Is the sales call working?

👨🏼‍💼 You’ve done the hard work.

The reality is that the biggest and hardest thing to achieve in sales is that face to face meeting - the rest should all easily follow and before you all fall off your chairs and tell me that the ‘close’ is the hardest thing in sales… a meeting is a close.

What?

Yep, getting that face to face sit down with a client is a close. The same as asking for the order, you still need that commitment from the client and you still need them to commit to a length of time to give you the opportunity to speak to them. I would argue that the commitment of time is bigger than the commitment of finances as it’s a measure by which a client can actually ‘feel’.

When they place that purchase order or they sign that contract, there is no emotional tie. They are just committing some of their financial budget to the solution you are providing, they don’t actually see of feel the impact of that signature until you’re on site and delivering but the initial commitment of saying yes and meeting with you - they need to actually set aside time, probably understand their problem a little and then agree to you following up with them - all commitments which require a level of investment on their side.

So, how do you know if it’s going well? What can you get from a meeting that gives you the impression that you’re on your way to an order?

👉🏻 You feel it.

Unfortunately, no one can ‘teach’ you this one and sometimes, your gut will lie to you but you will get a sense that something is working. It’s the same feeling as when you went on the first date with your partner and you kind of knew that you’d be seeing them again. It’s that acceptance inside of yourself that you like them and they like you.

This all sounds a little ‘airy fairy’ and a little difficult to understand right now but have you ever been in one of those sales meetings and the overall sense of the meeting is positive?

I’ve been in meetings and I haven’t felt this - typically one of us (either me or the client) hasn’t clicked and we’ve just not got that level of understanding (I’ve also been on plenty of dates that felt like that too!).

‘Feeling’ like a sales call is going well is a natural thing I think - you just know.

🧠 Your mind is quiet.

Another one which needs explaining (they all probably need explaining but you know what I mean) - in every sales call, especially in the early days, your mind will be racing with options, questions, trains of thought and potential solutions but in a successful sales call, you’ll feel that flow.

Athletes describe this feeling as being in the zone of ‘the flow’.

The website of the app ‘Headspace’ describe the ‘flow’ as something that you may have experienced at some point — “that sense of fluidity between your body and mind, where you are totally absorbed by and deeply focused on something, beyond the point of distraction. Time feels like it has slowed down. Your senses are heightened. You are at one with the task at hand, as action and awareness sync to create an effortless momentum. Some people describe this feeling as being “in the zone.”

That’s what you should be feeling in a sales call - the above extract stood out to me because time really does slow down in these instances and you feel like you’re dodging objections and issues from the client like Neo in The Matrix dodging those bullets in ‘bullet time’.

The mind becomes quiet in these situations and you’re able to adjust, reset and commit a lot faster and fluidly than ever before.

📖 You can read more.

Nope, I don’t mean that you’re in such a state of ‘flow’ that you’re able to whip out your favourite comic and sit there cross legged and finish a story before the client has looked up.

I mean you’re able to pick up on the small and quiet body language cues that your client is giving off. The small agreeable nod after you’ve finished your sentence or explanation. Or it could be the way that you lean into the conversation and the client mirrors your actions and you notice that they lean in too (I love this one in a sales call).

The reading of the room becomes a natural thing when a sales call is going well and if you’re with multiple stakeholders then you’re able to see and feel their responses too - the world becomes this cacophony of responses and cues that you’re able to pick up on and adjust to (you’re able to adjust because you’re in the zone remember?)

🫴🏻 They hold your hand.

For god sake, stop teasing me with these headlines which make sense and then don’t make sense - now I have to explain this one too..

Right, so they might hold your hand but that’s probably not a meeting you want to be in or I might be confusing my metaphors again and still be on about the date - anyway, what do I mean?

I mean that they guide you - this is in two meanings of the word ‘guide’.

First one - they start talking about how you can circumnavigate the gatekeepers in the business and get through with the next telephone call to them or they give you inside information about how their purchase order system works and who you have to convince to get that order over the line. It’s about giving you a helping hand to get the order over the line because they are showing you that level of intimacy and commitment.

Number two is easier - it’s literally taking you by the hand and showing you more than you bargained for (?!) - you only came for a sit down meeting and to get to show your solution and now they’re whisking you off to show you their production facility and meet the finance team, introducing you to the other stakeholders. You’re being led around like a little puppy dog who has to nod, smile and shake hands with people so that your client feels like you’re on board with this mass introduction tour. It’s that. That’s how you know they’re holding your hand.

👂🏻 You’ve stopped listening.

You’ve stopped listening to answer and you’re listening to understand.

This sales game has levels and when you start the game on Level 1, you don’t have all the abilities - you can’t listen to the client without the need to think about ‘what do I say next?’.

When a sales call is going right, you gain that extra level in the game (even if it’s in an early level of your sales game) and suddenly you’ve unlocked this hidden ability to listen and not worry about what you’re going to say next.

This level of the game means you have time. Time to think, time to understand you already know what the answer of the question will be before you ask it.

Did he say that I’ll know the answer to the question before I ask it - what’s the point in asking it then?

👩🏻‍🌾 You turn into a guide.

Following on from the point above (and to answer the question) - you ask questions to guide the client towards a realisation and not to get answers.

You already know that your solution is the one they’ve been looking for (you are literally Obi Wan Kenobi in front of a stormtrooper) but they don’t know yet and by asking questions that allow you to tee up further questions from your client you’ve turned into a guide for them.

A guide which knows how to steer them towards a predetermined end point and the end point involves a commitment from them in the guise of an order.

When a sales call is going right, you can see the end point like Neo saw the matrix - it’s a simple thing to type out in a blog but a harder one to get to see in a call.

📈 You forget the plan.

When I first started out in sales, I was made to fill out a call prep sheet. This prep sheet involved some pretty mundane and basic things - you had to fill out the person you were meeting, the name of the company and what their telephone number was but then you also tried to fill out a kind of road map detailing the reason you were at the call, three objections you might get and then three questions that you want to ask to get to the end point on your map.

When a sales call is going right (and when you’re in the state of flow) you forget about this roadmap and you roll with it.

Now I don’t know if this is a ‘chicken and egg’ situation - whether you slip into this mode because of the prep but what I do know is that the plan certainly helps even if it’s forgotten.

🏆 You win.

Finally, I can’t write a blog on a ‘successful’ sales call without mentioning that you get that order at the end but I’m going to caveat this slightly - if you get the opportunity to follow up with the client, it’s a win. If you get the opportunity for another meeting with more stakeholders, it’s a win. And of course, if you get that order - you guessed it - it’s a win.

Not every sales call has to end with an order - I’ve been in hundreds that don’t end with an order but recognising that the commitment for more ‘dates’ with you is also a great win is one sure sign that you’re on the right path.

My son want’s to date this girl at school and being 11, he sees the only successful outcome of his pursuit as a ‘yes’ to the question of ‘Will you go out with me?’.

I keep explaining to him that it’s not the only outcome he needs to get - anyone can say yes but he needs more.

If she sits with him at lunchtimes and at break times, that’s a sign she’s his girlfriend.

If she want’s to work with him in class and be his partner, she’s his girlfriend.

If she waits with him outside of school while they both wait for a pick up to go home, then she’s his girlfriend.

The lesson here - just because you haven’t got the ‘yes’ to an order, it doesn’t mean you haven’t been successful in the process.