Categories
Latest
Popular

    Effective Sales Pitching to Both Brains (Left and Right)

    Left-brain-right-brain

    What does your client or prospect want? Do you need to be psychic to know it?   NO, but the start of a happy client starts with understanding your clients desires as well as their needs.

    This blog is about fill your clients’ desires.

    There has been a tremendous amount written regarding asking questions to further sales efforts.  These sales questions are designed to shed light on the need, the pain, the who, the what, and the how.  These questions is they typically focus exclusively on the left brain. While left-brain-questioning has its place, if you limit yourself to left brain only, you are selling to half of a person.

    Tip: if you want to remember the difference Left Brain is Logic (both start with L).  The right brain-left brain theory originated in the work of Roger W. Sperry, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981.  The left brain is logical, rational, analytical and tries to categorize. The right brain in the center for intuition and focuses more on emotion, creativity and the whole/big picture.

    Left-brain questioning can be effective and in many cases is the cornerstone of a great sales process. However, what if they are lying to you?   The  first question you ask, whether you know it or not, sets the tone for the entire sales process.

    How to Ask a Question that is Both Left and Right Brained

    In the early days of Broadlook, we had a product called Contact Capture.  One of my sales reps, Dave, was working with a client.  We had a year end promotion where our prospects could get earn great deals as long as they made a decision in December.

    Dave and I were discussing different pricing and user configurations:

    Donato: “How many users do they want?”.

    Dave: “They asked for pricing for 400 users”.   Dave was excited.

    Donato:  “Great, but how many users do they desire?”

    Dave:  “It sounds like 400.”

    Donato:  “Did you ask the question like this:”

    “Forget price.  If price was not an issue, how many users would you want to see using this technology?”.

    The point is clear:  While Dave heard what the prospect said, he did not know their desire.  When you ask thought-provoking questions, magic happens.  The prospect starts to dream and move their thinking from one hemisphere of the brain to the other.  This is a happy place.

    sales-objections

    Understanding Thought Filters: Challenges that Hold Your Prospect Back

    Imagine your prospect walking around with a checklist of conflicts, or thought-filters floating over their head.  Wherever they walk it follows like a cloud.  Ask yourself: What is their most common thought filter?  In this case, our prospect was walking around with thinking blocked by “CRM User Count”.  Until that thought filter is removed,  she can not talk about her desire.

    What about her other thought-filters?  Price?  Timing?

    Starting with The End in Mind

    With my new job at RingLead, a data quality software company, I need to be ready with both a left and right brain pitch.  Here they are:

    Left Brain:  “Our data quality tool can Cleanse, Protect and Enhance Data in your CRM”

    This statement appeals to the left, logical brain.

    Right Brain:  “What if you woke up tomorrow and a miracle had happened?  Your entire CRM is deduplicated.  Users who attempt to enter duplicates are warned as-they-are-typing.   All of the data in your CRM: Company names, titles, contact names, addresses and phone numbers are all standardized.   Your web forms do not create duplicates.   New contacts are added to your CRM on monthly basis.  Your leads come in with one point of contact and they are enhanced to include multiple contacts at the target company, including key decision makers.  What would that mean for you, your sales and your company?”

    This statement appeals to the right brain.

    Tip: if you want to remember the difference Left Brain is Logic (both start with L).  The right brain-left brain theory originated in the work of Roger W. Sperry, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981.

    Let’s go back to Dave and his sales dilemma:  He asked the question: “Regardless of price,  how many licenses of this technology would you want for your organization”    The prospect actually desired 800 licenses, not 400.  They had a price thought-filter.  We were able to give them 800 users for the price of 400 by cutting the capacity in half.  We maintained our pricing integrity.  The client was excited,  and Dave learned an important lesson.

    Make magic happen.  Here’s a recap:

    Know your prospect.  Learn your prospect’s default filters.  You must clear those thought-filters if you want to get honest answers and determine their desires.

    Ping both brains.  Ask questions that make your prospects imagine and think analytically. When you get prospects to use both sides of the brain, they will be more engaged.  This is a deliberate process.

    Dive in and try it.  This may not be natural for you.  It is one of those skills that make you seem engaging,  genuine, charismatic, etc.  Start doing it, you will enjoy better conversations and it will be part become part of you.

    Be deliberate.  I would rather have deliberate new sales reps vs. seasoned reps that turn sales into a bullshit session.  We have all heard the guy that likes to hear himself talk.  Don’t be that guy.  Sales has a goal, which is revenue.  Don’t cut corners, don’t confuse “driven” with “unethical”.  Being deliberate is not being cutthroat.  Think of it this way.  Pick a methodology that works for you;  be deliberate, and maintain integrity to that vision.

    Here is both left-brain and right brain pitch that you can see and hear.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Discussion — No responses