Your prospects love that rare slap to the brain. They love to be yanked from the boredom of the traditional pitch. The fear of allowing their company to be mired in business as usual keeps them present to the original-thinking salesperson.
Traditional sales teams are taught to “focus on the customer” or “listen to the customer.” Not bad. I dig ya, but I can also tell you best-in-class salespeople know those mantras can be strategically counterproductive.
There’s a time and place for continuity and smoothness of process. Yet today’s buyers sit in rapt attention when a rock-star rep directs to a new way of thinking, or better, takes the buyer to, “Interesting, I hadn’t looked at it like that.” Often, they’ve given up trying to solve the issue so they end up married to the devil they know.
Best-in-class players plan for that disruptive moment to happen. As self-described “heat-seeking missiles for pain,” they’re not afraid to pry, ask the tough questions and thoroughly seek for raw, emotional evidence of frustration. Then, they start disrupting.
Can you share a “disruptive” idea??
Yes. First of all, think. Find a quiet place, get still, grab a pen and paper and simply ask the question: Where are opportunities during a selling situation for me to disrupt patterns. For example:
- Disrupt the meeting location – switch their comfort zone (take away their leverage)
- Disrupt the buyer’s rote answers with a series of devil’s advocate ‘why’ questions
- Disrupt their rules for you (They have rules!)
- Disrupt the way they talk about money – force the clear, no mutual mystification conversation
- Disrupt their alleged decision-making process
- Disrupt their need to have you give an unpaid consulting presentation
- Disrupt their need to know all of your pricing strategies
- Disrupt their demand to have you complete an RFP without being allowed to ask questions or gain clarity
In the end, you can find yourselves acting like everyone else or you can choose a good ol’ sales slappin’.
At Sandler Training Trustpointe we teach our clients how to develop pain. To learn more about brain-slaps, yanking the boredom out of buyers, and hunting for emotional evidence of frustration call Tim Roberts at 317-845-0041 or tim.roberts@sandler.com.
Hoedown time, boys, this is knee-slappin’ fun!
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