I have a confession to make. I am one of those small business owners who spend more time working IN the business than ON the business. I've been in business for 9 years and think this has pretty much always been the case. This is okay when we're really busy with client work and emails are coming in daily from prospects. But that isn't always the case, and when things are slow, it's too late to be working ON the business because results don't happen overnight.
I spent 3 years in law school. I practiced law for 16 years. I stood before many different judges and juries. I represented clients in mediations. I advocated for my clients in hundreds of negotiations. I learned to “think like a lawyer” and speak on my feet under incredibly stressful circumstances. Ask me to make a sales call and my heart starts pounding and my brain starts spinning.
I decided to do something about this. I've never been 100% comfortable at networking events. And, in spite of all the books I've read, online courses I've taken and webinars I've attended on sales, I'm not the best salesperson on the planet. And, I'm far from comfortable being a salesperson. So, I decided to sign up for a sales bootcamp guaranteed to take me out of my comfort zone and give me the kick-in-the-butt I've needed.
My friend Dan Tyre @dantyre (salesperson extraordinaire) and HubSpot accepted me into the HubSpot Agency Partner Pipeline Generation Boot Camp 2019. An 8-week intensive bootcamp that required me to participate in a weekly 60-minute Zoom group call, and commit to spending the first hour of every day completing various homework assignments (making lists, reading blog posts, watching videos, sending sales email and making sales calls).
Like I said, this was taking me way outside my comfort zone. But I committed to participating in the bootcamp and I committed to doing the work. And, work I did. And, the work I did taught me more than I can describe to you in this blog post. Not only was the information on sales tactics eye-opening, but I also learned quite a bit about myself. Here are some of the highlights.
When Talking On A Sales Call, Less Is More
Dan teaches the “Pause, Pause, Pause Method” of sales calls. The Pause, Pause, Pause Method is about connecting and qualifying prospects on the phone. Obviously, the tactic here is the pause. I was instructed to call a prospect, introduce myself then, say to myself, “Pause, Pause, Pause.” Let me say this right now. No matter how fast I said to myself, “Pause, Pause, Pause,” it felt like an eternity. Seriously. An E-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y. The first several times I tried this, I'm pretty sure I broke out in a sweat during the pause.
This tactic was meant to be a win-win. After the introduction, one of two things happened. There was an eternity of silence followed by the prospect saying, “Who?” Or, “Hello Brad.” Or, sometimes I got a, “Do I know you?” Regardless of the response, it's a win! The response opened the door for conversation.
When making a cold call, if I actually heard a voice on the other end of the call after I introduced myself, I was to take it as a positive. This person was open to hearing what I had to say, even though we hadn't spoken before.
If the tone of voice I received was negative, I was taught to say “UUUGGGGGHHHHH! I'm so sorry. It seems I caught you at a bad time. Can we schedule another time to chat briefly? Are you available Thursday morning at 9:30?” As uncomfortable as this was for me to do, it worked.
People would sometimes let their guard down and ask me what I was calling about (That's a WIN!). Then, we would have the conversation right on the spot or re-schedule it for a more convenient time. Or, people would ask what I was calling about and tell me they weren't interested. This was still a win because I learned right off the bat they were not interested and not a good fit.
Be Prepared To Add Value
Every call requires 4 prerequisites:
- Have a reason for calling
- Be prepared to add value
- Know what offer I was prepared to make (Generally this was to set up another call where we could dig deeper)
- Be prepared to share my Positioning Statement
Before every call, I'd do enough research to enable me to add value to the call. I'd look at the prospect's LinkedIn profile. I'd look at their website. I'd review their social media pages. This would prepare me to provide a tip, share a best practice or give some guidance. This would also enable me to ask if we could dig a little deeper and schedule a longer call where we could discuss their needs, challenges and the marketing tasks that keep them up at night.
The other thing I did was make every call standing up. I discovered through my work in the Bootcamp that standing up during a call gave my voice an entirely different sound. I had a different energy when I was on the phone standing up. I like to take notes when I'm on a call. Might be an age thing. So, I'd go into my office with the stand-up desk to make these calls. I really do believe this made a difference and I continue to make these calls standing up.
It felt good to me to make a call to a complete stranger, when I knew if they actually spoke with me, I'd be giving them something of value instead of “pitching” or trying to “sell” them something. Now, don't get me wrong. At the end of the call, it didn't always feel so good. But, more times than not I could hang up and feel good about sharing the tip or best practice I shared.
Dan called this “Shelping.” Yes, “Shelping.” Shelping is the combination of selling and helping. Sounds crazy, right? Yeah, well, once you get to know Dan better, you'll learn the concept of “Shelping” is on the low end of the crazy scale. But it really makes sense.
I've Got A Shelping Mindset!
In my experience, going into a call with a “Shelping” mindset gave me confidence and was received well by most of the people I spoke with. When you're coming from a place of “I'm calling to share something of value with you,” it's an entirely different kind of “sales” call.
People were appreciative of these calls that I practiced making every week for 8 weeks. These calls are important. They are the calls that fill your company's pipeline and keep it full.
Don't get me wrong. Every call I made was not all rainbows and unicorns. Some people were just plain rude to me. Some people were cordial and participated for a few minutes before ending the call. Learning how to deal with resistance was a huge help. Learning how to create urgency and guide the prospect to the next step in the Buyer's Journey was also helpful.
In the end, I developed and practiced a solid sales strategy. I have a number of materials to refer to as time goes on, so I don't lose my edge. The Bootcamp was incredibly educational and the other participants I interacted with each week were awesome! My development into a “Shelper” not only made me a better salesperson, but it also made me a more strategic and thoughtful marketer.
I wouldn't say I'm 100% there yet. I can't say “sales” is fun yet. But, I'm better at it and continuing to get better every day. And, more importantly, the results speak for themselves. Even if sometimes I have a bit of trouble speaking for myself.
