Claire Mayweather on Preventing Sales Objections Before the Proposal

Transcript

0:02 We have another episode of Tailwind.

0:05 Today we're joined by Cla Claire

0:06 Mayweather at Claire. I'm gonna start

0:09 over. I already messed it up.

0:11 >> Let's not butcher my name. That's not a

0:12 good start. Also,

0:13 >> yeah, also like just stumbling over all

0:15 of my words. All right. [laughter]

0:17 All right. Starting over. All right. We

0:18 have another episode of Tailwind. Today

0:20 we're joined by Clara Mayweather.

0:22 Claire, tell us a little bit more about

0:23 yourself.

0:24 >> Thanks, Austin, for having me. Um, well,

0:27 just a quick note. I mean, more about me

0:29 isn't going to do anything for the

0:30 audience, but I've been in sales for 25

0:32 years in a numerous different

0:33 industries. I was a sales leader and

0:36 when I was a sales leader, we hired

0:37 Sandler to deliver training to our team,

0:40 our enterprise team. And that was my

0:42 introduction to Sandler and why I fell

0:44 in love with the methodology and why I

0:46 wanted to do this um as a career. So,

0:50 that's just a tiny bit about me and

0:52 enough for the audience to know.

0:53 >> That's great to hear. Yeah. I know we

0:56 want to talk about objection handling

0:57 today, but out of curiosity, was it,

0:59 hey, we got the training, this is

1:01 amazing, I'm going to quit and go become

1:02 a trainer now, or was there later

1:04 catalyst in your career that that got

1:06 you into that decision to transition

1:08 over?

1:09 >> I think I mean, when I first heard it,

1:13 you know, it's psychology based, it's

1:15 human dynamics, it's, you know, it was

1:18 what I minored in college, so it just

1:20 was easy for me to understand. And once

1:23 you conceptualize that sales truly is

1:26 human dynamics and psychology and it's

1:28 not about manipulating anybody. It's

1:30 about staying in control of the sales

1:32 process. Having a process to follow.

1:35 Having equal business stature. Um

1:37 sometimes getting to a no faster than

1:40 chasing an opportunity and thinking yes

1:43 I've got one. Right? I think that when

1:45 we

1:47 have parameters and bookends to every

1:50 single meeting and clear next steps um

1:52 and you're able to lead the conversation

1:54 in the way to help the client figure out

1:57 if you're the right fit or not, that's

1:59 where the magic happens within sales.

2:01 And so when I be was a client and and

2:05 recognize that, it made me fall in love

2:07 with it. and I went back into a sales

2:09 role and I quickly realized like there's

2:13 meant there's something more for me to

2:15 to go out there and do

2:17 >> and so that's when I contacted Sandler

2:19 and figured out how to do this on my

2:21 own.

2:22 >> Very cool. Very cool. I like uh you're I

2:25 like how that you're drawn to the

2:26 process of it all. Um, and then we were

2:28 talking beforehand and you were saying,

2:30 you know, you know, people need to stop

2:31 getting to objections and you were kind

2:33 of talking about how the process is how

2:35 you get to the point where you stop

2:36 getting to them. Do you mind expanding a

2:38 little bit upon that?

2:40 >> Yeah. So, an objection and I've actually

2:44 seen it objection handling as a part of

2:48 somebody's sales process. You know,

2:50 after they've done a proposal, after

2:52 they've tried to close the business,

2:53 they'll have it as a step. And

2:55 objections isn't something to get over.

2:58 Objections is something that you should

3:01 be bringing up on the front end, right?

3:04 Through deeper question asking and

3:07 uncovering what needs to be uncovered

3:09 and asking tougher questions. So if we

3:12 stopped looking at objections as

3:14 something to get over and leaned in with

3:18 curiosity and leveraged it as

3:20 information instead,

3:23 um you know, it just can help us further

3:25 our career. And when you learn to do

3:27 that earlier on in the process, then you

3:30 minimize the objections that are going

3:32 to happen at the end.

