Sales training for my first professional sales position consisted of memorizing two four-page, single-spaced presentations – word for word – and then presenting them to a group consisting of the other sales trainees as well as various executives. The presentations were videotaped, played back and critiqued. Then we did it over again, only better. That went on for six weeks.
The product we were selling was highly technical, and we were selling to professionals who knew a lot more about the application then we did. The company, wanted to control the quality of the presentation and make sure that nothing was misrepresented. They accomplished that by training us to memorize the presentations.
Later in my career, I sold surgical staplers. This was another highly technical product, sold to professionals (surgeons) who knew a whole lot more about the application than we did. Not surprisingly, we also were trained to give certain presentations verbatim. Every morning, we had a quiz on our desk. If we scored less than 80, we were dismissed and sent home.
Both of those were rigorous training programs that produced articulate, confident salespeople. As you might expect, both of the companies who employed me were the industry leaders in their respective markets.
While I suspect that few salespeople today would be up for such a rigorous approach to preparation for their jobs, for the most part they don’t need to be. If the issue is quality-controlling the sales presentation, today’s technology can do a better job of that. A professionally produced video can present a product or service much more accurately and persuasively than most salespeople.
Still, there is a place in the toolbox of the professional salesperson for certain memorized pieces of conversation. I call then ‘snippets.’
A snippet is set of words that is used frequently in the course of sales conversations. A snippet is created, memorized, and used frequently.
A snippet is created by first identifying the application. In which circumstances are you likely to say the same thing to one customer that you did to another one? You may, for example, find yourself introducing your company to a new prospect. In each sales conversation, the words can be exactly the same. That’s an application for a snippet.
Snippets are founded on a couple core principles:
1. Words matter, and there are better — and maybe best — ways of saying something. So, if you are going to use a snippet for introducing your company to a new prospect, for example, you can create a combination of words that together are appealing, accurate and comprehensive. Better yet, the snippet can be crafted by someone who is far better at creating powerful word combinations (an advertising or marketing copywriter, for example). All you must do is memorize it.
2. You will always be more effective if you prepare beforehand than if you improvise in the moment. This is a tough one for certain types of salesperson who prides himself/herself on their ability to ad lib. It is, nevertheless, true for every sales situation. My wife and I enjoy live theater. We both far more respect the production of a good play than the improvisation events we’ve attended from time to time. When you have people who are good at writing actually do the writing and do it with great effort and attention to detail, and then have people who are good at acting follow those lines, the result is far superior to having someone who isn’t very good at creating (the actors) try to achieve both parts – the wring and the acting. That just stands to reason.
The problem isn’t the truth of the principle, its in the salesperson’s unwillingness to do the hard work of creating and memorizing the best words.
Snippets not only quality-control aspects of the conversation, but they have other benefits as well.
Snippets provide the salesperson with the mental space to focus on the customer. If you don’t have to think about what you are saying, because it comes out automatically, you can free up mental energy to do a better job of understanding the customer.
Snippets inject the salesperson with a dose of confidence and competence. Competence because he/she is going to get it right and be more effective. Confidence in that he/she knows that.
Some common places in the sales process where snippets are particularly useful include;
· At the beginning, introducing the company, product or application.
· Asking questions. (Good questions are a special form of snippet. Just like statements, major questions are always more effective if they are prepared beforehand and memorized.
· Certain pieces of the presentation.
· Answers to common questions.
· Closing questions.
· Answers to common concerns.
While the days of memorizing four-page presentations are probably gone for good, the use of short, prepared snippets of conversation can be a powerful tool for the professional salesperson.
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