FundingStrat™

 

When to use it?

 

After deploying the Utility Close and the merchant asking for you to repeat the terms (you’ve already described.)

 

What does it sound like?

 

Describe the terms again and then shut up (until the merchant jumps back in).

 

So, basically, silence.

 

How it works?

 

You are describing the terms of the product once again, slower this time, so all can be completely heard, understood and processed.

 

Then you are deliberately stopping to talk, in anticipation of a favorable response from the buyer.

 

There is an old saying in sales that goes “he who speaks first loses.”

 

Now, there is value in this old saying, but it is a bit outdated for us because if we are truly Funding Pros, and advising them through their Key Business Outcomes, no one loses.

 

Only win-wins all the way around.  To update this old trope, “he who jumps in to break the silence with sound first is the most eager to make a deal at that time.”

 

Why it works?

Keep on Reading!

 

What is the Way of the Funding Pro?

 

This great article on deBanked about the power of consultative selling describes the approach that separates top performers from the rest.

 

What is the consultative approach?

 

The consultative approach is a holistic method rooted in building strong relationships with prospects, not through flattery or gab, but through deliberate discovery and understanding of buyer needs to more effectively fulfill them with customized solutions.

 

But how important, really, is the consultative approach?

 

Well, we first have to look at what most sales left to their own devices descend to if the consultative approach is not deployed:

 

B2B sales can be very transactional, but if this is all they ever are, over time there’s a lot of revenue left on the table.  Transaction approaches are pushing products’ features and benefits with little to no concern for how these align with, or can help address, buyer needs.

 

Well, how is this approach working out for most outfits?

Keep on Reading!

 

What does it sound like?

 

“It’s too expensive!”

 

Where does it typically tend to show up?

 

Closing Call: selling an Approval to a prospect.

 

What do we do with it?

 

Turn around.  Key Objective: to turn around the objection, engage the prospect further, and continue to guide through the sales process to ultimately close and fund!

 

How do we turn it around?

 

“Too expensive?”  (Shut up and wait 3-5 seconds.)

 

Wait!  How can asking this one question turn this whole objection around?

Keep on Reading!

 

According to K. Krogue, only 35.2% of B2B sales rep’s time is spent on core selling activities, aka revenue generating activities.

 

That means the other 64.8% of the time is spent on non-revenue generating activities.

 

In a standard 40 hour workweek that means only about 14 hours are actually revenue generating activities – what’s going on with the other 26 hours??!

 

That is a very important question because it involves units of the most valuable resource known to man.

 

Gold!

 

No.

 

Water?

 

No.

 

Money!!

 

Almost.

Keep on Reading!

 

 

Recap:

 

Sales is a high rejection game, and hearing “no” often at every step of the Sales Process is just part of the field of play.

 

Hearing “no” could be the obstacle that convinces us to head back with our tail between our legs.

 

OR

 

“No” is the obstacle that can motivate us to change our approach and advance Forward.

 

Hearing it is an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the merchant’s needs, and what can get the deal done:

 

What is motivating the no?

 

According to the TOPO’s 2016 B2B sales research study:

 

• 80% of prospects say “no” four times before they say “yes” and buy.

 

However:

 

• 44% of sales reps give up after one “no.”

 

• 22% give up after two “nos.”

 

• 14% give up after three “nos.”

 

• 12% give up after four “nos.”

 

So:

 

92% of all sales reps give up after four “nos.”

 

And:

 

8% of sales reps ask for the sale a fifth time.

 

Thus:

 

About 8% of sales reps in any sample size are getting about 80% of the sales.

 

So what do the 8% that keep going know that the other 92% don’t?

Keep on Reading!