Turning conversations into commitments and scheduled follow-up meetings

Hello Sales Reset Community

This week’s focus has been all about maintaining momentum in selling opportunities.

Here we are at the end of the week. It’s time to reflect on what happened and how you improved your selling this week.

We’ll start with reminders about our recommendations and then ask you some reflection questions:

1. First Recommendation: End meetings with a scheduled next meeting

2. Second Recommendation: Put yourself in their shoes

3. Reflection and Learning: What happened when you tried these recommendations?

End meetings with a scheduled next meeting

We suggested that towards the end of initial meetings with customers, you say something like this:

1. Thanks for sharing everything about your situation.

2. I will now clarify the main points in writing.

3. I hope seeing everything we’ve discussed in writing will be valuable.

4. I’ll send you my first draft proposal before the close of business tomorrow (or whenever you choose).

5. I’d like to schedule a meeting with you to review these first draft proposals.

6. After that meeting, I will revise our proposals to include your feedback.

7. These revised proposals might help you quickly share your ideas with your colleagues.

8. When is the best date and time for us to meet and review the first draft proposals?

9. If you can, send them the meeting invitation while you’re still talking and ask them to accept it!

It’s your choice about what you write after the meeting. You might conclude that an email is best. Or maybe a full proposal or anything in between.

The main thing is you’ve agreed on what happens next.

Put yourself in their shoes

Here’s the second practical recommendation for this week.

Put yourself in their shoes!

This is the classic definition of empathy. It’s an essential skill for Customer Success Selling.

It’s easy to get caught up in our priorities and make assumptions about the customers we speak with.

We should actively put ourselves in our customers' shoes. As a result, our perspective will change. We’ll see things through their eyes and be more aware of their priorities.

How can you develop better empathy?

• Invest more time learning about the roles and priorities of your customers.

• Do more research into this specific individual before the meeting.

• Listen more attentively and ask better questions to dig into their priorities.

• Spend less time talking about what you’re selling and more time helping them to understand the outcomes they need.

Then, when it comes to asking for an agreed-upon date and time to review your first draft proposals, they’re more likely to say yes!

Reflection and learning at the end of the week

How did you get on with these recommendations?

• What happened when you tried to schedule your next meetings while you were still together with your customer?

• How did your customers react to your suggestion to schedule these meetings to review your first draft proposals?

• When you tried to put yourself in their shoes to see things from their perspective, what difference did it make?

• What are the most significant learning conclusions you will retain and develop from this week’s sales reset?

Have a great weekend!

The Sales Reset Team

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