Gong’s Post

What are the most common mistakes made in discovery calls? Here are my top 5: 1. Talking too much, especially when you are explaining your product. It's easy to get carried away. Keep your answers short and end with a question. 2. Wondering off-topic, especially with a chatty buyer. You think you are getting along like a house on fire only to run out of time. Use an agenda and slides to structure the call and use a sales framework to remind yourself what information you are missing. 3. Missing important cues, especially mentions of other stakeholders. If your buyer says something, it’s more than ok to ask a follow up question. It shows you are listening. 4. Being evasive, especially around pricing and terms early in the buying process. It's an instant way to lose trust. Just tell the truth. It's easier and more scalable. 5. Not surfacing objections, especially with polite buyers. Being proactive about objections not only helps you figure out where the friction is going to be, it also puts your buyer at ease and builds trust.

Friction. It won't stop your customers from making a purchase decision. It just makes it harder, slower, and more painful. You miss it when treat friction like objections (and enough has been written about objections). But one of the most important things to know: Friction is in the Buyer's World. They're often worried you'll use it against them during the sales process. But you're still on the hook to fix it, even after they buy. And even if you haven't done the work to figure out what their Friction Factors are. Here are the 8 factors that contribute to High Friction Purchase Decisions, set in the customer's world: 👉 My decision is not easily reversible. 👉 I have reputation risk in making the decision. 👉 I need to make a different decision or take action first. 👉 There's significant time or effort for me to get value. 👉 I'm not clear on the dimensions of the decision. 👉 The price is higher than my frame of reference. 👉 I'm not clear on the outcomes of the decision. 👉 I've seen or heard of this decision going wrong. Can you listen for them? Ask customers if they experience them? Help? -- Need to work on Friction in your purchase decision? I'm piloting a brand new Who First Bootcamp starting this month. 👉 Fixing Friction in your Purchase Decision HMU if you want to take your team through it at a 50% discount for the pilot.

People buy when they: Can SAY how they can solve the problem with your solution and feel confident about the inherent risk. THINK your product can solve the problem, or at a minimum, can solve better or more specifically than a competitor or no decision. FEEL your product can solve that problem better than others. Facts are facts, feeling are feelings. Emotion is a thing with buying, and they will resort back to logic to get the stamp of approval from their board or boss w/due diligence. Content, pre and post sales meeting, will always support your cause. They likely won't go back and listen to your discovery and sales call, but they do have the internet and they will search for you as they go through the decision cycle. Always.

The Buyer's Journey is a winding road, not a straight path. It's a dynamic process filled with twists and turns, and it's unique for each individual. As we Market and try to grow our businesses, our role is to act as skilled guides, helping potential customers navigate this journey. We must provide the right information and experiences at the right time, nurturing them from awareness to consideration and finally to a confident decision. Understanding and respecting the complexity of the Buyer's Journey is the key to building lasting relationships and driving successful conversions. Do you pay attention to its importance?

Curiosity, Consideration, and Conversion Step 1: First, awaken the buyer's curiosity. Grab their attention by asking intriguing questions that spark their interest. Be the magnet that draws them in and keeps them engaged. This is your golden opportunity to ignite their desire and curiosity to learn more about what you have to offer. Step 2: Once you have their attention, it's time for consideration. Dig deeper by asking open-ended questions that uncover their needs, challenges, and pain points. The more you understand their pain, the better equipped you are to offer the perfect solution. Step 3: Finally, it's conversion time! Armed with valuable insights, you are now ready to demonstrate the immense value you bring to the table. Show them how your product or service can alleviate their pains and provide the ultimate solution. Remember, the bigger the pain, the bigger the sale. By mastering these steps and asking the right questions, you can guide your buyer through each stage of the sales process with finesse. #MasterTheProcess

Stop shouting about your product! 📣 Focus on the PROBLEM it solves. 🎯 People don't buy features... They buy SOLUTIONS to what keeps them up at night. Here's the shift you need: Painpoint > Product Struggle > Solution "What it IS" < "What it DOES for YOU" Why this wins: 👇 1- Builds instant connection 2- Positions you as the expert 3- Makes your product the OBVIOUS choice Want to sell without feeling salesy? Ditch the pitch, embrace the problem! Ready to make that shift? Let's dissect your audience's struggles. DM me "SOLUTIONS" 💬 P.S. This applies even if you're selling a service, not a physical product. Identify the pain points your service relieves!

Become obsessed with the below—not a sexy new sales system or a short term hack/fancy new tool (they're just the icing)... <The buyer decides when you sell, not you.> Understanding buyer psychology and gauging levels of intent will make you more money than that new sales course with some off the shelf tactics and templates. Oh, and if your product is average. Start there...

[[Keep It Simple, It Scales.]] It’s easy to fall into the trap of piling on complexity to prove your worth. Gotta stack that value, right? Hold on. Don’t be so proud of what you know or sell that you prioritize your definition of “value” over that of your buyer. This is one of those Pareto Principle moments: 80% of the value of your product comes from 20% of the information. The ratio is actually probably even more lopsided than that. Learn what they care about — how they count value. It probably won’t be how you add it up. I’m not just selling you to sell what they want to buy, but I’m trying to convince you that in order to ship and sell your knowledge efficiently, don’t focus on the things you just don’t need. Don’t get fancy. Just get it finished. Continue this Gem of Genius at: https://ed.gr/c80uu

Buyers don’t really care how much we know. They care about the problem they face. Our job is to ask the questions that help them to connect their own dots, so they can decide if it makes sense to talk to us about making that problem go away. We need to ask questions that point people toward the real-world dimensions of their problem, especially any aspects they have not yet taken into account. Once they come up with their own answers to those questions, we may be better placed to lead a conversation about how they can get where they want to go. If we tell someone they have an issue, they tend to deny it or minimise it. Rule 4 is the opposite of what most salespeople do. They tend to ask leading questions that point toward a single predetermined outcome: Buy from me. This is not what we’re discussing here. We’re talking about following a discovery process where we find out what their problem is, and what are the underlying causes of that problem. Once we know that we can suggest a solution that solves it. If you expect to change a buyer’s behaviour, you need to use their data – the conclusions they reach for themselves – as leverage for that change. That means asking good questions and listening to the answers. #Sandler #HowToSucceed #SalesLeadershipNEW RULE 4