Strategic Sales: Supercharge Your Sales Strategy

Creating effective sales offers isn't a one-size-fits-all process. The approach to crafting offers for online sales versus those made through a sales team can differ significantly. Understanding these differences is crucial for businesses looking to improve their sales performance. Here's a deep dive into the key strategies for each method before presenting the offer.

Setting the Stage

The digital landscape is noisy, and trying to be everywhere at once can be overwhelming and ineffective. Instead, the focus should be on creating high-quality content tailored to a specific audience. This approach not only builds a loyal following but also amplifies your message effectively.

The journey begins with knowing your audience. It's essential to understand who you are talking to and what problems they face. Before diving into the specifics of your product, ensure that you have agreement on the problem and the solution category.

The Sales Motion and Offer Structure

The sales motion, or the process by which a sale is made, significantly impacts the offer structure. For online sales, the traditional approach has been to drive traffic to a landing page, where customers can directly purchase a product after engaging with content such as webinars or video sales letters.

However, for higher-ticket items—typically those over $3,000—the process often involves a sales team. These sales are not closed through a direct online transaction but through a consultative process involving personal interaction.

"Sales motion impacts offer structure." This means that the way you present your offer must align with the sales process. For example, an offer that works well in an online environment may not translate effectively to a phone sales scenario.

Levels of Awareness

Understanding Eugene Schwartz’s levels of awareness is crucial in this context. Schwartz was a pioneering figure in direct response advertising, and his book "Breakthrough Advertising" is a classic in the industry. He introduced the concept of "levels of awareness," which describes the stages a consumer goes through before making a purchase. Moving a customer along this continuum—from recognizing they have a problem, to understanding the solutions available, to selecting a specific product—is the essence of a successful sales process.

1. Problem Awareness: Customers recognize they have a problem.

2. Solution Awareness: Customers understand the different solutions available to solve their problem.

3. Product Awareness: Customers identify specific products within the chosen solution category.

In an effective sales motion, especially one involving a sales team, it’s critical to guide the customer through these stages systematically. Jumping directly from problem recognition to product presentation can be too abrupt and may fail to convert.

The Three Critical Agreements

A pivotal part of the sales process is securing agreement on the problem and the solution category before introducing the product. This involves a few key steps:

1. Problem Agreement: Confirm with the customer that you understand their problem.

2. Solution Agreement: Ensure the customer agrees with the proposed solution category.

3. Product Agreement: Finally, introduce your product as the best solution within the agreed-upon category.

Without these agreements, moving forward can be challenging. "The biggest change we've made is in that middle step." Ensuring solution category agreement bridges the gap between problem awareness and product introduction.

Avoid Growth Stalls With Optimization

For businesses experiencing a stall in growth or declining sales, it’s crucial to assess, plan, and implement changes in their sales process and offer structure. Start by auditing your current process:

• Identify where in the process you get problem agreement: This could be through lead magnets or early interactions.

• Ensure you secure solution agreement: This step is often skipped but is critical. Use forms, discovery calls, or scripted questions to confirm this.

• Refine your offer structure: In phone sales, avoid complex value stacks. Instead, focus on helping the customer visualize the process and the value they will receive after the purchase.

Crafting effective offers requires a deep understanding of your sales motion and the customer journey. By targeting your messaging, securing problem and solution agreement, and structuring your offers appropriately, you can significantly enhance your sales performance.

What To Take Away From This

• Target your messaging and content to your ideal audience: Know who you’re speaking to and tailor your content accordingly.

• Have a clear sales process that guides the customer: Ensure each step from problem awareness to product awareness is covered.

• Focus on helping the customer visualize the process and the value they will receive: This is particularly important in sales team-driven processes.

• Assess, plan, and implement changes to overcome growth stalls: Regularly audit your sales process to identify and rectify gaps.

By applying these principles, businesses can navigate the complexities of both online and sales team-driven offer structures, ultimately driving better results and sustainable growth.

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