I’m a Lion now.
It’s what David Weinhaus and Dan Tyre of HubSpot consider the pupils of their intensive Agency Partner Bootcamps. Why a lion? Because bootcamp graduates learn to approach sales fearlessly, with a new sense of ferocity. They begin to recognize why sales is more about understanding consumers and helping to solve their challenges, than it is about straight selling. They leave with the ability to roar.
Our B2B marketing agency is a HubSpot Agency Partner, so our entire team is well-versed in the inbound methodology and HubSpot’s techniques for driving marketing and sales. And because we also operate on EOS, we know that proactively improving our own sales strategies and abilities means offering more value to our clients. Weinhaus and Tyre’s Sales Bootcamp augmented my existing knowledge to arm me and my team with useful tools and perspectives that will enhance our business development process. It’s an invaluable learning experience for the modern business owner or sales professional and here’s why:
You Learn to Find the Gap
The HubSpot Sales Skills Bootcamp introduces the concept of the gap: the particular void that a prospect is looking to fill, or their true need. The goal in finding the gap is to show prospects how your products and services will help them achieve their personal or business objectives. Remembering that each prospect has a unique need, you’ll need to dig deep and ask the right questions to get to the core of the problem they’re looking to solve. Do this by following the three main steps HubSpot outlines:
1. Start With the Current Situation
Attempt to distinguish true need from mere interest and avoid entering a sales call or conversation by prematurely labeling the prospect as needing your product or service. Take time to listen to their current situation and assess their biggest needs.
2. Understand Goals and Timing
Uncovering a prospect’s goals requires knowledge on multiple levels. First you need to understand the basics by identifying an overarching goal that will serve as your foundation for a sale. Then attempt to draw out the measurable value of this goal and pinpoint the real significance of achieving it. How will the solution really benefit the company?
3. Understand Plans and Challenges
Discovering a prospect’s challenges and the plans they have for the year ahead is a great way to determine if there’s truly a need for your products and services. Do you fit in the space that stands between their plans? If you do, you’re ready to start making a sale that will benefit you both.
You Discover How to Anchor and Sell Value
We all know that value is relative; what you sell can’t be categorized as expensive or inexpensive without comparison to other products in the market. It takes a thoughtful, strategic approach to stand out in a sea of competitors and communicate real value to consumers who often do their research before making a purchase. HubSpot’s Sales Bootcamp teaches three elements that factor into anchoring your offer and selling value:
1. The Prospect
Information on a prospect’s budget is useful in understanding the monetary value you can provide. Investigate their future SMART goals to present the fees associated with your products and services in a way that takes this context into consideration. Think about how much revenue they’ll bring in by partnering with your company or how much money they’ll save by choosing you. Do the legwork for them by providing benchmarks they might seek out on their own for comparison (e.g. the average cost of an in-house marketing team versus the price of a marketing agency retainer).
2. The Competition
Don’t underestimate your competition and how their products and services appear in the eyes of prospects. Do the research to price your offerings appropriately. Can you offer a cheaper rate or more value for their money than competitors? Is your solution more effective than the other solutions they’re researching and therefore worth the extra spend?
3. Your Company
Always remember that a sale relies not only on the needs of the prospect, but also on the needs of your own business. Recognizing that not every sale is beneficial for both parties will help you learn to set your ceiling and walk away if you don’t see value for your team in the deal. No one builds a successful business by pleasing everyone.
You Find There Are 3 Sales to Every Sale
Yes, you read that right. HubSpot lions learn that there are three separate “sales” that need to happen in order to make a single successful business sale. Whether you realize it or not, you “sell” each of these scenarios to a prospect before they decide to purchase, but understanding each of these will help you to perfect your brand’s appearance and your sales team’s approach to engaging with leads.
Sale #1: Why Change?
Identify the changes your prospects want – or don’t want – to make. To even consider using your products or services, they need to recognize that a particular challenge can’t be overcome on their own. Only when the problem is identified and they’re willing to do something about it, can you move to the next step in your sales process.
How to Take Action: Describe what your company does and who you do it for. Show what problems your solutions address and the typical company that uses your products and services.
Sale #2: To What Solution?
After giving prospects a reason to change, understand the action they’re willing to take to reach a resolution and the efforts (if any) they already have underway. Obtaining information on the strategies and tactics prospects currently use allows you to discover where they are, where they want to be and how you can help them get there.
How to Take Action: Present your services with their goals and limits in mind. Utilize case studies to show how your services have helped companies resolve similar needs in the past.
Sale #3: How and with Whom?
Find out how and with whom the prospect is currently addressing their needs. If a problem is persisting, this tells you that the steps they take now don’t warrant an effective solution. Sell them on working with your company to get the job done right.
How to Take Action: Include differentiators that set your company apart from competitors. Anchor measurable value to the gap and to the prospect’s potential for growth.
Did these strategies resonate with you too? I’d love to hear about your experience with HubSpot’s Sales Skills Bootcamp and the biggest actionable takeaways you noted from David Weinhaus and Dan Tyre. If you haven’t participated in a bootcamp yet, take a look at the list of training sessions available to HubSpot Agency Partners – I can’t recommend them enough!
Are you interested in B2B marketing services? Contact Sagefrog Marketing Group today.