3:34 >> Yeah. So, if I'm getting an objection

3:36 that I didn't anticipate, that's more of

3:39 a signal of I need to do a post-mortem

3:42 and maybe maybe I still won the deal,

3:44 but I need to do a postmortem. I need to

3:46 figure out what I didn't present or

3:47 didn't ask about beforehand and then

3:49 figure out how I can update my process

3:52 so that I don't run into that objection

3:53 in the future. Is that a fair assessment

3:55 of kind of what you were saying?

3:56 >> Yeah, exactly. Rewind what you know what

3:59 happened in the 10, 20, 30 minutes

4:02 prior. what and what was the objection?

4:04 Because whatever the objection was was

4:06 probably either the misstep in your

4:09 process or a missed question you didn't

4:11 ask.

4:12 >> Um, and sales people can get intimidated

4:15 by asking some of the tougher questions

4:16 that we need to.

4:18 >> Yeah. What are some of those big ones?

4:19 Like something that you think people

4:20 resonate with and they go, "Oh, okay.

4:22 I'm hearing this now. I know now I need

4:24 to get some help with uh fixing my

4:26 process up front rather than figuring

4:28 out how to wing it as I run into these

4:30 accidentally." Well, I think there's

4:33 three that really stand out and one is,

4:35 oh, that's expensive, like that shock,

4:37 that price sticker shock, right? And so,

4:39 if you're not understanding investment

4:41 parameters, um, and not just money, I

4:44 mean, it can be time and energy and

4:46 effort on their part to, you know,

4:49 switch providers, take on something new,

4:51 new technology, whatever it is. and

4:54 we're not communicating the investment

4:57 um you know besides money that that can

5:00 become the staller objection later on.

5:03 So really understanding where they're at

5:04 from an investment standpoint. Have we

5:07 uncovered enough of their pain and

5:09 challenges and have we quantified that

5:12 pain so that it it is weighted more than

5:16 the investment itself that eliminates

5:18 that sticker shock. Right? and nothing

5:21 if you're leaving the price to the end

5:23 of the proposal and you know oftentimes

5:26 blindly sending over a proposal or

5:29 you're hopping on to maybe do a quick

5:31 review of it and that's their first time

5:33 seeing the price that's when the sticker

5:35 shock happens. Whoa, that's more than I

5:37 was thinking. Yeah.

5:38 >> Right. So, we really have to look back

5:40 on the discovery process that we took

5:43 the person through as it relates to

5:45 price and sticker shock. Another one is

5:47 think it over. Right? But think it over

5:51 the ghosting that happens that happens

5:55 long before the ghosting actually

5:57 happens. There's something we're

5:59 missing, you know, clear next steps.

6:01 We're we're not mutually agreed upon

6:04 what happens at the end of the sales

6:06 call if we both find value in the

6:09 conversation, right? What is that clear

6:11 next step? So, when you get told, "Think

6:14 it over," there was something missing.

6:16 And it it could be their decision-making

6:18 process. It could be their timeline. It

6:21 could be they've got to go talk to

6:22 somebody else, which is another

6:24 objection that we get, like, "Oh, I've

6:25 got to go talk to my business partner."

6:28 Um, and oftentimes I'll say, "Well, when

6:30 did you learn there was another business

6:32 partner involved?" And if it's when the

6:34 objection came up, then we definitely

6:36 know there's something missing in their

6:38 sales process because that's that's

6:40 information that we should have been

6:41 uncovering earlier. So some of those

6:44 common ones, um, if you think about it,

6:46 it's just a missed question along the

6:48 way either through pain discovery, the

6:52 investment parameters, or their

6:54 decision-making process. And that's true

6:56 qualification of an opportunity. Mhm.

6:59 Now, we as sellers make mistakes. It's

7:03 inevitable. I mean, it'd be great if we

7:05 could get it perfect all the time or

7:06 especially at the beginning, we're going

7:07 to be making those mistakes. Um, you

7:09 know, what are some of the

7:10 recommendations you have when you find

7:12 yourself, oh shoot, I forgot to do this

7:15 or I forgot to do that and now you're

7:17 getting one of the objections. Um, you

7:19 know, what's the best way to handle it

7:20 in your opinion?

