Top 5 Ways to Improve Your Sales Process in 2024

In today’s episode of The No Limits Selling Podcast, we have Dean Ray, Sales Coach at SalesGym, and Will Fuentes, Founder at  Maestro Group.

Guest Bio:

Dean Ray has dedicated the past decade to mastering the art of improve your sales process. His journey began with the discipline and precision he learned from his time with Marine helicopter crews, which translated into a fervent desire to train and work with high-caliber individuals. Dean's blending of this passion with a business education from Boise State University, and his experiences in sales, entrepreneurship, and real estate, has shaped his calling as a coach for top-performing business professionals. His approach to improving sales processes is evident in his daily activities, whether he's coaching, training, creating content, mountain biking, hiking with his dogs, or embarking on adventures with friends and family.

Will, the founder of Maestro Group, has also directed his efforts towards refining and improving your sales process. His method revolves around empowering sales teams to reach their full potential by teaching both essential and nuanced sales skills. With a background from Virginia Tech and The George Washington University Law School, Will leverages his education to guide business owners and salespeople in the art of information gathering, asking incisive questions, and pinpointing risks in deals. His unique approach to improving the sales process is deeply rooted in his diverse experiences and is driven by his commitment to helping individuals and organizations achieve greater sales efficiency and effectiveness.

Find Dean Ray: Website, LinkedIn

Find Will Fuentes: Website, LinkedIn

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This podcast is sponsored by No Limits Selling. It is a fun, fast-paced podcast that delivers hard-fought business advice that you can implement today to improve your sales and performance]

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Summary

Introduction

The podcast features Dean Ray, Will Fuentes, and Umar Hameed discussing sales strategies and techniques. The conversation revolves around key aspects of the sales process, including prospecting, presentation, handling objections, closing the sale, and deepening the account to get referrals.

Speakers

• Dean Ray: A coach for a company called SalesGym. His background is in training and sales, which started when he was in the Marine Corps flying attack helicopters. He emphasizes the importance of drilling fundamentals until you get exceptional at them.
• Will Fuentes: The managing partner and founder of the Maestro Group, a sales acceleration firm. Their secret sauce is that everything they do is based on industrial-organizational behavioral psychology.
• Umar Hameed: The host of the podcast. He emphasizes the importance of mindset and body reaction in sales.

Key Topics Discussed

Prospecting

• Dean Ray emphasizes the importance of understanding who you're trying to talk to and what they care about. He suggests designing your approach to quickly show value and expertise in their area, then asking if they want to learn more.
• Will Fuentes stresses the importance of picking up the phone and making calls. He suggests using phone-ready leads and practicing your pitch to be ready to capture the prospect's attention in the initial few seconds.
• Umar Hameed suggests getting comfortable with your script and not recreating it every time. He also recommends using a different accent while rehearsing to engage another part of the brain and take the pressure off.

Presentation

• Will Fuentes suggests establishing yourself as a sales professional by using the time check tech check and frame introduction. He also advises against using the phrase "Does that make sense?" during a presentation.
• Dean Ray emphasizes the importance of asking open-ended questions that further the conversation and don't lead to awkward pauses.
• Umar Hameed suggests sometimes a simple hand-drawn diagram on a piece of paper can do a more compelling presentation than a slide deck.

Handling Objections

• Dean Ray suggests bringing up objections yourself. He advises salespeople to think about the common objections that come up in their particular world and bring those things out early with some kind of insight that frames the conversation in a way that they can control. This way, they can get through all the typical objections that tend to come up and walk the prospect through why maybe that's not exactly an issue.
• Will Fuentes advises not to answer objections too quickly. He suggests taking a moment to think about what you were just asked, controlling your breathing, slowing down your rate of speech, and seeking to understand the objection. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the context of the words that are being used in the objection.
• Umar Hameed recommends asking a couple of questions deeper before you answer the objection to make sure you're addressing the right objection. He suggests helping the prospect gain an insight into what the situation is themselves, as most people don't think deeply about what's going on.

Closing the Sale

• Will Fuentes emphasizes the importance of practicing your close. He suggests writing down the steps and practicing that close, thinking about how you're going to react to continue moving the conversation forward.
• Dean Ray advises summarizing before you sell. He suggests defining the two halves of the meeting: understanding the prospect's perspective in the first half, summarizing it and checking in to make sure you didn't miss anything. Once you fully understand the situation, you can start thinking of stories of people in that type of situation, what they did, why they did it, and what kind of outcomes they received. When you get to the end of your story, you can ask for the next steps.
• Umar Hameed recommends rehearsing the sales meeting in your mind before you go in. He suggests visualizing asking for the sale multiple times and asking for the referral. He emphasizes the importance of practicing your craft all the time.

Improve Your Sales Process: Deepening Accounts and Gaining Referrals

• Dean Ray suggests viewing yourself less as a salesperson and more as a trusted consultant, an industry expert who understands what this world looks like and sees opportunities to help people. He advises making recommendations because you know it's the right route for their business.
• Will Fuentes advises asking for the referral. He points out that only a small percentage of salespeople are willing to ask for a referral when they close business, while a large percentage of satisfied buyers are willing to give one. He suggests asking for the referral early in the process when you're delivering value.
• Umar Hameed recommends rehearsing what you're going to do before you go in and asking for the referral. He suggests asking for the sale multiple times and actually having a checkbox to make sure you ask for the sale and the referral. He emphasizes the importance of practicing your craft all the time.

Conclusion

Dean & Will offer crucial insights on how to improve your sales process, covering every aspect from initial prospecting to the final closing and beyond. Their expertise highlights the importance of understanding your prospect, perfecting your presentation, and mastering the art of handling objections. Emphasizing the need for rigorous practice in delivering your pitch and asking the right open-ended questions, they guide listeners on establishing themselves as consummate sales professionals. A key focus is on anticipating and effectively addressing objections, fine-tuning your closing techniques, and consistently asking for the sale and referrals. They advocate for adopting the role of a trusted consultant, tailoring recommendations to suit the client's best interests, a strategy that not only cements client relationships but also boosts referral opportunities. This podcast serves as an all-encompassing resource for those eager to improve their sales processing skills and excel in their sales careers.