Keith Weightman’s Post

Excellent breakdown of buyer awareness stages! I'd like to add: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Strategic questioning is crucial in uncovering a prospect's awareness level and guiding the conversation appropriately. By asking tailored questions, you can: * Accurately assess the prospect's stage * Guide them naturally to the next stage * Position your solution more effectively * Build trust by demonstrating understanding Remember: The goal isn't just to sell, but to truly understand and address the prospect's needs. What's your favorite strategic question to ask prospects? #SalesStrategy #BuyerAwareness #StrategicQuestioning

Because #GTM teams focus on reacting to "#intent data" vs. using it as a springboard -- teams are treating all prospects as if they are solution-aware and most aware as Keith Weightman discusses in his post below. At most, many of the companies that are showing intent are pain point aware. They are not aware of the business problem and the impacts it has across the company. It's this education that helps #GTM teams build the consensus they need to embed their solution within the organization and get a larger ACV.

The best sellers ask the right questions. Better questions, more deals. Here are 5 questions to make sure you never ask: 1. What is your biggest challenge? 2. How does your current solution not meet your needs? 3. What are your goals for this project/solution/purchase? 4. How much money/time/resources is this problem costing your business and your team? 5. What will happen if you don’t move forward with a new solution? Context is everything. Showing you understand their business. Have done your research & come prepared. Here’s another way to ask Question 1: ”In doing my research for our conversation today, I noticed X - Is that one of your biggest challenges? Or is it something else?” The same ultimate point to the question, but phrased differently. One wastes your prospect's time and will lose you the deal. The other starts a great conversation with your prospect. Oh and for those who read and said 2-5 were good questions, the answer is maybe, but they had better be used in context with the homework you have done and tailored to taste as some are obtuse. Asking better questions is how a salesperson goes from good to great. P.S. - Get some value? Please reshare this.

Three unconventional yet powerful traits that can make you a very good seller: Before we jump into the list, let's first understand what sets a great seller apart from the average ones. A great seller is not just someone who only closes deals, but someone who can build relationships, understand customer needs, and provide value. Here are what I considered to be the key characteristics of a great seller: - Having a customer-centric mindset- having excellent communication and listening skills - Being able to build rapport and trust - showing strong problem-solving and negotiation skills - Showing adaptability and resilience- Committing to continuous learning and improvement Now, let's see the three unconventional yet powerful traits that can make you a very good seller: 1.VULNERABILITY: as a good seller you should be willing to be vulnerable and authentic with your customers/clients which is that it can help you build trust and rapport. Share your personal stories with them, acknowledge your weaknesses, and be transparent about the sales process. It can help establish a connection with your customers and increase the chances of making a sale. 2.CURIOSITY: you tend to have a genuine curiosity about what your customers' needs, understand their desires and pain points can help you choose the right questions to ask, also listen more effectively, and tailor their pitch to address specific concerns. This curiosity can possibly lead you to discovering new opportunities and creative solutions. 3.EMPATHY: Some gurus have talked about empathy so well but I would like to stress it again and again. Being able to understand and share the feelings of customers can help you as the sellers connect on a deeper level, diffuse tension, and address objections. study shows that Empathetic sellers can create a safe space for customers to share their concerns and work together to find solutions that meet their needs. Remember In sales, it's not just to close deals, but about building relationships, understanding your customer needs, and providing value. By accepting vulnerability, curiosity, and empathy, you'll have a new level of sales success and become a trusted partner for your customers. Remember, the most effective salespeople are those who connect, understand, and care. p.s. If you want to be good in selling, then consider developing these three unconventional yet powerful traits that can make someone a very good seller: #SalesSuccess #UnconventionalSalesTraits #VulnerabilityInSales #CuriosityDrivenSales #EmpathyInSales #CustomerCentricSales #SalesRelationshipBuilding #EffectiveSalesStrategies

To lower resistance, give prospects an easy out. Examples: “Would it make sense for you to review your options later this week, or are you too swamped?” “Does it make sense for you to see how this works over the next couple of weeks, or is that too soon?” “Would it be okay for me to mention your name or no?” An easy out demonstrates respect for the other person’s autonomy and choices. By giving prospects an easy out, you acknowledge that their needs and preferences are important. Autonomy is one of the greatest gifts a seller can give a potential buyer.

