Editor’s note: This post was originally published on 6/22/17 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehension.
As a business owner, you have one main objective.
Selling more services or products.
It’s how you hit your revenue goals and continue delighting your audience.
We have a game-changer to share with you: our 3-step process for selling more services.
In my last post, I covered the first step in our three-step process for selling more services.
Click here to read Step 1 (Discovery).
In this post, I’m going to outline the second step in this process – known as the Exploratory Call.
First, let’s recap.
During the Discovery step, your primary objective is to excite and qualify the lead. If they aren’t qualified, they don’t move onto this step (The Exploratory Step), because it’ll waste both your time and theirs.
If they DO qualify in the Discovery step, then it’s time to:
Given the first step has gone right, you’ve already spent 15-20 minutes with the prospect.
During the Exploratory Call, you’re going to spend 45-60 minutes with them.
This step must be handled in one of two ways:
Both options are 10X more effective than attempting to sell your services over the phone, with no visuals, or worse, by emailing a pricing packet.
Regardless of which one you pick, it’s going to be best to have a slideshow presentation ready. (This helps with the visualization.)
If you have a Mac, you may use a tool like Keynote.
If you have a PC, you may use a tool like Powerpoint.
For Flight Media, video is the most common format we use for the Exploratory step. (Our main office is in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Ohio, and we don’t need to be in-person to sell.)
If you use video, make sure you have a solid software that’ll minimize errors and make it easy for your leads to hop on.
We use Zoom.
It’s incredibly easy to use and the quality is unparalleled. But if you’re looking for something on the free side, Google Hangouts or Skype can work! :)
The goal of the presentation is to explore the ideas/solutions you have for your lead, as well as your services and packages in order to accomplish those.
In our case, we outline inbound marketing and growth-driven design strategies, and the impact of what we believe we can do for them.
Here’s an exploratory call checklist to make sure your bases are covered:
Here’s an example of what one of Flight Media’s Exploratory presentations looks like: Exploratory Sales Presentation Example. Grab it, steal it, tweak it!
Throughout the presentation, you should be building rapport, recapping their goals and challenges from the Discovery call, and getting them to verbally tell you, “Yes! I’m in.”
In order to move from step two (Exploratory) to step 3 (Close), it’s vital that you get a verbal commitment from them.
This means that they need to confirm that the numbers you just showed them are in their ballpark and they’re ready to see a proposal.
We’ve tried a hundred different ways of finding this out, but the most effective way of getting a verbal commitment is by asking them, “So, what do you think of those numbers?” right after you discuss each package.
Typically, it ends in one of three ways.
Clearly, #3 is the most exciting, but #2 is the most common. (And that’s not a bad thing!)
If they go with Way #1, that’s a verbal “No.”
If they go with Way #2 or #3, we consider that a verbal “Yes.”
Once we’ve determined which of the three routes they’d like to take, we schedule step three: The Closing Call.
Be sure to schedule the third meeting while you’re still on the phone with them.
The Closing step is covered in a separate article, but this is the stage in your sales process where you run through the proposal with the prospect in-person or via video screen-sharing.
In order to do this, it’s vital that you schedule the next meeting (hopefully within the next few days after the Discovery meeting) to run through the proposal together.
Very Important Rule:
Never, under any circumstances, send a proposal to prospect without running through it with them LIVE, in real-time.
Make sure that before you get off the video call or leave their office (if in-person) that the next step is scheduled.
In step 1, the discovery call helped you discover the five most important pieces of information you could from the lead in less than 20 minutes.
After step 2, the Exploratory call, you’ve now further qualified your lead, presented your options, overcome their objections LIVE-time, got a verbal “yes,” and scheduled the Close stage.
You’re on your way to selling more services!
Your sales presentation should include:
