“Next time you get asked about trial, make sure you implement the GEAR framework to take control of the deal so you can close it very quickly at 80-90%.” – Marcus Chan in today’s Tip 1755
How can you close your software trials?
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Marcus Chan. Marcus helps tech sales pros earn $250K-$500K+/year with his coaching programs. Marcus is an official member on the Forbes Business Council and has also been featured in Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, and more. He is a 4X Salesforce Top Sales Influencer and WSJ Best Selling author of Six-Figure Sales Secrets. Here he is:
Marcus Chan: Can we get access to a trial so we can play around with the tool? This is a super common question in the tech sales process. However, you’ll lose control of the deal once you give them access. In today’s tip, I’ll share with you exactly what to do instead to maintain control of the deal so you can close 80 to 90% of the trials you set up.
First, you must understand why just giving a trial without the proper setup is actually really, really dangerous.
1. The learning curve may be too steep for them to even figure out and play around with.
2. They might just get busy and now you’re going to log in to the tool to begin with.
3. They might get overwhelmed with just whatever they have gone in their business and just put it on a back burner.
Now, before you know it, weeks have gone by. You haven’t heard from them despite your persistent follow-up. Instead, when they ask for a trial, use this very simple framework I call GEAR, G-E-A-R. That stands for Goal of the trial, Expectations alignment, Agreement, Reclarify the full buying process. Let’s walk through each one.
Let’s start with the G first, which is Goal of the trial. You simply want to find out what the goal of the trial is, and that sounds something like this. Hey, Lisa, can you help me understand what you’re hoping to uncover with this trial? That’s it. Super easy. Now, based on what you uncover on the response, you may find out that potentially you just need to walk through use cases or case studies, and you potentially can even eliminate the need for a trial by walking through by asking this simple question, which is ultimately a win because that saves you both a lot of time.
Next, we go into E – Expectations alignment. Now, you’ll have some that will stay as part of their SOP for evaluating any new tool, so they need to ensure it meets their needs. That means you want to set really clear expectations for the trial. For instance, that may sound simple like this. Hey, no problem. We can definitely do that. However, after implementing a hundred of these projects, there are a few steps we want to incorporate to ensure your team is 100% supported in this trial.
1. We want to map out the exact use cases that are your biggest priorities.
2. We want to map out your exact decision criteria for each team member as part of the process.
3. We set up a few different calls throughout each team member to ensure any questions that arise, they are 100% supported. Boom, that’s it. Now, you can see how powerful this is by establishing upfront as clear expectations between both parties.
Then you move on to A – Agreement. This is super easy. You’re going to gain an agreement, which may sound something like, Does that sound fair?
Then next, we’ll go into R – Reclarify the full buying process. Now, at this stage in the sales cycle, you should hopefully have a very clear idea from prior conversation of the exact process. However, you still I want to reclarify the full process that happens after the trial. That can sound something like this. After the two-week trial, let’s assume it goes exactly as expected. Based on what you mentioned, it appears what happens next are three things. One, we review file numbers together. Two, you huddle with your CFO for the final sign-off. And then three, we onboard on June sixth with a target implementation date of the 10th. Does that sound right?
Now, if you’ve done a good job leading up this, you are now both 100% aligned and you’ve taken control of the deal. You can now set next steps on the calendar with a recap email to follow. But if for any moment throughout this process, through the GEAR process, they are being wishy-washy in any of it, that is a big red flag that you’re going to definitely want to dive into. So there you have it. The next time you get asked about trial, make sure you implement the GEAR framework to take control of the deal so you can close it very quickly at 80-90%. Make it a big day.
Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Marcus and learn more about him, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1755. Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!