Buyers don’t know what they don’t know. If you’re ONLY asking questions around what the buyer believes - Then you don’t uncover anything that the buyer didn’t know beforehand. And you miss the opportunity to provide value to your buyer, by way of: - Correcting a misdiagnosis. - Or uncovering a missed diagnosis. So instead of solely asking self-diagnosis & leading questions to your buyer, Focus on asking questions, which help you diagnose things that the buyer was unaware of, that will hurt them. If you’d like to learn more about the 5 types of questions to avoid while selling & prospecting, and the 13 questions to ask instead - We’ve created an asset called “A Comprehensive Guide of Questions Within Selling & Prospecting” to help you out. Access the full asset through the link in the comments. 👇

Might be a hot take, however I’ve never fully believed you HAVE to know who your prospect is also evaluating to close revenue Main reason: features, functions, and cost comparisons often then take up bulk of conversations (led by seller and/or buyer) And too often the real business reasons take a back seat Which means sellers drift focus on the wrong pieces of importance to the buyer. Or nothing about the buyer’s need (worst case!!) Leading to a bidding war instead of actually helping But when you focus on helping, understanding, and guiding your buyer to the right solution for them - and that could be yours - then keep the focus there Your buyers Your customer successes Your outcomes delivered Your partnership And, of course, all things prospect’s-world No battlecard positioning required Everything else is noise and a distraction

"What is your timeline?" This is a common question us sales folks ask a prospect during discovery. WE MUST STOP ASKING THIS QUESTION! Ok, ok, I am being a little dramatic here. In all seriousness, asking the buyer about their timeline is selfish. We ask it because as a seller we want to know how soon we can make the sale. The subtle intent of "what is your timeline" is to help the seller understand how high the prospect ranks this project versus all other things they have going on. BUT, the prospect's answer is not final! How can we expect the buyer to single-handedly know and rank the size of the problem we are going to fix, how we are going to do it, and how long it is going to take? This is up to US as sellers to figure out and package for the buyer (aka business case). The only way we can influence the timeline is to get a deep understanding of the buyer's current situation and why they should change in the first place. If we spend the time to first fully understand the current situation, we quantify pains, and we identify how serious the problems are, we now have the credibility to recommend what the timeline should be! Once we've recommended what the timeline should be, the buyer only has two choices. Both work in favor of the seller. The buyer has to... a) agree with you, or b) disagree, and back their disagreement up with more information for you (then the discovery cycle starts again with the new info) #tiptuesday

Scott Anschuetz great tip. For the most part we tend view things in life through our personal lense. We often apply our own personal lense when selling our solutions or services and our buyers do the same. I've fallen to this as have many of the salespeople I've mentored over the years. We hear what we want to hear when our client answers our questions stating that their #1 priority aligns with our offerings. While in reality that priority doesn't even make the top 5 list of the company's planned or budgeted projects for the year. Forming and asking questions in a larger context of their business that may not include your offerings is key. Digging into your prospects current business activities in the market, their recent past and current performance could give you clues to what may be their top business priorities. As well, getting other's view on what they believe are the priorities can help when engaging in the sales cycle.

Sellers, avoid this trap... High-performing sellers often rigorously prepare for prospect/client conversations. Typically preparation activities include identifying potential engaging dialogue, building agendas, understanding personnel, mitigating objections and linking valuable questions to challenges. However, there is an unconscious perspective trap even for high-performers... Seller-centric vs. client-centric. Being seller-centric is selfishly for personal gain and strictly geared towards your desired outcomes. Being client-centric focuses on providing significant value regardless of desired outcomes. Both perspectives require tedious preparation, vigorous research, and productive seller activities. Yet, sellers will find that being client-centric leads to client engagement, opportunity advancement, stakeholder consensus, and vision alignment. Sellers that are too seller-centric potentially trigger sales resistance, unnecessary confusion, and stifled progression. If you want to learn how to minimize seller-centric traps and optimize client-centric dialogues, click the link in comments or shoot me a message.