7:21 >> Yeah. Don't justify and defend it. Um,

7:24 you know, use it as a piece of

7:26 information. realize you miss something,

7:29 lean in, get curious about it, you know,

7:32 oh, when you say it's too expensive,

7:33 what are you comparing that to? Um, you

7:36 know, so just lean into whatever it is.

7:39 And some objections are inevitable. Like

7:42 if you get to the end and you know

7:45 budget has changed, maybe budget

7:47 disappeared,

7:48 um maybe new leadership came in, like

7:50 I'm not saying that every objection is

7:52 preventable, but if we have a better

7:55 process to follow, you're uncovering

7:57 those objections earlier on. And if you

8:00 think about it this way, in fact,

8:02 there's a Sandler rule that's um diffuse

8:06 the bomb before it goes off, right?

8:07 Yeah, if there's a giant elephant in the

8:10 room, let's talk about the giant

8:11 elephant. Um, and like I had mentioned

8:14 before, sales people are often

8:16 intimidated to ask some of these deeper,

8:19 harder questions, more difficult

8:21 questions, because they think that

8:23 they're actually going to create the

8:24 objection. But wouldn't you rather talk

8:27 about that earlier on in the process and

8:29 not be seven months down the road and

8:31 let that objection come and and derail

8:34 the the deal and waste all that time and

8:38 what was inevitable anyway.

8:40 >> Yeah. It's like that fear of ripping the

8:41 band-aid off and it's like, oh, but it's

8:43 not going to get better. This is one of

8:45 those ones that heals underneath it. Do

8:47 you have any like good examples that you

8:49 can share of situations that either

8:52 you've experienced or someone you've

8:53 coached experienced or just like a

8:54 general one if if you're not allowed to

8:56 share any of those? I know that there's,

8:57 you know, client confidentiality at

8:59 times. Um where like a big like, oh no,

9:02 I'm going to create the objection. It's

9:04 going to be terrible. And then it

9:05 actually turned out, you know, trying to

9:07 diffuse it ahead of time really worked

9:09 out well for someone.

9:11 >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think something

9:14 if you think about it maybe something

9:16 uncommon like if there's a time

9:18 investment and they need resources

9:21 there's training and development needing

9:22 to be done and that's a big lift on the

9:24 client sometimes having that asking

9:27 those difficult questions early on like

9:30 hey this requires x amount of time are

9:33 you also going to be prepared to commit

9:36 that level of time and not just make the

9:38 investment but really invest the time so

9:40 that you have true efficacy in

9:43 implementation and you see the return on

9:45 your investment. You know, sometimes

9:47 that level of question often times we

9:50 don't. We we're told that they're the

9:52 decision maker, but really I think using

9:55 your gut instinct and you've been around

9:57 long enough to know if they're really

9:59 the decision maker. Yeah.

10:01 >> And so, how are you approaching getting

10:03 in front of, you know, who besides

10:05 yourself uh could stop this from moving

10:08 forward?

10:09 >> You know, just something as simple as

10:10 that. and just getting down to the

10:11 nitty-gritty.

10:13 >> Yeah. The one that you talked about with

10:15 uh you know the time investment, it

10:18 seems kind of like one of those things

10:19 where you don't think too much about it.

10:21 It's like everyone's like focused on

10:23 it's the money investment that everyone

10:24 cares about. Um but it's just that's

10:27 just not the case. I mean it can be like

10:29 the popular one. It can it's always

10:30 present to some well I wouldn't even say

10:32 it's always present. Um, but it's

10:34 interesting cuz like for us, uh, one of

10:37 the things that we do in our delivery is

10:39 is ask for a bunch of time and we have

10:42 made the mistake of not bringing up the

10:45 time investment and even gotten over the

10:47 line of like getting the signature and

10:49 getting started and then having a

10:52 contentious beginning of it because

10:54 we're like, why aren't you showing up?

