Does Your Sales Funnel Do the Heavy Lifting for You?

Build a sales process that works – so you don’t have to.

Mastering Your Sales Process

Good leads go cold because your prospect doesn’t understand exactly how your solution will solve their most pressing problems.

If your qualified leads are falling flat where they used to convert, that’s on you, not the economy.

It’s time to go back to the drawing board and build a better process that will take your best leads and guide them all the way through, educate them, and address all their concerns and questions.

Your sales process should be designed to help them understand where they are now, where they could be, and how to close that gap. An efficient process will take them from skeptical, to curious, to excited about getting started.

Here are three ways to ensure your best leads go from curious to committed, instead of going cold:

1. Ask More Questions

You can’t solve a problem until you know what it is. That means listening more than you talk. Instead of telling people why they need what you’re selling, ask questions to help them explore their situation.

What’s working well right now?
Where are they feeling stuck or frustrated?
What would success look like 3 months from now?

Asking thoughtful, open-ended questions helps the buyer connect the dots. It moves them from “I’m fine” to “Actually, this is costing us time, money, or energy.” Once they’ve named the problem, they’re ready to hear your solution.

2. Dig for Emotion

Logic helps people understand your offer, but emotion is what pushes them into action. It goes without saying that you need to be fluent in explaining the features and benefits of your solution vs your competitors, but facts alone won’t drive a decision. Go deeper into their emotions, both positive and negative.

What would solving this problem really mean for them? What other possibilities would it open up? What are they really trying to achieve by solving this problem?
What’s the real cost of staying stuck? What are their fears, concerns or frustrations about moving forward?

Going deeper on the emotional drivers at play will help show that you really care about helping them.

3. Pick a Target Market

You can’t sell meaningfully to everyone.

The more clearly you understand your ideal customer (their industry, their mindset, their daily frustrations…) the easier it becomes to create the “aha” moment in your conversation.

Knowing your audience deeply means you can paint a vivid before-and-after picture: where they are now, and what life could look like with your help.

You can define your niche based on a number of factors, including demographic and psychographic. The better you know who you’re selling to, the more likely it is that your message will cut through the noise and resonate for them.

This Week’s Takeaway

Sales isn’t about pressure, and it’s not about hitting people over the head to explain the features of your solution. Done well, it’s like throwing someone a lifeline. You’re guiding them as they pull themselves toward the solution.

In other words, if you feel like selling your product or service is forcing you to become pushy, aggressive, or cold, take the time to document your process and script your questions.

It’s the only way to get back to helping people make the best decision and finally solve that problem.

If you’re ready to gain back control of your time and money…

This is for you.

Last chance to join the launch of ActionCLUB

We’re getting together on October 17th at Venture X in Heartland, Mississauga, to kickstart the community. This week is the final call for registrations before the event.

Book your guest pass here

I’d be thrilled if you could be a part of it.

How Big Things Get Done: By Bent Flyvbjerg, Dan Gardner

If you’ve ever taken on a project, you know how quickly a big vision can slip off track. This book unpacks why most ambitious projects stumble and what sets the rare successes apart. With research data and a set of tested principles, you’ll find some solid takeaways on how to avoid costly missteps to get any ambitious project done (on time and on budget).

Check it out!