Five Sales Tools From Dave Mattson That Will Help You Become More Successful
By Morgan Cruz, MHI Marketing Content Coordinator |@mhi_morgan
At the 2017 MHI Annual Conference Dave Mattson from Sandler Training wowed us with his talk on the importance of sales process. Now, I always thought to be in sales you had to be very outgoing and talkative, but Mattson claimed he is an introvert, and he was here talking to us about his success as a salesperson. The key to success in sales (even for an introvert) is in building relationships. In other words, it’s not the most extroverted that can sell best, it’s the ones that can win the client’s trust. Here are five everyday tools from Mattson that will help you build trust with your clients and become more successful.
Ask Questions and Listen
“People buy from people they trust. Do you understand my problem and can I trust you to solve it.” – Dave Mattson
One of the biggest mistakes that sales people make is talking more than they listen. Mattson explained that if you ask your clients questions about a problem they have, it will allow you to gather information and offer a solution. He compared the process to how a doctor will ask his patients what is wrong in order to give a diagnosis. When the doctor listens to their patients concerns they feel understood and heard. It’s not the information you give, but the information you gather that builds comfort between you and your client.
Send a Fuzzy File
Get to know your customers as individuals and send them a “fuzzy file” that plays to their interests such as something not necessarily work related, but something that appeals to the individual’s hobbies and interests. Examples include a small gift for your client who loves golf or for your outdoorsy client, an article on the best places to go camping. By doing this you will impress and show thoughtfulness. Why is this important? Mattson says when you show that you are investing in the client they will invest in you in return.
Place a Touch Call
Mattson recommends giving a client a touch call, an informal follow-up call where you just chat and check-in with the client. In Mattson’s experience, some people will call you back just to chat while others will call to tell you about a problem. This is an example of creating opportunities while maintaining communication with your clients.
Have Bad Hearing
“Have bad hearing” just seems like bad advice, but Mattson explains. Have bad hearing when your client says something to your advantage whether its complaining about a competitor or giving you a complement. Try saying “What?” or “I didn’t catch that?” This will cause them to elaborate and position the conversation to your advantage.
Have a Relationship with the Organization
Have you ever had a really solid relationship with one of your clients and then they leave the organization? There goes your one “in” you had with selling to that company. Mattson says it’s wise to have multiple relationships within an organization just in case your key contact moves on.
Dave Mattson Tools Available for Download
I work in Marketing at MHI, but after listening in on Mattson’s talk at the MHI Annual Conference I was ready to join our sales team and sell booth space at MODEX 2018! Don’t worry, I love marketing and eventually came back down to earth, but Mattson really did a great job in laying out key ways to be more successful in sales. He also left behind some free tools to help you find simple improvements to your sales cycle and exponentially improve your bottom line. See downloads below and join us next year in Orlando at the 2018 MHI Annual Conference!
Download – LinkedIn The Sandler Way
LinkedIn The Sandler Way 25 Secrets that Show Salespeople how to Leverage the World’s Largest Professional Network.
Watch – Sandler Way Webinar
Prospect the Sandler Way Webinar Webcast on 21st century prospecting topics like conducting effective on-line pre-call research and using LinkedIn to generate referrals, and best practices for making and succeeding at first-calls.
