Being Convincing Without Controlling
This is #14 in a series about the 24 Lumina Sales Qualities and how you can leverage those qualities to improve your ability to attract more clients, build deeper long-lasting relationships, and achieve personal and professional success.
If you’ve been following this series you know that our sales team – Phil, Rob, and John (sales manager) have just completed the first step of Stage 4 in the sales cycle, Enthusing; and are now moving into Convincing. John has been coaching Phil and Rob through the various stages of the sales cycle with their client and they are now actively Recommending Solutions to eventually Get Commitment, the fifth stage of the sales cycle.
We already know that when you arrive at Recommending Solutions, your proposals will play a vital role in gaining the client’s commitment to your proposed recommendation. In our last blog, we learned that you must Enthuse the client to enroll them into working with you in the long term. Now, we look to understand the value of Convincing clients that you have the ability to serve them and their needs with confidence.
John: By now, you know how important it is that we have a strong recommendation for our client and that we can communicate our recommendation to them with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, enthusiasm alone won’t be enough to convince our clients to go with us. We must be able to convince them that what we are recommending is robust and that we can guarantee them the services we are promising. At the same time, we can’t come across as too forceful when trying to convince them that we have is what they are looking for. If we do, our clients might feel put off by our directness and feel rushed into making a decision. We must continue to always understand their needs and be prepared to back off and listen to their feedback, adjusting our recommendation if necessary.
John is talking about the sales quality of Convincing. Being convincing enables you to paint a clear picture of your recommendation while being highly engaging and creative in how you present the ideas to reassure your client that they are in safe hands. You reinforce your proposals with facts and figures to appease the data‐orientated and when building proposals always take into full account any critical factors, based on current realities for the client. The risk is all of this is that at times you may come across as too forceful and may intimidate a client away from your proposal. Balance and truly understanding your clients is key.
Tune in next time when we’ll continue with our Recommended Solutions and learn more about how to present a detailed proposal that we can continue to co-create with our client to deliver the best solution to their business need.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Albert Einstein
Marcel
Lumina helps sales professionals see how their behavior traits and personality show up in a selling situation. Is your sales team effective in understanding client needs? We can now scientifically measure sales professionals’ strengths and development areas in the sales process. If you’re interested in learning more, contact me at 972.841.5890 or marcel.brunel@luminalearning.com and let’s set up a time to talk.
Missed earlier articles? Catch up with John and his sales team and previous sales qualities here.