10:56 Like, why aren't you doing the things

10:58 that we've agreed upon doing? You know,

11:00 I need you invested in this. and they're

11:02 like, "Oh, I thought I just gave you the

11:03 money and I got out of the way." And

11:05 while we still got the deal, you know,

11:07 that's not great for, you know, if we

11:09 want referrals or if we want a renewal

11:11 or just generally feeling good about,

11:13 you know, the impact that we're

11:14 creating, which is something that we we

11:16 actually want to do because we we failed

11:19 to even bring up ahead of time the time

11:21 commitment. And at the same time, um,

11:24 while we have been able to get deals

11:26 over the line, it has been a complete

11:28 time suck for some of the the groups

11:30 that we've worked with because now that

11:32 they realize that they have to put the

11:34 time in, they're becoming very, let's

11:37 say, contankerous or something like hard

11:39 to work with. They're distracting us

11:41 from what we really want to focus on.

11:42 And like you know looking back it's like

11:44 I'm going to ask everyone about time

11:46 investment and like accountability

11:48 investment and what are the things

11:50 you're willing to do before I even talk

11:52 about money cuz at some point in time

11:54 for us it's like the money part's second

11:56 to how involved are these folks going to

11:59 be how responsible how accountable are

12:01 they going to be during the process. Um,

12:04 yeah. So,

12:05 >> and the fact that you learn too after

12:07 you get the same objection time and time

12:11 again, well, what am I doing in my

12:13 process that I'm not communicating this

12:15 so that it unc unclears the the

12:19 objection, the potential objection

12:20 that's going to happen. I would also say

12:22 the most misstep I I believe in sales or

12:26 a sales process is really understanding

12:28 the decision-m process and are you both

12:31 in line on that? because that's going

12:33 back to the time as well.

12:35 >> Yeah.

12:35 >> So, you know, it's not just who what

12:37 other decision makers are involved.

12:39 It's, you know, what is your timeline to

12:41 make a decision? What is your timeline

12:43 for implementation? And if we don't hit

12:45 that date, then what?

12:47 >> Um, and why that date? Why are you held

12:49 on that date? You know, just really

12:51 digging deeper even into the

12:53 decision-making process that they're

12:55 going to go through and making sure that

12:57 it's in line with your process. um so

13:00 that everybody is clear and on the same

13:02 page there. No mutual mystification,

13:05 right?

13:06 >> Yeah. Yeah. I think too like what I'm

13:08 hearing as well as you're digging into

13:10 it is you know being able to understand

13:11 why does this date matter gives you

13:13 another understanding of their pain as

13:15 part of their discovery and it's

13:16 actually giving you more ammo to when it

13:18 comes to something like well the money

13:21 part you're like well hold on like I

13:22 know that the money part doesn't matter

13:24 because this start date is so important

13:25 because of everything that's happening

13:27 and like you said like yeah but I could

13:30 also be afraid of bringing up an

13:32 potential objection which that could

13:34 lose me to the deal which on the other

13:36 side is actually it's going to win me

13:37 the deal because I asked this thing and

13:39 tried to find the objection.

13:41 >> Yeah. I think it builds instant trust

13:42 and credibility, right? You're

13:45 >> you're not only creating trust and

13:47 credibility, you're

13:50 improving the communication that be

13:52 that's being done and it allows people

13:54 to be more comfortable in the same room

13:57 as you, right? It's it's just creating

13:59 that safe space including being able for

14:02 them to tell you no. oftentimes we're

14:04 not giving permission for people to tell

14:06 us no. So then by the time we get to

14:08 that think it over, I'll get back to

14:10 you. Yeah.

14:10 >> Right. That's really them just not

14:12 wanting to tell you no because we didn't

14:14 tell them, hey, by the way, if we get to

14:16 the end of this and you don't want to

14:18 move forward. That's totally fine.

14:20 >> Like no harm, no foul. We'll part ways.

14:22 I might ask you for a referral, you

14:24 know, to somebody that could benefit

14:26 from this system or this what we have to

14:29 offer in products and services, but just

14:33 giving the the freedom for somebody to

14:35 tell you no is um a huge impact on your

14:38 sales conversations.

