understanding the customer's business and their day to day to identify the problem from their perspective.
We realized that instead of rushing into the pitch, we needed to take the time to ask leading questions, delve into their challenges, and truly comprehend why their lead times were slow.
Only then could we provide Jackrabbit Ops as a suitable solution.
4. Shifting the Sales Process:
Recognizing the need for change, we altered our sales process to prioritize trust and understanding.
Rather than approaching prospects as experts armed with bad news, we began by building a foundation of trust.
We genuinely listened and learned about their businesses as curious students, empathizing with their pain points and goals.
5. The Power of Trust and Understanding:
To no surprise; implementing this new approach instantly increased our chances of closing leads.
By establishing trust, we fostered stronger relationships with prospects that are now customers.
They appreciated our willingness to understand their challenges before offering solutions.
Trust became the bridge that allowed us to guide them effectively toward the benefits of Jackrabbit Ops!
6. Trust-Building AI:
To further strengthen our sales process, we integrated trust-building and understanding into our AI system.
Our AI SDR technology now follows the same principles we've embraced.
It starts by listening, learning, and asking relevant questions to gain insights about customers' needs.
Without trust, a prospect will never feel compelled to buy, regardless of how impressive the solution may be.
In the world of sales, building trust and understanding is far more valuable than trying to be the smartest person in the room.
Our experience at Jackrabbit Ops taught us that starting with trust, empathy, and genuine curiosity vastly improves our chances of closing leads.
By focusing on understanding the customer's business and challenges, we can offer tailored solutions that resonate with their needs.
Remember, trust is the foundation upon which successful sales relationships are built.