Why is it so hard for small business owners and independent professionals to make the sale? I think we’ve forgotten the basic building blocks of two-way communication that allow a sale to take place. We’re looking for the Holy Grail of techniques that will bring in more business. A silver bullet sales process. The perfect close. A sales letter that will attract droves of new clients. A software program that automatically sells your service with a touch of a button.
While any of these magic formulas might land you some clients if you deploy them correctly, they won’t work unless you consistently practice a critically important communication strategy.
The LAER Model: Listen, Acknowledge, Explore, and Respond
Many years ago in my formative years of selling, I learned this simple but powerful model for communicating with prospects. As I think back through the hundreds of sales opportunities I’ve had, nearly every successful business relationship was a result of using the LAER model.
You may be using this right now but don’t even know it. You might be only making use of one or two of the strategies. Then again you might be thinking, “LAER? Isn’t that where wild animals sleep?”
Let’s take a look at how this model works in the sales process.
Listen
This is the most important strategy in the model. During your conversation with prospects, they will likely divulge helpful clues. A problem they want to solve. A challenge to overcome. An opportunity to grow their business. A unique way to use your services to make money.
At this stage, think of tuning in your ears and mind like tuning in a radio station. Find the clearest channel, then listen intently to what your prospect is saying. This also requires tuning out distractions in your own head.
Often at the beginning stages of a sales conversation, you’ll hear your prospect describe their current situation. You may hear words or phrases like:
“I’m struggling with…”
“I need to…”
“The challenge I’m facing is…”
“I’m about to launch…”
Take a mental picture of what you hear and then smoothly move to the next stage.
Acknowledge
To make sure that both you and your prospect are on the same page, you need to understand and confirm what you’ve heard. This is why the acknowledgement step is so important. Taking this small step nets big relationship points with your prospect and big benefits for you. Prospects feel like you really understand their situation and can empathize with them.
And, acknowledging what you’ve just heard gives your mind a chance to craft customized responses, introduce new ideas, and develop the deeper level of connection needed to close business.
Some key phrases you might use in the acknowledgement phase are:
‘If I heard you correctly…”
“It sounds like your most challenging issue is…”
“I completely understand your situation. Another client of mine was dealing with [situation] very similar to yours.”
“I sense you have an immediate need to…”
After each of these (and others you may use) opening phrases, fill in the rest of your dialogue with a paraphrase of what you heard. By doing this you confirm that both of you are in sync.
Explore
The explore stage consists of, very simply, asking good questions. Questions that elicit a response from your prospect that give you information to work with in your sales process. You are exploring on a deeper level with your prospect, uncovering specific areas where your product or service can be of significant benefit.
Often at this point in the conversation with prospects, it is tempting to dive right into a sales presentation throwing out all the features and benefits of your services. Resist this as much as possible. Your prospects don’t want to hear about everything you have to offer.
Instead, take the more strategic direction of asking good questions to further your understanding of their situation and how you can customize your responses. Here are a few questions you might consider asking:
“How has this challenge affected your business/personal life?”
“How long have you been dealing with this challenge/problem/opportunity?”
“What might change when you solve this problem?”
You may find that you’ll circle back to the Acknowledge phase after asking these questions. That’s okay. Remember, you want to be crystal clear about what you’ve heard your prospect say.
Respond
This is the final phase of the LAER model. If you’ve been successful in executing the previous three phases, this will be a very simple step.
Your responses need to be tied back to what you’ve heard and confirmed throughout the conversation. Think about how to customize responses that solve the problem, ease the pain, or exploit the opportunity your prospect has talked about.
Again, resist the temptation to launch into a full-blown recitation of your product/service line hoping that something sticks with your prospect. It’s much more effective to address their problem directly with your solutions.
Leverage these four basic stages of two-way communication throughout every sales conversation and you’ll be amazed at the positive results.
[guestpost]C.J. Hayden is the best selling author of Get Clients Now!TM: A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals, Consultants and Coaches. [/guestpost]