A Simple B2B Sales Hack To Build Trust and Value

He picked up the phone, and I decided to hammer him with question after question. His patience wained as he blurted, "what is this, twenty-one questions?"

I sat on the other side of the phone, desperately wanting to give him a decent answer. 

Nothing came out. 

Yes, it is twenty-one questions I told myself. I recently had read SPIN Selling and became inspired. 

I, of course, wasn't masterful in my approach, nor had I practiced enough.

In sales, especially complex B2B sales, you have to master a sales process and delivery. 

All the "tactics" you use or the scripts to deploy can get overwhelming. 

The best trick I've found to work, which can be used in any situation beyond the initial cold call, is using their language. 

When you use their language in B2B sales, you deliver what matters most to them. 

If you're trying to sell someone a spoon, when they need a knife, you're missing the point. 

You're wasting everyone's time. 

Instead, you want to use your Prospect's language. 

Let me give you an example. 

An Account Executive at Skylink called a prospect, and during the discovery call, the client mentioned that shipping was their biggest problem. 

"Shipping is my biggest problem" is the language of the Prospect. 

Anything that deviates from what they need is time wasted unless, in the course of a conversation, more language patterns arise. 

Here's how it could go: 

Prospect: "One of the biggest problems we face in our day-to-day material needs is shipping." 

Sales Professional: "It sounds like shipping causes you a lot of trouble. What part of your supplier shipping process causes you the most issues?"

Prospect: "Well, it's having to manage all the Purchase Orders sent to clients, and then tracking those orders based on what's shipped, what's in transit and the issues that arise." 

Sales Professional: "Issues that arise?"

Prospect: "Yes, often vendors will have to cancel, or a problem will come up where we have to cancel the order." 

Sales Professional:  "If I'm getting this correct, it seems like the overall order process is complex and time-consuming?" 

Prospect: "Yes. That's an understatement." 

Sales Professional: "Haha, it seems so. I have a few ideas on how you can simplify your order process and share some examples of what has worked with other clients. These ideas will help you ask better questions within your operation and help you reduce the problems you see in this area. It's possible you can see results in less than a week with a few simple tweaks. 

Do you have fifteen more minutes now, or what day and time work best this week?"

By letting their language guide the conversation, the questions are natural, and you're helping them overcome a problem they're encountering. 

Using their language builds connection and trust.

Another benefit of using someone's language, you build a better connection. People are more likely to trust you.

You build rapport. 

I was role-playing with an Account Executive on my team, and the example I gave was walking into a retail store like Best Buy. 

When the "salesperson" walks up to you and starts pitching the best phones, it's annoying. 

Instead, if the professional came up and said, "Hi Prospect, It looks like you may be looking for a phone. Is there a problem with the one you have now?" 

Prospect: "Yes, this piece of crap runs so slow." 

Sales Professional: "Well, that's a bummer and sounds like it frustrates you. Is speed one of the things you expect from a phone?" 

Prospect: "Yes, I work from it all day long." 

Sales Professional: "All day long?"

Prospect:  "As soon as I wake up."

Sales professional: "So this device is an integral part of your career?" 

Prospect:  "Sure is."

Sales professional: "I have some ideas of what a great phone for you is given the importance of it to your career. Let me show you these three."

You can see how easy it is to respect this person, as they used the Prospect's language to guide the conversation, even though it isn't complex B2B sales.

Nobody want's to be sold to, yet everyone wants to buy what's best for them.

This type of language can be used in all situations. Current clients, customer support, or even better, your kids and spouse. 

It shows the other party you're listening, and care about their needs and desires, not your quota. 

You're creating value, and the value you create, the value you get in return.