The biggest complaint prospects have about salespeople is they talk too much and do not listen to them. You can correct that flaw and increase sales dramatically by selling nothing.
That's the advice of sales expert Joe Pallo, author of the book How To Sell Nothing: The Logical Way To Make The Emotional Sale. (2023, Indie Books International).
"Forget about selling a great product or service; the secret to being a great salesperson is to sell nothing," says Pallo. "Instead, focus on building emotional relationships."
Pallo advises readers to recognize the difference between a logical sale that is driven by the salesperson's voice and the emotional sale that is driven by the prospect's voice.
"Drawing from 35 years of commission sales experience and more than 30,000 sales calls, I've developed proven approaches, systems, and processes through which hundreds of top producers have doubled or tripled their production without spending more time at work," says Pallo.
In his book he spells out how it is so much better to listen and repeat back what the prospect said.
"This one little step has a huge impact," says Pallo. "In fact, this is a big, big piece of the sell-nothing philosophy. If you were to take one piece of advice from the book and apply it tomorrow, you would see how it changes the entire conversation."
When you interpret back what the prospect just said, in a sense you are selling nothing. When repeating back what the prospects say, the following eight positive things happen:
- It shows that you listened to them.
- It shows that they are important.
- It shows that you are on their side.
- It confirms their thinking in their own minds.
- It creates a buying atmosphere.
- It helped prospects to like you a bit more.
- It removes all the "pressure close" out of the room.
- It shows that you understand them.
In his book, Pallo offers a logical blueprint on how to make the emotional sale by first creating the relationship.
"I call it the EARNING System for expanding sales production," says Pallo. "It's the exact system I've used for years to support hundreds of top professionals to double or triple sales production without working longer hours."
Here are the seven steps to the EARNING System:
Evaluate. Help them evaluate their current reality. Ask enough questions so that if you're making an "apples to apples" sale, you know what type of apples they have. If you're making an "apples to oranges" sale, you still need to know what type of apples they are starting with.
Advantages. What do they like about their current situation or vendor? This is where potential clients share their hot buttons. That highlights where you can apply focused attention when presenting a potentially better option. Whatever they like, take note because now you need to sell that too.
Revise. What do they want to change? Even though this is the major reason they will start working with you, don't start with this.
No. Who can say no to this? Who else needs to be in the room or on the call or in the Zoom room? There are times where, if appropriate, it makes sense to end the call and schedule it until such time as the right people are in the room.
Interpret. Interpret back what they just said. This is crucial. Simply say "Just for clarity, can I repeat back what I heard?" You will hear, "Wow, you said that better than I did" and you haven't even started selling.
Nothing. What if nothing changes? This creates a sense of urgency. Then 98% of the time, make a point to ask, "What else?" after their answer. It's powerful for your potential client to really think about this piece.
Gain. What is the advantage of solving this problem? What would that look like? What would you do if you had valuable time freed up to do something else? How would you use that time differently?
"Do you hate it when you have a fantastic initial meeting with a good prospect, and then the next meeting sucks or you hear the dreaded, 'I need to think about it. Call me next month,' response?" asks Pallo. "The EARNING System prevents that."
Pallo has been a sales coach and game-changing trainer to top sales producers since 2017. He has worked with industries from financial services to retail to agriculture.
About Indie Books International
Indie Books International (www.indiebooksintl.com) serves as an independent publishing alternative for executive coaches, strategic consultants and agency owners to help create impact and influence.
SOURCE Joe Pallo
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