When you mention the word “sales” in a professional practice (like accounting), you’re often met with awkward silence or even a quick dismissal of the word. “We don’t do that here,” is blurted out, before the subject shifts completely. 

What you need to know, however, is that there’s nothing wrong with sales “behaviour” or even sales strategies in your business. 

Despite the negative reputation that sales have in professional practices because they’re so closely associated with aggressive tactics and pushing products on clients who don’t really want them, making sales is still the only way to drive growth, and something you need for your practice.

Without intelligent sales engagement strategies and steps, you will be limited in converting client referrals to loyal clients, which will help your business prosper and reach greater success. Sales is not about convincing someone they need to buy in, but rather demonstrating to your potential clients that your solution is the most effective out there and will solve any issues they have. 

Genuine relationships with your clients can start with relationship building which leads to sales. With a solid sales meeting framework, you can convert even more clients quicker and more effectively. 

What is a sales meeting framework and how do you benefit from having one? 

A sales meeting framework is a step-by-step process on conducting sales meetings that ensure you can maximise your chances of securing a sale. Part of it is appealing to the emotional aspect of transactions, as sales are almost always subconscious or emotional. 

Your potential client believes they need something to alleviate an issue they may be having or that it’s a solution to a pain point they have. That’s why you need to be able to nurture your relationships with your clients by interacting with them sincerely. It’ll be obvious to any client when you’re just pandering to them in order to make a sale and, if they detect it, they’ll feel turned off by your attempts and likely move on. You need to make sure they feel your sincerity and that you truly want to connect with them and tackle their problems alongside them. 

A good sales meeting framework ensures that you engage authentically with your prospects by doing sufficient research, making strategic moves when meeting with them in order to discover their problems and proving to them that your practice will help them best, especially compared to others in your industry. 

Sales frameworks are common amongst different industries, but professional practices still need to capitalise on this importance. Plenty of accounting firms still turn away from traditional sales tactics because they don’t realise just how much they change the game and turn even the most difficult clients into loyal clients. You need to change your perception of sales frameworks because they’re more useful and more effective than you think.

Some advantages to sales frameworks are: 

Your business will have a consistent structure that’s easy to teach, making securing clients quicker and more efficient: There’s no need for constant trial and error because you’ve created a system that can still adapt to different personalities but always with the same foundation. This foundation can easily be taught to your people for better dissemination and quicker turnaround. 

When you’re consistent with your process and follow it, you’ll have consistent results: You no longer have to figure out how to engage with a client every single meeting–instead, you can engage with a proven system, delivering you more streamlined results at a quicker rate. Client experience will also stay relatively the same because you won’t be deviating from what you’ve already been doing.

A sales framework can be finetuned as you go, giving you lots of room to be flexible but still allowing you a foundation you can always return to when you need to touch base: Adjusting the process as your industry or clients change is crucial because you need to fine tune and adapt in order to keep up with your competitors and any changes in your practice’s business landscape.

What does a great sales meeting framework cover?

A sales framework doesn’t only cover meeting the client, but also the preparation work beforehand. You need to make sure every sales engagement process is in place even before you schedule a meeting with your prospects. 

Here are some steps you need in place: 

Before meeting your potential client

• Build profile and credibility – Once you have booked your appointment make sure you send them some information that may be relevant to them and direct them to all your website and social media outlets.
• Research – Conduct thorough research of the potential client by looking at their website, talking to referrers, other common clients that may know them or even googling to see what you can find. The more information you have at your disposal the better they will feel you understand and want their business. 
• Lead nurturing – Reaching out via eNewsletters or any other form of content that will address your potential clients in a genuine way will help make them feel nurtured, seen and understood. 
• Meeting preparation – To come across as confident and approachable, there are definitely must-have scripts and questions you ought to prepare. You need to ask key questions to gain certain data or information you need in order to build commercial depth and emotional trust.
• Mindset – You should give yourself adequate time before the meeting to put yourself in the right mindset. It’s important to be calm and centred in the meeting rather than rushed and flustered because you haven’t planned your time. You should use the time to get yourself into a peak emotional state that enables you to feel confident and well prepared.

During the meeting

• Setting an Agenda – Setting an agenda is so often overlooked which means there is no road map for the meeting. Setting this correctly will help you overcome objections after the meeting.
• Establish credibility and market differentiation – You want the potential client to feel they are in the right place and you are the right person for the matter. This has a dramatic impact on buyers resistance and the overall sale.
• Finding out their pain points – Make sure the interview is less about you and your practice, but more about the client. Take down what they say, so you can use it with them at a later point so they know you’ve listened. 
• Discussing how you can solve their problem and address their needs – Once you’ve actively listened to what’s happening for your potential client, outline what you and your practice can do for them. 
• Gaining commitments – In ending the meeting reiterate why your solution will work for your potential client before discussing implementation with them. This is where understanding the right closing options is important in closing the deal.

Post-meeting 

• Proposals and following up – The framework doesn’t end when you come to a conceptual agreement–you need to make sure that your client fulfils their end of the discussion. Gently follow up with them when you can to show you still care. 
• Feedback – If your now-client is inclined, get them to fill out a feedback form so you can figure out what you can modify or do better next time.

This entire process should be a cycle and practised by everyone engaging with potential clients. 

Why you need sales training

Sales training is an integral part of nurturing relationships with your clients, as it equips you with what you need to show your prospects that you care about them and solving their problems.

Your professional practice may be using outdated systems of interacting and engaging with clients. Diagnosing this problem and updating processes will convert more leads into clients. A professional business advisor can help you sharpen these skills of negotiating and lead nurturing so you can best maximise your chances of landing a sale and securing a potential client. 

If you want to learn more about my seven-step sales engagement framework that builds consistent results, get in touch with us.