Think about the last time someone gave you sale advice. Was it helpful or not? Did it move the needle for you in one area or another? There are lots of sales tips and advice shared on social media. On any given day on LinkedIn, you might see sales advice on outbound prospecting, inbound processes, sales call scripts, and more. But is this advice helpful?
One recent flurry of activity centered around the best way to start a sales conversation. Someone was arguing that asking, “How are you?,” is a great opening sales question.
Another sales tip stated that it’s obvious that cold-calling is dead and to build your inbound engine ASAP.
Are these sales tips useful? Maybe. The problem with sales advice is context.
Most sales advice does not take into account your particular sales context.
For example, I could advise you to have a killer presentation deck that follows a certain number of proven steps to close deals. You may not use sales decks.
I could give you a great opening line to start a sales conversation with a cold prospect, but you may only work with warm leads.
See what I mean. Your sales context matters.
Is the sales advice helpful in some way? Maybe. However, without knowing your sales context sales advice falls flat.
So what does help?
Sales principles.
Sales principles are timeless and work in any context.
Here are three examples:
ONE – Active listening is a sales principle that can and should be used in any context. Learning to hear your prospect to the point that they know they’ve been heard will always help your sales efforts. Taking time to learn active listening will go so much farther than short-term sales tips.
TWO – Reframe might be another sales principle that works in any context. Reframe is the idea of helping someone to see their situation in a new light. Prospects are often stuck. They me be stuck on budget, timing, the problem, or the status quo. Helping your prospect see their situation in a new way is a sales principle worth learning, practicing, and adapting whatever your context.
THREE – Making your prospect the hero of the story is a key sales principle. Most salespeople would agree with this principle. However, when you hear them speak it’s clear they’re making themselves and/or their product the hero of the story. Learning to position yourself as the trusted guide and your prospect as the hero is a key sales principle that is vital to your success in sales. This principle permeates everything. Spending time on this will produce far greater results for you than most sales advice and sales tips.
To be clear, sales advice might work, but use with caution. Many sales tips are drawn from one small sales context and then seen as universal. They’re not.
Learning and practicing sales principles will always help your sales.. They will boost your confidence. They will help you better help your prospects.
To your success!