Stop Weak Sales People From Hiding Behind The Jargon!
It’s not easy for sales people to get appointments with someone at Director Level within your prospective client’s organisation. When they do get that meeting, it’s vital that your sales people maximise every opportunity. Having spent time just getting there, the last thing you want is for them to walk away empty handed, or worse still, leaving the prospect confused and none the wiser about how your organisation could help theirs.
How do you monitor your team of sales people? How do you find out what’s going wrong when they fail to deliver on an expensive sales lead?
Every sales team will have its high-performers and those who bring in a sizeable chunk of business. But what about the stragglers? One thing that they usually have in common is that they hide behind jargon. Why is this? It’s usually because they don’t have a full grasp of what they are selling and how it can help their prospects. Weaker sales people will try to cover up their lack of understanding and experience with science and jargon because they think it sounds good. All they actually do is confuse and alienate the buyer.
Empathy and Rapport
Even at Director Level, people buy from those they know, like and trust. It is therefore essential that sales people focus on building rapport and empathy with their prospects; these are the building blocks of securing sales. This is even more important when selling high-value products and services at Director Level, as sales at this level are usually complex and extended over a long period of time.
We know that first impressions count visually, but what about verbally? Top sales people add value from the very first sentence. The ones who create rapport quickly and sincerely get to stay in the room longer with their prospects. However, rapport is the first casualty of jargon. Hiding behind jargon prevents a sales person from building rapport at the start of the meeting. Directors will quickly see what is happening and probably become frustrated. They will know that the sales person is out of their depth, lose interest and start looking at their watch – a clear sign the meeting is over!
The second casualty of jargon is empathy. Relying on technical terms and science is usually a sign that the sales person does not fully understand what they are selling. Without this understanding, how can they truly match their features and benefits to their buyer’s needs? If the salesperson is not on the same wavelength as the buyer, there is no empathy. No empathy equals no sale.
Confidence is key to creating empathy. To have empathy with the buyer, salespeople need to own the lines, own the words and personalise their message, rather than relying on words and phrases they do not even understand themselves.
How do you build a successful sales team that does not have to rely on the use of jargon?
Test Your Salespeople
If you have a large sales team, it will not be practical to spend time with every sales person to see how they perform in front of prospective clients. So how do you identify if any of them is hiding behind jargon?
A number of organisations are using Business Simulators and observed exercises to see how their sales people operate. Simulators are useful tools that put sales people through their paces in a controlled environment. You can observe their performance and provide feedback. You will be able to see the real reasons that your people use jargon. You can explore whether they are out of their depth in terms of technical or product knowledge, afraid to ask enough questions – or just plain lazy. They can’t hide in a Business Simulator.
Instead, the process can be used to help sales people develop sales messages that they understand and can use effectively with prospective clients. They need to translate corporate marketing messages into their own words, which they can use to sell with confidence. By owning the message and understanding their marketing material, they will be able to build rapport with their prospects and show empathy for their situations. With rapport and empathy they will be better placed to make the sale and build a long term relationship with their new clients.
If you’d like to know more about how Youd Andrews use Business Simulators to help our clients improve their selling efforts, get in touch by calling 01494 716 688, emailing us at info@youd-andrews.co.uk or by visiting our website at www.Youd-Andrews.com/The-C-Level-Business-Simulator.
