“I think a better intent is to solve something or at least find something to solve.” – Bill Caskey in today’s Tip 971
What is your intent when you go out to have a conversation or when you’re in the sales process?
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5 Reasons You Don’t Have Enough Clients
Bill Caskey on LinkedIn
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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 Bill Caskey. Bill is a sales development leader and experimenter who has been improving B2B sales teams and executives since 1990. His philosophies and strategies have fueled explosive growth in sales and profits for his clients. Bill’s passionate about sharing his ideas about selling, business, life, money, and meaning. Here he is:
Bill Caskey: Hey, this is Bill Caskey with another sale tip. I was in a meeting the other day with a brand new client, and one of the first things I always like to do is to ask the very simple question, what is your intent when you go out to have a conversation or when you’re in the sales process? What’s your intent? And 90% of the people, there were probably 30 people in the room, 90% of them, 25, 27 said, “Well, my intents to close for the next deployment” or “my intent is to get them to sign an order or to make the sale.” And I say that’s the wrong intent. That’s a low intent attitude. A low intent approach.
A low intent is where everything revolves around you, what can I get out of this relationship? I think that weakens you. You think it makes you strong? I think it weakens you because then you’re not free to do what needs to be done or say what needs to be said because you’re too focused on what’s in it for you. I think a better intent is to solve something or at least find something to solve. You’re looking for the pain. You’re looking for the problem, you’re looking for the situation that they’re trying to rid themselves of. That’s your intention. And so when that’s your intention, you’re going to show up differently. You’re going to ask different questions. You’re going to be more curious, I believe. And the customer is going to be more open with you.
Whenever a salesperson calls on me, I can sniff out in three and a half seconds what their intent is, and it’s usually wrong. It’s usually low. It’s usually, how do I get Bill to see me, or how do I set up a call with him? That’s the wrong intent. You’ve got to find a way to change your intent, alter it. And sometimes it’s just some kind of tip like this where this will change everything for you. But your intent has to be wrapped around this idea that they have a problem. My intention here is to expose that problem, make them comfortable while doing it, and then decide whether I can help them or not. That will change the entire sales dynamic between you and the buyer. Good luck.
Scott Ingram: For a link to get Bill’s free guide to the “5 Reasons You Don’t Have Enough Clients,” just click over to DailySales.Tips/971, and then once you’ve done that.
Be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!