14:40 >> Yeah. You mentioned during the uh kind

14:42 of as you're talking through it like

14:44 lean in. I mean, would it be too crude

14:47 of an approach just to go like all

14:49 right, what are my objections? I'm gonna

14:50 take every objection and just force

14:52 myself to ask a question and like make

14:54 it part of my pre-all planner that it's

14:56 like always my standard like okay over

14:58 the last six months I've gotten these

15:00 three objections I just need to map one

15:02 to one the questions that I should be

15:05 asking every single time I go into these

15:06 meetings or is it something a little bit

15:08 more nuanced and it's not quite as

15:10 simple as just going just force yourself

15:12 to ask the question don't allow yourself

15:14 to get to the point where it could

15:15 become at least like maybe an unexpected

15:18 objection I suppose

15:20 I think if you have repetitive

15:22 objections, you're consistently hearing

15:24 the same thing,

15:25 >> I think there's valid reasons to have it

15:28 a part of your sales process, like, "Oh,

15:30 I'm going to ask this question before I

15:32 move on,

15:33 >> right? Just uncovering it sooner rather

15:35 than later. Now, the ones that are kind

15:38 of one-offs that might just be

15:40 pertaining to the client, but if you

15:42 really do due diligence through

15:44 qualification and you are qualifying

15:47 stringently,

15:49 you will be closing much easier, right?

15:52 Every opportunity to ask a question is

15:55 slightly moving the needle closer to the

15:57 close because you're uncovering that

15:59 information. You're having dialogue.

16:01 You're having clear mutual understanding

16:03 of everything that's taking place. and

16:05 you're continuing to build that trust

16:07 and credibility, so it makes them more

16:09 likely that they're going to want to do

16:11 business with you.

16:12 >> And is this something that you would say

16:14 like

16:15 you need to address this through

16:17 well-crafted questions and maybe it's

16:19 multiple questions in a row or is this

16:21 something where you could also

16:23 potentially be presenting information

16:25 proactively without the question to

16:27 start handling those objections as well?

16:30 Well, by the time you present

16:32 information, let's say, are you talking

16:34 about like jumping into a proposal like

16:36 I'm going to present the solution?

16:40 >> Yeah. Or like, you know, you're going

16:41 through like the question like process

16:43 and you're asking question, you're

16:44 trying to de dive in deep. Um, I mean,

16:47 is it more it does it matter if it's

16:49 like you helping them through your

16:51 questions to arrive at that point or is

16:53 there a point where you can kind of be

16:54 like, hey, we've worked with a similar

16:55 client in the past like I'm hearing

16:57 something similar. I'm going to present

16:59 this piece of information or do you just

17:02 keep in your head and go, "Okay, I I

17:03 know a very similar client. I'm going to

17:05 keep asking till I get them to their own

17:07 point where they're like arriving to the

17:09 conclusion that I want to get them to."

17:12 >> Yeah. I I love actually both of those

17:14 approaches. Okay,

17:15 >> having the question be a part of, you

17:17 know, kind of the checklist of items

17:19 that you need to uncover, but also using

17:22 third party stories, a historical

17:24 precedent, you know, to say like, hey,

17:27 I've talked to clients of your size and

17:30 your industry and they're looking for

17:32 this this same exact solution. here's

17:34 something that came up as an obstacle

17:37 and I'd like to see if that would be the

17:39 same issue for you and if we need to

17:41 have a conversation to make sure that

17:42 we're both on the same page there. You

17:44 know, just presenting information in a

17:46 way that they also feel like, oh,

17:50 they're they're actually concerned, this

17:51 person is concerned about um because

17:54 they've gone through this before that

17:56 I'm making the right decision.

17:58 >> Yeah. And you're not really in that

17:59 instance telling them. you're being

18:01 like, "Hey, by the way, this is

18:03 reminding me of a different story. Does

18:04 it remind me of you at all? Or does it

18:06 does this peak any interest or anything

18:08 like that?" Um, but you you

18:10 >> Well, the ultimate Stanler rule is

18:12 people don't defend

18:15 their own data, right? So, if you're

18:18 telling them information, that's

18:19 actually data that you're telling them.

18:22 But if you're asking them questions and

18:23 they're uncovering their own data, they

18:25 can't argue with the answers that

18:27 they're providing. So that's why

18:28 question strategies are so impactful.

18:32 >> Yeah. And it really shows that Sandler's

18:34 like really truly built on like intense

18:36 psychology and all that kind of stuff. I

18:38 was a rhetoric undergrad and there was

18:40 you can't persuade anyone, they persuade

18:42 themselves. You can just present uh the

18:45 information for them to change their

18:46 minds was like what we were told every

18:48 single time. And they said and they were

18:49 always like

18:50 >> if you tell them information and force

18:53 them to change their mind that's called

18:54 coercion. That is not persuasion.

