As sales reps juggling remote work, changing economic times, and the pressure to close deals, it can be tough for them to differentiate themselves from the crowd.
In a recent “Is This a Good Time?” episode of Pavilion’s podcast, host Brandon Barton sat down with revenue architect John Grispon from Winning by Design and course designer of the Pavilion Enterprise Go-to-Market (GTM) School to talk about one way sales reps can separate themselves from the pack: focusing on the emotional impact of a deal to win over and retain loyal clients.
But making an emotional connection with a client doesn’t just happen—and helping prospects see the myriad ways your product would benefit them takes preparation, work, and hard-won insight.
Below, Grispon offers three suggestions on how to use emotional impact to become a better sales rep—no matter the selling climate.
As a former high school football player, Grispon learned hustle to differentiate himself from the competition. Going into college, he knew opportunity wasn’t going to come to him, so he chased after it, sending out reels to recruiters and making phone calls. In other words, he put in the hours teeing up opportunities—and making sure he’d be ready for them when they arrived.
Grispon’s hustle paid off. Because of his effort, he got the opportunity to try out and suit up for a college team. And while he was eventually cut, he says he “learned an important lesson about effort, about preparation, about differentiation, and I’ve applied those to everything I’ve done ever since then.”
For Grispon, sports taught him something vital about the world of sales. Just like in football, sales reps are surrounded by talented peers. You can’t make a deal if the client doesn’t notice you, and they won’t notice you unless you prepare, putting in the time to learn their needs and the product.
In sales, there’s understandably a lot of emphasis on sealing deals. But Grispon wants leaders to shift their focus.
“I hear sales leaders say, ‘I want people that are great closers,'” Grispon says. “And I just think that is baloney. You don’t want great closers. You want great openers. People that are great at discovery, that’s where you win the sale.”
For Grispon, the outcome of the deal depends on the time you put in at the beginning—on how much time you spend proactively seeking out clients, learning their pain points, and learning your product. This might not be as glamorous as closing a deal, but it leads to a lot more loyal client relationships—and more knowledge with which to empathize with and cater to the concerns of your client as a whole person.
When selling a product, it can be easy to focus on what Grispon calls “rational impact”—how much money a product will save them or how it will affect their metrics. But every sales rep is already doing that. To differentiate yourself—and to really meet the needs of your clients—you need to look closer at what the client wants, and what they’re asking for.
“You need to layer on questions that uncover the emotional impact,” Grispon says.
When selling a product, think of ways that the product solves a problem—not just rationally, but emotionally.
“If I solve your problem, are you going to be able to sleep at night or worry less?” Grispon says.. “Will you get a promotion or have happier employees? Those emotional impacts are just as important if not more important.”
To stand out in a shifting or trying sales environment, sales leaders need to see the client holistically, and speak to all of their needs.
To learn more about how you can up the emotional impact of your sales and succeed in a changing economy, listen to the rest of the conversation here.
Want to learn directly from John and other top Enterprise sales leaders? Sign up to be notified of the next session of his course, Enterprise GTM School.