Why Salespeople Need to Know What To Say

Knowing what to say to sell is vital because the words and phrases salespeople use will influence a potential customer’s decision to buy a product or service. The right words can create interest, build trust, and overcome objections. An effective sales pitch should highlight the product’s or service’s benefits, address the customer’s needs and concerns, and create a sense of urgency. Clear and concise language can help to close the deal and increase the chances of a successful sale.

Why salespeople don’t know what to say

Knowing your product well is essential, but understanding your customers and prospects and what motivates them to purchase is even more critical. Some companies might focus more on product training because they believe a deep understanding of the product will help sales representatives answer questions and overcome objections more effectively.

However, without understanding the customer’s needs and pain points, it can be difficult to connect the product to their needs and provide a compelling value proposition. Additionally, a lack of understanding can lead to a misalignment between the customer’s needs and the product offerings, resulting in lower sales and customer satisfaction.

Knowing what to say to customers and prospects can be challenging for several reasons:

1. Lack of understanding of buyers: Without understanding the customer’s needs, wants, and pain points, it can be difficult to craft a message that resonates with them.
2. Competition: With so many companies vying for the same customers’ attention, it can be challenging to stand out and make a lasting impression.
3. Limited resources: If a business lacks the resources to conduct market research or gather customer feedback, knowing what to say to prospects and customers may be more challenging.
4. Changing customer needs: Customer needs and preferences can change over time, making it difficult for businesses to keep up with the latest trends and find the right message to resonate with their audience.
5. Fear of rejection: Many salespeople may struggle to find the right words to connect with their prospects and customers.

Why it’s hard to know what to say

It can be hard to know what to say in a complex and complicated world because there are many variables and factors to consider when communicating. This can include the audience, the context, cultural differences, personal experiences, and many others. Additionally, the fast-paced nature of the world and the constant influx of information can make it difficult to determine the most effective message.

As a result, knowing what to say requires careful consideration, research, and planning to communicate in this complex and complicated world effectively.

Think about it this way…

When salespeople face too much complexity and volatility in a fast-moving business world, it can lead to cognitive overload, confusion, and decision-making paralysis. The constant influx of information, shifting priorities, and rapidly changing market conditions can make it difficult for salespeople to process information effectively and make informed decisions.

This can lead to increased stress levels, decreased productivity, and reduced job satisfaction. More importantly, it can lead to apathy and a belief that “confusion and ambiguity are typical.”  When that happens, salespeople show up to their buyers equally confused, ambiguous, and stressed out.  And they devolve to the lowest common denominator hoping to survive the interaction.

To combat these effects, sales, marketing, product, and enablement teams must adopt practical management approaches to focus on ‘speaking to buyers’ and not ‘speaking to sellers’ in their training material and marketing content.  This makes the challenge difficult to solve because the more people try to help salespeople by speaking directly to them, the more salespeople have to translate what is provided into what the buyer wants to hear.

Why salespeople need messaging help

Salespeople need messaging help to communicate value to buyers because:

1. The buyer’s perspective: A salesperson may not fully understand the buyer’s needs, pain points, or decision-making process. Messaging help can provide insight into what the buyer cares about and what motivates them to purchase.
2. Competitor noise: There are many competing products and services in the market. Salespeople need to differentiate themselves and their offerings to stand out and effectively communicate the unique value they bring to the table.
3. Complex products and services: Some products or services may be challenging to understand. Salespeople need to articulate the value of these offerings clearly, concisely, and compellingly.
4. Time pressure: Salespeople often have limited time to make an impression and communicate value to the buyer. Messaging help can provide them with a framework for efficiently and effectively communicating their offerings.

When salespeople receive the messaging help they need, they are better positioned to communicate value to the buyer in a way that resonates with them and helps them decide.

How to help salespeople get what they need

When realizing that salespeople need messaging help, it is crucial to take the following steps:

1. Assess the problem: Determine the root cause of the messaging difficulties and identify areas where salespeople need the most help.
2. Involve salespeople in the solution: Gather input from salespeople on what messaging challenges they are facing and what messaging strategies would work best for them.
3. Build content for buyers, not salespeople. Too much content is built to “speak” to sales and not “speak” to buyers and how buyers think. When messaging content focuses on salespeople, who aren’t the target audience, salespeople must translate the message into something that will work for buyers. Avoid the middle stop, and focus on writing to, and speaking to buyers — not salespeople.
4. Offer training and coaching: Provide salespeople with messaging training, workshops, and coaching to help them develop the skills and confidence they need to communicate value to buyers effectively.
5. Create messaging resources for buyers: Develop messaging templates, scripts, and other resources that salespeople can use to support their sales conversations.  Give them assets they can use with buyers without changing them. Give them verbiage they can say without translation into buyer speak.
6. Embed messaging into the sales process: Make messaging a crucial part of the sales process and provide salespeople with the tools and resources they need to be successful.  Content and messaging ahead of buyer funding and initiatives differ entirely from messaging at the bottom of the funnel, where negotiations and competitive analysis happen.
7. Continuously evaluate and improve: Regularly assess the messaging strategy’s effectiveness and make changes as needed to ensure that salespeople can effectively communicate value to buyers.