18:57 I've actually heard people say, "I need

18:59 to convince them."

19:01 >> Yeah. Yeah.

19:01 >> That's that's kind of cringy, right?

19:03 Nobody wants to be convinced. They just

19:05 want to know if you're going to solve

19:06 their problems and are we in line on the

19:09 budget and are we in line on the

19:12 timeline? Um and is is this, you know,

19:15 have I built a a good enough business

19:17 case um for the person to want to move

19:19 forward with me?

19:20 >> Yeah. And you were saying, so when I was

19:22 asking the question or trying to

19:24 formulate the question about like

19:25 leading somebody or show like a

19:26 comparative story, you're like, well,

19:28 when when you get to the like presenting

19:29 the solution, um, where were you going

19:32 to go with that? Because I think you had

19:33 like a really good point to make and I

19:34 was curious what it was.

19:36 >> Yeah. Um, you nailed it. So there should

19:39 be nothing in that proposal that hasn't

19:42 already been talked about,

19:44 [clears throat]

19:44 >> right? because that is a great example

19:47 of when something's going to come up

19:48 that's going to stall the deal moving

19:50 forward or create the objection. Whoa,

19:53 we didn't talk about this or whoa, you

19:54 didn't tell me this number or this line

19:57 item was there or maybe you

19:58 overpresented and now they hadn't even

20:01 thought about, you know, something that

20:03 the technology could do for them and

20:05 they're like, whoa, now this is even

20:07 getting more complicated. I need to

20:08 bring in this person and they got to

20:10 evaluate it. So now we're creating

20:13 objections to handle. Um so if you are

20:17 presenting information, everything in

20:20 that proposal should have already been

20:22 talked about. Nothing should be a

20:24 surprise.

20:25 >> Yeah. So you're simply like compiling

20:28 the conversations I had and like let me

20:30 just recap the conversation so we can

20:32 all agree if this is something that

20:33 we're going to go to, you know, a

20:35 contract on essentially.

20:37 >> Exactly. Yeah. Now, kind of what we've

20:40 been talking about is through like, you

20:41 know, first-person perspective of how I

20:43 can improve my own, you know, approach

20:45 to making sure objections don't arise.

20:47 Um, you know, what would be your advice

20:51 uh to a coach or a leader that is

20:53 looking at their team and they're going,

20:55 "Man, on the weekly team meetings, we

20:56 keep hearing these same objections, not

20:59 been listening to CLA. I'd really like

21:00 to not be talking about objections

21:02 anymore. what are some steps that they

21:04 can take to start, you know, addressing

21:07 this and creating a better process?

21:09 >> That's a great question because I was a

21:10 sales leader. I ran a team of 11 and I

21:14 fell in this same zone of when somebody

21:17 would say, "Here's the an objection I

21:19 would get." I would say, "Well, this is

21:20 how I would answer it." Right? Like,

21:21 "Oh, your price is too expensive. Well,

21:23 this is how I'm going to answer it."

21:25 >> But true coaching is actually rewinding

21:28 and taking a step back. So instead of

21:30 saying well what did you say in response

21:33 it's you know tell me about the the pain

21:37 that you uncovered what were their

21:38 challenges that they were experiencing

21:40 did you quantify that pain um what was

21:44 the investment parameters that were

21:46 uncovered was it in line with the cost

21:48 of the solution um what was their

21:51 decision process and who was a part of

21:54 that decision and were they involved in

21:56 the conversation right taking a step

21:58 back and really truly

22:00 understanding what happened in the

22:02 qualification

22:03 phase and then posing the question

22:06 knowing what you know now

22:09 that this happened what will you do

22:11 differently next time

22:14 >> right it's not about how did you respond

22:15 to that objection but really coaching

22:17 and developing that person so that they

22:19 don't repeat the same possible mistake

22:22 that they made.

22:24 >> Yeah. Yeah, it feels very dual purpose.

