Engaging Buyers | Developing Your B2B Sales Skills

The Single Best Question to Ask in Selling

Recently I have seen an increase of the number of requests for “the single best question to ask a customer or prospect” when engaged in b2b selling.

Truthfully, I really do not believe there is one single question that covers everything as sales situations will vary in circumstances.

Yet, there is one question that I always have ready to use with any customer or prospect I’m calling on. Sometimes I refer to this question as the million dollar sales question since it has the ability to open the door of an objective conversation with the customer or prospect.

The question to use is…

Are You Really Listening?

by Voss Graham

Been doing some observation work with several b2b sales people and have noticed one thing. Most of the sales people need to ramp up their ability to really listen to their customers.

Again the signs are there for us to learn. Our customers and clients actually want us to listen and comprehend and understand what they want and need. It is our job to deliver these results by listening aggressively.

The truth is most b2b sales people are trained or have behavioral styles which are very adept at presenting and talking. Sometimes they can even ask questions after being trained on the Questioning Model of B2B Selling.

However, the question remains – are they really listening to what is being said by the customer?

Often listening is the one skill sales people take for granted. Their expectations are limited to believing they are naturally good at listening. Therefore, there is very little time and effort applied to learning exactly how to actively listen.

How about some b2b sales tips regarding the reasons to learn the skill of listening?

How Good Is Your Storytelling Skills?

by Voss Graham

Recently I have observed several sales people doing customer calls and noticed a glaring deficiency in their skill sets.

Quite simply it is the ability to engage their customer with their storytelling skills or in their case a total lack of story telling skills.

The ability to capture the imagination of the customer and quickly engage or engross them into your story will give you a huge competitive advantage over the feature and benefit legions calling on your customer.

How to Sell the First Time Buyer

by Voss Graham

Talk about special situations, selling the first time buyer is one of your biggest challenges as a b2b sales professional. In fact, this is probably one of the more complex situations you will encounter.

Let me add to the complexity of a first time sale. The higher the price, complexity of installation, and possible political risk adds to the difficulties for first time buyer.

Face it, when a buyer has no experience in making these first time buying decisions – what do they use as a point of reference? That’s right, they have NO point of reference and there is a major factor in play – the unknown.

Persuasive Statements Based upon See, Hear or Feel Buyers

by Voss Graham

Now that you have your list of words as well as some understanding of how all these words help identify your buyer or decision makers thinking language, you are now ready to apply this knowledge.

So today I’m giving you some example statements for each of the three representational systems used by people – Visual (See), Auditory (Hear) and Kinesthetic (Feel) types.

I will start with the most common person you will find today – the Visual person.

Your B2B Buyers Have Changed Tactics – Are You Ready?

by Voss Graham

Looking into the competitive environment of b2b sales, I began to notice both subtle and major changes in the way our b2b buyers function and treat us. These changes will have an impact upon our b2b sales success in the future.

Have you noticed some of the changes happening in the way your b2b buyers are using your services as a b2b sales person. I know the boomer b2b sales people have seen the changes occurring during the past decade as I have. And, our success has been hampered by these changes – usually in the form of losing old customers and constantly being hammered on price comparisons.

How and Why are these changes happening in our marketplace. How and Why are these changes happening to you? And, more importantly, do you have a sales strategy to change the game?

Here are the Big Seven Changes in Tactics and Methods used by our B2B Buyers…

Tips for Selling to Gen Y’s

by Voss Graham

One of the things I have noticed when reviewing the data about who is visiting this site, was the large percentage of Boomers. Since I’m a Boomer, I guess you like my information on B2B Sales.

However, this weekend while attending a large convention I over heard several speakers talking about Generation Y and the unique issues they present for Boomers.

Now, they were also talking about the X Generation and the main thing I learned about them is they are skeptical about everything. Again, interesting information and I have seen this occur when working with this age group. They are skeptical – particularly of anything said by Boomers.

Therefore, have your proof and testimonials ready for the Gen X decision makers and you will make more progress.

Now, back to the Gen Y buyers and decision makers. I realize these are the younger group, yet, amazingly they are fast movers and are climbing the corporate ladders quickly.

Five Brain Teasers to Drive Credibility with Buyers

by Voss Graham

Most b2b sales people charge into an account and begin a data dump of features, benefits and solutions on their target decision makers. Well, stop it today. No more direct or frontal assaults.

Even military strategist have learned the frontal assault is a very wasteful method to use. They now deploy end around techniques, deception techniques or other methods to gain an advantage on their targets. Well is it time for you to stop the frontal assaults?

Some of you are asking – what is a frontal assault in selling? It is the old school presentation model of selling made famous when the customers had no idea about what products or service were available. Thus, they had to rely upon the sales person to show them the way with lots of information about products and service – a data dump of ideas.

Well, welcome to the new world whereby the customer probably knows more about your product category then you due to the Internet and all its information at their finger tips.

You new sales techniques include one of the techniques used by the media to get your attention and interest. They use teasers to keep your interest at a higher level and you should be using teasers with your prospects and customers.

Are You Digging a Hole in Your Opening?

by Voss Graham

Well, today I need to ask you a question about your normal opening with a potential customer. Are you digging a major hole during your opening interaction with your prospect?

Seems like a large number of b2b sales people are creating a gap for themselves at the start of their first meeting with a prospect – usually because most have no idea of the damage they do. Okay, I know you are now curious – if not, you should be – about what can cause a problem for ourselves.

Here are six common openings used by b2b sales people and the percentage of time they are creating a negative or at best a neutral mindset or response on the part of the potential customer…

8 Ways to Engage Your Buyers for B2B Sales

by Voss Graham

Got into a discussion with a couple of sales people the other day and they kept raising the issue of how do we keep the buyers and decision makers engaged in the b2b sales process with so many distractions and competing priorities.

Well, these comments and questions got a huge amount of air time, so I felt it would be a good thing to share some the ideas with you today.

So, here are 8 ways to engage your buyers during the b2b sales process…

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