It’s often said that your network contacts and groups are your ‘sales force’ and whilst I think there is some truth in that, we need to be careful about what we are talking about.
A true sales force would know your products and services inside out, features and benefits, price ranges and servicing. They would be equipped to deal with tricky objections and importantly, ‘always be closing’ (ABC) to ensure the sale.
We don’t expect all of that from our contacts, they are experts in their own business after all. We only need them to get just enough traction to generate a call between you and the prospect, or better still, an appointment.
I liken it to when you are on the beach skimming stones across the water. You need to angle your throw to just the right depth to get the traction. Too shallow and it sails into the distance; too deep and it sinks like … well a stone basically. It’s the same for you contacts, it is all about the traction they generate. They need to be confident enough to angle it just right and to generate a rich enough dialogue with the prospect to result in a referral. They don’t want to get in too deep and start to sell. That’s your job.
At Asentiv we show you how to train your contacts to effectively talk about your business and find out needs of prospects in such a way that the prospect is desperately keen to talk to you. This makes it easy for YOU to do the selling bit.
Here is a quick summary:
1. They need to have TRUST in you and what you do and how you operate in the world
2. Give them KNOWLEDGE, enough to talk about you and your business for at least a couple of minutes, without hesitation, deviation or repetition.
3. Equip them with some great questions to establish a NEED in a prospect. Remember this is about quality referrals and it is better if they introduce you to people who genuinely need the thing that you provide.
4. Train them how to introduce you as the SOLUTION to that need. The prospect has just highlighted where they need help and done elegantly this should be a short and easy step.
5. Show them how to make an APPOINTMENT for you and the client. I had an inbound meeting request recently from a prospect (exactly in my Target Market) after a conversation with one of my network group. It’s easy when they know how!
If you are interested in this, please do book on one of my ‘Get More Clients Now!’ workshops running throughout the year. I can show you in greater depth how you can train your contacts to do this for you.
So yes, I think they are part of your sales team but within a defined role. Opening doors and setting up appointments with people who are looking forward to hearing how you can solve that BIG problem they have.
Wouldn’t that be great?