22:26 Like not only you helping them uncover

22:27 their mistakes, you're also

22:28 demonstrating how to ask the questions

22:31 and what questions they should be

22:32 curious about cuz it's then they get to

22:34 sit there and be like, "Oh, okay." Like

22:36 not only are you helping me guide to the

22:38 mistake I made, but I can see how you're

22:40 not asking me these questions, I can

22:41 just turn around and do that to the next

22:43 person. Um, you know, one of the things

22:46 that, you know, I really admire about

22:48 like Sandler is like the head trash

22:49 stuff or like, you know, maintaining

22:50 mindset and behavior. Uh, do you have

22:53 any like I could see where certain

22:56 sellers might be like um like push back

23:00 and be like, "Stop interrogating me.

23:01 Stop pressuring me." Like you know, you

23:04 know how like does that make sense? Like

23:06 where like people would be like, "Well,

23:07 why are you asking me so many questions?

23:08 Why are you attacking me? I made a

23:09 mistake. My bad." Um, but then being

23:12 able to as a sales leader coach uh

23:14 manage like that aspect of the the

23:16 conversation where it's not supposed to

23:18 be you, you're the worst. It's supposed

23:20 to be well no we're trying to uncover

23:22 and we're a team and like we're on the

23:24 same side. Does that make sense where

23:26 I'm trying to go? I'm doing a terrible

23:27 job of setting up the question.

23:29 >> You are a little bit messy on this one,

23:30 Austin, but thanks for picking up what

23:32 you're meaning. It's just going back to

23:34 the mindset of the person.

23:36 >> Yeah. And then how to make sure as

23:37 you're present or going through the

23:39 exercise, how to keep that person in a

23:41 receptive mode so that when they're um

23:45 receiving this information, receiving

23:46 the practice, they're not putting up a

23:48 wall and defending themselves. They're

23:51 being a collaborative and walking

23:53 alongside you to to continue to like be

23:55 on the same page.

23:57 >> Yeah. And I I think it's just like what

24:00 kind of experience do you want to have

24:01 when you're buying something?

24:03 >> Do you want the collaboration? Wouldn't

24:05 you rather somebody ask you questions to

24:08 make sure it's the right fit and it's

24:09 the right investment for you to make?

24:11 Because legitimately there might be a

24:13 competitor out there who's a better fit.

24:16 Um, and for whatever reason that might

24:18 be, but it's up to you as the seller to

24:21 really uncover that and also communicate

24:23 like, hey, I'm prepared to ask you quite

24:25 a few questions because I want to make

24:27 sure that this is the right fit, the

24:30 right solution. I wouldn't want to sway

24:32 you one way or another. Um, and they're

24:34 going to appreciate that honest

24:35 communication from the get-go, too.

24:38 >> So, make sure that like as you're

24:41 talking to your sellers and you're

24:42 running them through the process, kind

24:44 of keeping them in the mind of, hey,

24:46 like we're going to be presenting this

24:48 like as you would be doing that, like

24:49 keep in mind that this is how, you know,

24:51 I want you talking to your customers

24:52 about this as well and keeping that as

24:55 like a very, you know, directly spoken

24:57 to part of the process. Um, instead of

25:00 just kind of being like, oh, I'm just

25:01 going to start interrogating. I'm going

25:03 to start asking the questions. Be like,

25:04 "Oh, hold on. I'm going to set the

25:06 stage." And then I'm going to ask the

25:08 questions. And part of setting the stage

25:10 is letting them know this isn't an

25:12 interrogation. This isn't me upset with

25:14 you. This isn't me walking you through

25:16 like the process. We're going to work

25:17 together on this. This should also be

25:19 the kind of thing that I'm modeling for

25:21 you then to also set up with your, you

25:23 know, prospects that you're talking to.

25:25 >> Yeah, absolutely. And I I mean we don't

25:27 have time to get into it, but there's

25:28 another Sandler rule, which is, you

25:31 know, the okay not okay principle, which

25:34 is if you may make somebody feel not

25:38 okay, they're going to put their walls

25:39 up, right? Their guard is going to come

25:41 up. So, we got to make sure that people

25:43 feel heard and understood and oh, this

25:45 is not unique. This is often what we

25:47 hear. you know, using softening

25:49 statements in order to ask those tough

25:51 questions. That just helps um soften the

25:54 entire mood and the communication that's

25:56 being taken place so you're not feeling

25:58 like, well, asking all these questions

26:00 is really aggressive. Well, no, it's

26:02 not. But it's all in the strategy, your

26:04 tonality, how you're communicating it.

