16.03 – Getting to ‘Yes!’ with Emotional Selling Propositions
Closing a sale for a complex B2B company often requires guiding the customer through a fulfilling journey that leads to a rewarding partnership. The more complex the business, the more steps involved in this journey. Each touchpoint is designed to help identify potential customers and weed out those who aren’t a good fit, ensuring that valuable resources are not wasted on leads going nowhere.
Aligning with Emotional Selling Propositions (ESPs)
The most effective steps in a customer journey align with the emotional selling proposition (ESP) associated with your product offerings. These steps might include providing checklists to help prospects make informed decisions or sharing case studies that demonstrate customer satisfaction. Your sales journey should trigger as many emotional responses as possible. For basics on ESPs, refer to Chapter 2, and for more on customer experience, see Chapter 3.
Defining Your Process
The sales and service process involves various stages that do not necessarily flow in a linear fashion. As leads mature or as opportunities and needs change, you may need to revisit earlier stages and continue moving prospects toward conversion.
Adapt your sales process to the emotional selling propositions relevant to your customer segments. For instance, if you’re a creative designer selling services to a 30-year-old manager at a high-tech company, you might start by building trust and credibility with examples of your work and results. For baby boomers, focus on your brand’s heritage and reputation.
Sales and Service Integration
Sales and service processes are intertwined. Customers choose partners who provide excellent support, not just the best value in terms of price, functionality, and quality. This is true for both B2B and B2C. Nurturing a sale doesn’t end with closing the deal; it’s just the beginning of a relationship-building process. Continued sales calls, presentations, and efforts to find new ways to serve the customer help retain and grow accounts.
Watch out for leads that drain your time with endless questions about pricing and customised services but show little intention of moving forward. Some people feign interest to get their current suppliers to match your offers. This is common in industries with long, hard-to-break contracts. Recognise this behaviour and have the discipline to move on when you suspect it.
Establishing SME Status to Bolster Sales
All businesses have access to the same tools for identifying leads and communicating with them. Standing out as experts in your field is crucial. Achieving subject matter expert (SME) status for your team can differentiate your brand from competitors. Customers want partners who can provide insights that help them avoid poor choices and succeed. If you know as much or more about their industry as they do, you’ll likely become a top choice.
Ways to Establish SME Status
Follow Industry News
Schedule time to monitor industry news, magazines, and websites specific to your trade. Stay on top of mergers, acquisitions, regulations, and best practices. When reaching out to prospects, build conversations around current events that impact their business. Sharing these insights positions you as a valuable source of information.
Prepare Market Reports
Read studies by think tanks and research companies like Forrester, Gartner, Deloitte, and Nielsen. These reports provide verifiable data and insights. Compile key findings into brief reports for your customers, adding value to your partnership. Many customers won’t have time to read full reports, making you a valuable resource for actionable insights.
Speak at Industry Events
Submit speaking proposals to associations and organisations hosting conferences and conventions. As a speaker, you’re instantly seen as an SME, gaining valuable exposure for your expertise and brand. Offer a white paper or session summary in exchange for contact information to follow up with your audience.
These activities elevate your SME status and partnership value, both of which are critical to keeping prospects on the journey to yes and off a competitor’s pathway. Additionally, monitoring industry news helps you identify potential leads to add to your contact database.
By focusing on emotional selling propositions, defining a clear process, integrating sales and service, and establishing SME status, you can effectively guide customers through a journey that ends in a successful partnership.
