What do you think your sales people are paid to do?
Typical answers are to sell as much product as possible.
Nope – that’s not what they are paid to do.
Don’t think I’m crazy and stop reading, because really I’m not.
Your reps are paid to…
Move people from a Before State to an After State.
Let me say that again.. Your reps are paid to move people from a Before State to and After State.
When – not IF – the sales rep does that, then yes, they will sell tons of product.
And it’s easier than you think to do that.
Let’s begin and figure out the Before State of any customer.
Every customer is in some state of discontent. It may be major or minor discontent.
Even the ones in minor discontent would like to be in a different, happier AFTER place.
So their ideal would be in the AFTER STATE.
Think of one of your favorite customers or prospect in progress of advancing to become a customer.
In their Before State, how would you describe what’s going on in relation to these four categories before they know you:
- Have
- Feel
- Average Day
- Status
Got your answers?
Now, how would you describe what they HAVE,
How they FEEL,
Their new AVERAGE DAY and
Their STATUS – AFTER THEY ARE DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU?
Sales reps who invest the time to ask questions around these four categories… close the gap and amplify the AFTER are the ones who get the deal.
There’s an art to ask and listen – to effectively and efficiently gear the right questions and guide the customer to get excited about the AFTER.
Try this exercise with your reps – and for added relevancy, allow each sales rep to select several prospects and it becomes instantly applicable.
Don’t forget – your sales reps are paid to move people from a BEFORE STATE to an AFTER STATE… then they’ll sell tons of business!
Alice Kemper, sales training expert and founder of Sales Training Werks mobilizes sales reps to crush their monthly quota.