26:07 Um are you telling relevant stories, you

26:10 know, so that they know that they're not

26:11 the only ones that are experiencing the

26:13 same situation that they may have. And

26:16 so once you put somebody through or as

26:19 you're working with your team to do

26:20 these things, your activities, you're

26:22 you're helping them uncover what they

26:24 should have uncovered. You're giving

26:25 them some examples on how to ask those

26:27 questions. What are some good um ways

26:29 for the team to make sure that they're

26:31 actually adopting and implementing that

26:33 practice? Because it's one thing to to

26:35 pair it during a meeting. It's another

26:36 thing to remember to do it every single

26:38 time and to continue to refine their

26:40 practice on a daily basis

26:42 >> from a sales leader standpoint. from a

26:44 sales leader perspective on how to

26:45 enable their team to make sure they're

26:47 they're making that change, they're

26:48 building the better habit.

26:51 >> Yeah, I think it's and that's going to

26:53 be going back to an individual basis,

26:55 right? Some people are much more

26:57 proactive to implement new solutions

27:00 >> and find the results that they're

27:02 looking for and other people are more

27:04 hesitant to have change in their process

27:07 and learn something new. So I would just

27:09 tell the sales leader to make sure that

27:11 you're coaching and developing the

27:12 person as they are and do they need

27:16 management? Do they need training? Do

27:18 they need coaching? You know, what is it

27:21 that they exactly need? Because every

27:23 individual is different and they

27:24 communicate and they behave differently

27:27 than the next person. So from a sales

27:29 leader perspective, that gets pretty

27:30 complex because it really just depends

27:32 on the makeup of your team and the

27:34 individual.

27:35 >> Yeah. Well, that's why you're in that

27:37 role, right? It's It isn't an easy task.

27:40 It is not a one-sizefits-all. You have

27:42 to be able to deal with the nuances of

27:43 running a team. That makes a lot of

27:45 sense.

27:46 >> Yeah. Um, all right. We've uh we've come

27:48 up on time, but before I let you go, I

27:51 do want to ask one last question, which

27:52 is if somebody is listening in and

27:54 they're going to take one thing from

27:56 this, they should take a whole bunch

27:57 from this, but if they're going to take

27:58 one thing from this, what would be that

28:00 thing that you really want to make sure

28:01 people walk away from and apply to their

28:04 own either sales leadership or their

28:06 own, you know, objection handling?

28:09 >> Yeah. Um, that's such a great question.

28:12 I think the one key takeaway is your

28:15 sales process should

28:19 surface problems before

28:24 long before the proposal, of course, but

28:26 you really want to uncover price and

28:29 decision makers and the competition and

28:32 the concerns that they may have and the

28:34 timing and the willingness for change of

28:36 whatever that change may be. Um, and it

28:39 shouldn't just suddenly appear at the

28:41 end. So your sales process should really

28:44 kind of put parameters on getting this

28:47 information out so that it's preventable

28:50 at the end, right? So I think that

28:53 that's the differentiator. If your sales

28:55 process isn't doing that for you, you

28:56 may need to use a different process.

28:59 >> I like it. Yeah. If you have objections,

29:01 then you're not doing process right. I

29:03 think that's pretty simple to walk away

29:04 with and start fixing things if you can

29:06 think about that.

29:07 >> Yeah. It's eliminating the objections

29:09 that you know are preventable.

29:12 >> Yeah,

29:13 >> that's all it is. Just check it off the

29:15 list.

29:16 >> Well, Claire, I really appreciate you

29:18 taking some time and dealing with some

29:20 of my fumbled questions, but I learned a

29:22 lot and I'm sure people listening in did

29:23 as well. Uh, so thank you again for

29:25 spending some time with us today. Yeah,

29:27 >> thanks for having me, Austin. Appreciate

29:28 it.