Do you struggle with converting prospects to paying clients? Frustrated with having sales conversations with prospects that never lead to anything but giving out free advice?
We tapped into the wisdom of some of our customers at Content Sparks and asked them: What are your top sales tips for having 1:1 conversations that convert?
We grabbed the answers from our Customer Mastermind group and where we asked on LinkedIn and copied them below. At the end of the post, we added some top tips from our brandable, ready-to-teach course on Essential Sales Skills. So make sure you check those out too!
Top Sales Tips for Conversations that Convert (in no specific order)…
“Good question! My top sales tip is listen to the potential client and what they need. When people know you care, they're much more willing to work with you. Thanks!'
“Tip #1: To reduce no shows for virtual calls, I usually send a reminder about 10 mins before the call.
Tip #2: Always book the next meeting/call before you leave the current one.
It’s easier to reschedule that later, instead of trying to book another one at a different time.
Tip #3: Also send a short summary of what was discussed during the call (text/email), and what the next action step is so that the message is not miscommunicated when the prospect has to talk to someone else about it.
It also serves a record for themselves, even if they’re the only decision maker.”
“I tell them I have a special gift for them at the end of our call, at no cost or obligation and one that is custom made just for them. Yes, they love that!
Depending on what they are working on at the current time it’s usually one of my “Really Simple” courses, along with a guest post I write just for them that recommends them and something original they have created. It’s not a press release but can have a similar effect because of my SEO skills.”
Esther Shelley Business Coach
“I feel you need a Qualifying Questionnaire before the call, this will filter out who you should/should not be talking to. If you don't do this, it's a grab bag. I have had people ask to talk to me and they want to ‘hire me' to teach them ‘social media'. That's because I teach certain techniques so they think I'm a social media expert. I'm not. I find when I explain that I want to know their goals before I decide whether my strategies are a good fit, that is a big winner. I'm now not just ‘trying to get into their wallet'.
Get into their big why as well. If you relate everything to their big why, that taps into their emotional connection to their business and why they HAVE to succeed. So Qualifying Questions, their goal and their big why with the emotions behind that why, and then target all that in your conversation. Ethically formulate an offer that targets their exact why using their emotional words and point them to their goal.”
“Ask and answer the questions the person is already thinking about in their mind. Enter the conversation that's already going on. Know your audiences pain points, how they feel now and how they want to feel upon experiencing a solution.”
“Create a podcast so that your clients can get to know your style before they have a discovery call. Your podcast shows your personality, is binge-able and is personal which is a great way to build the know, like, trust factor quickly.”
“My top sales tip is to use your content to pre-sell you, but first it must do one thing: Speak to your audience. When you're trying to sell something (anything), it's always easier to do this when you have people who are interested in your offer. Trying to sell to an audience that doesn't care is disheartening and soul-destroying.”
“What's been working well for me is to have conversations with people in my target audience on social media, answer their questions, then write blog posts to give a detailed answer to the questions that come up again and again. Then I can refer people to those posts the next time that question appears.
Recently other people have been answering questions by linking to my blog, which is even better. In my blog posts I encourage readers to contact me for a free call, and then many of those calls lead to sales.”
Kat Stutz @RockingYourPath
“When communicating with customers, what you want to tell them is far less important than what you want them to remember afterward. Part of that is deciding what YOU want to be known for.”
Dr Alan Rae @HowToDoBusiness
“Be yourself. Know what you want to obtain. Ask for it and shut up. First one to speak loses.”
Lottie Moore @MindsetMetaphores
“It’s all about the mindset – if you’re passionate about your product, and the impact it can have, you start to think of sales as just offering someone a great opportunity.”
Nicola Smith @AHandCraftedBusiness
“Following up after an initial inquiry is a must. Not following up is leaving money on the table. Life is busy and full of distractions, so a friendly follow up or two is usually welcomed and appreciated. That and a self belief and certainty that your product is perfect for your potential customer.”
Susan Marot @SucceedAtSelling
“For me, the top sales tip I can give is to not give up when you hear the word ‘no' by having multiple objectives for a call or sales meeting. If you haven't got a plan B, C or even a D, then you will never get traction with a prospect.”
“Never go into a conversation with a preconceived notion of the way the conversation should go. Listen to you potential customer and respond to their specific issues The ask should flow right along with the conversation.Then take a deep breath after you make your ask and wait for them to answer. Give them time to speak.”
“My top sales tip is to ask for the business! If the call goes well and you can see you're a good fit for each other you need to say something like “When would you like to get started?”. Some people are shy to do this!!”
Bayo AO
“You need to have a qualification system in place to ensure you’re having a sales conversation with the right person about a big enough problem they have that they don’t want, are motivated to solve now in order to get results they want that they don’t have at a price they can afford (for your help).”
Phil Cullum
“My top sales tip is “Benefits, benefits, benefits.” If the prospect doesn’t understand the benefits for them of closing a deal with you, the sale won’t take place.”
Bonus Top Sales Tips (from our Essential Sales Skills course)
Starting with the right sales mindset is half the battle, as you can see from a lot of the answers we received. Many people hate the idea of ‘selling' because it feels like it contradicts their values. But that's because they're thinking about sales in a traditional way.
Rather than thinking of selling as convincing your prospect to buy your offer, think of it as solving a problem for a customer and serving them in the best way possible.
During the sales process, your job is to help your customer make the right decision for their needs. Effectively, you're their ‘decision coach'
In our ready-to-teach course on Essential Sales Skills, part of what we cover is six “customer-focused selling skills” that are a modernized approach to the old sales conversation model. They include:
- Listening
- Asking Questions
- Educating
- Collaborating
- Communicating Value
- Coaching to the Close
While listening and asking questions has always been a part of sales conversations, the wording we used on the others was deliberately different.
That's because people don't need to be educated on things they can find in a few clicks online. They want personalized information. And they want to feel involved in the formulation of a solution (collaborating).
They also need to envision their future state after implementing a solution. That's the goal of all good copywriting and you should use the same philosophy when having live conversations. If you've done a good job with the previous parts of a sales conversation, you'll be able to use wording here that resonates with your prospect.
Finally, rather than the old-fashioned ‘ask for the sale' term, we've called it ‘coaching to the close' because people still need that final push. But when you think of it as coaching their decision, it reinforces the mindset of serving rather than selling.
What's your favorite top sales tips for increasing conversions in your 1:1 sales conversation?
Add it in the comments below, along with a link to your main website. I'll randomly pick a few different ones to put in the blog post!
Want to learn more sales tips for conversations that convert to clients?
Head here for an in-depth training on how to build relationships and have sales conversations that convert, and grab a license to our brandable, ready-to-teach course:
Essential Sales Skills
Teach Yourself. Then teach your audience.
When you purchase a license to any of our ready-to-go course kits, you get the rights to edit it any way you want (or leave as-is) and add your own name and branding.
Then use your new course to:
- Attract new clients and customers (such as with a free training, webinar, or eCourse)
- Add a new stream of income (such as with a paid course or workshop)
- Keep your current customers successful and coming back for more (such as with bonus webinars, videos, and other learning resources).
Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions!
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You need to have a qualification system in place to ensure you’re having a sales conversation with the right person about a big enough problem they have that they don’t want, are motivated to solve now in order to get results they want that they don’t have at a price they can afford (for your help).
My best tip is “Benefits, benefits, benefits.” If the prospect doesn’t understand the benefits for them of closing a deal with you, the sale won’t take place.
The best tip is – indoctrinate your prospects with your valuable content marketing before getting them on the call. An already indoctrinated prospect is more likely to have a mindset to purchase from you during the call.