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[Music] so today i'm just gonna run through uh the the perfect b2b sas sales framework and this is this is a framework and the reason i use the word framework is because every business every every sales person will will need to innovate and and use this as a basis and this is the like the solid basis um that i've used uh in all of my sales and uh and what we advise all our clients to use as well um so so take this uh take this and and run with it and and use it and adapt it but really honestly uh like no matter what stage of growth you're at whether you're pre-revenue um like pre-launch and you're selling uh you're selling um like you're selling you're pre-selling um or or whether you've got millions in in sales under your belt the process does not need to be any more complicated uh than than this so um like where this comes from um i know i look uh like a spring chicken and i'm flattered uh i'm flattered that uh people say this but i've got almost a decade in in sas and tech sales and marketing behind me um i started selling private medical insurance in my summer holidays um and and then i've worked with some of the fastest growing sas companies as a salesperson as a sales and marketing manager selling into a ton of different sectors into the nhs into construction into sas and tech companies um and this framework like some of those some of those contacts have been i've just been chucked in on the phones and people have just told me to get on with it and i didn't really have any idea what i was doing some of them were a bit more structured the ones that were more structured and had recently gone from five ten sales people to 50 or 100 within a few years followed a process very very similar to this and kept it simple and didn't really deviate this deviate from this an awful lot um this this process gave me the confidence to turn down a sales role from tesla to start my own business and build plexi which is an elon musk farm and and the whole purpose of of what i do is to just create more elon musks um and so like this process really has it has been central to all of that and then with plexi we've almost tripled in the last last few months and this process and getting troubleshooting this process getting elements of this process right has been absolutely critical to that so um so i hope this is useful i hope it's valuable um and uh we'll dive into q a uh further down the line so the the process really is like ridiculously simple ridiculously straightforward and there's i suppose there's there's four basic steps to the process now um now at either end of the spectrum i mean this this process and the way i describe it it is absolutely spot-on for that um mid-market sales so your your price point your customer lifetime value is between anywhere between 500 quid and a few thousand at the lower end of that spectrum this same process still applies 100 um but you'll probably want to automate bits of it it won't be profitable to have one one salesperson for each step of this process and you want to automate bits or all of that sales process and at the higher end where you're selling much higher ticket service contracts then there will be more steps the process will be more complicated there'll be more decision makers um and and you'll need to you'll probably have sales people for each step of this of this process and structure your team uh along those lines um but this process really applies to any industry sector any any sale you ever make um and uh yeah the the goal here is is to take in-market prospects and convert them into highly engaged um buyers and get them to take whatever action it is you want so and in market prospects we're not trying to sell um we're not trying to sell beef to vegetarians we're not trying to sell um we're not trying to sell um finance software to to companies that don't have any finance issues we're not trying to sell uh like an e-commerce platform to to uh to a butcher's shop that that doesn't and is never going to sell online so so part of that and we'll go through this in the stages is as a lead comes in filtering out and making sure that somebody is relevant to to what it is the opportunity that you've got for them that's the goal and the goal is to get them to a 10 out of 10 take take a lead um at whatever stage of the buying process they're at um and get them to a 10 out of 10 on on you they trust you they believe in you and that's probably the most important get them to a 10 out of 10 on the product and the service that you're offering and get them to a 10 out of 10 on uh on the company and then get them to take action that's that's the goal of this process um and i'm going to talk through how how to do that how to qualify how to um how to build rapport and and control that process and when i first started out i'm someone who who loves learning who loves speaking to people who who loves building relationships um and so that that part of the process picking apart pain points and buying buying values and the whole fat fine part of the process came naturally to me the bit that i've always struggled with and only in the last few months really have really dialed in is is closing and that that's my weakness and every salesperson will have their own strength and weakness um and need to need to work through that process but um but the crucial elements to to selling um really are sticking to this process nailing this process and uncertainty certainty that what you're offering is really going to make a like a huge amount of difference to the person that that you're selling to and and knowing that and communicating that not just in your words but in your body language in your tone of voice um and really knowing that and you see that the best sales people are the people that just know that in their core and that's irrespective of how many bugs your software's got how crap your fulfillment is do you even have a product that you're selling to them or are you just are you pre-selling um and and the best sales people are like an actor able to create that persona that confidence and straight out of the gate open any engagement with energy with enthusiasm with like unshakable belief that what they're selling is is going to completely change this person's person's life and that sounds like hyperbole that sounds ridiculous but that that really is the case um and i know for myself when i'm when i'm selling well is when i have that confidence and when i'm just like there's no there's no element of self-doubt there's no element of self-questioning when that doubt starts to creep in then then my conversions fall off um and you see that on a regular basis so the perfect sale the perfect prospect um will go through this process um and you you won't have to do anything they will have no objections you'll you'll open the conversation you'll meet them they uh and referrals often come closer to this um but they won't they'll trust you out of the gate they'll trust the business they'll trust the product they'll they'll know you they'll understand they might not even know you or understand anything about the product or the company they might just be a very trusting person they might know that they have an issue and they just take action out of the gate and and those happen once in once every six months or so if that and those sales are amazing they're great they're wonderful um but my my six-year-old cousin could could close that you don't need to do anything you just need to ask a few questions and say okay well do you want to do you want to sign up like sign up now or just just close that sale that's that's easy like that's not what we're looking at here what we're looking at is um uh is taking uh prospects and people that are right that are a good fit for for what you're offering um or could be a good fit sometimes you you really don't know um and and converting them into that 10 out of 10 on you they they completely trust you they completely buy into and believe in the product and the service and they completely trust the company believe in the company um and they're ready to to take action so this process the goal of this process is to is to take those sales and just convert more and more and more of those um so so there's four there's four stages to the process essentially and like i say ridiculously simple um does not need to be more complicated than this whether you have whether you're a founder or you're the first salesperson in or whether you have a team of 50 100 sales people and actually like i really want to emphasize the simplicity of this because at a larger scale that simplicity is going to be extra important because you've got so many moving parts you've got so many um pieces of the puzzle you'll have seven several different product services upsells cross sells different departments of the business and that simplicity is going to be crucial because it needs to be manageable it needs to be as simple as possible just because you're doing it at scale and there's that complexity and at the lower end of the spectrum like that simplicity it is just it is completely important because you might you might have 10 customers you might have 50 customers but you need to be you need to be able to identify what's working what isn't working uh and and if you've got a sales process with 50 different steps there's no way in how you're going to be able to identify what's going wrong what isn't um and so and so the first step of that process is the frame um and and throughout the like this sales process uh this is this is not a normal conversation i used to go into sales calls and and think there was a nice chat and i pick up the phone i get chucked in as a junior sales person i pick up the phone and like i'm a chatty um fairly extroverted kind of person and i just pick up the phone and have a good conversation and some of the sales will fall in some wouldn't a sales conversation is a very focused conversation there's a very clear outcome and the goal is for you as a salesperson to keep control of that that process without breaking rapport you need to be constantly building rapport and um and maintaining that but keeping the the conversation within fairly narrow confines you're not talking you might do a little bit of small talk at the beginning but beyond that you're not talking about um how's it how's a dog what's going on with how's auntie margaret like this is a very focused conversation you're with me yeah your background is very much sales driven then rob uh it's a broad mix actually um so like in the early part then it's quite sales driven and then in the latter part where went into sales and marketing manager roles then uh then uh then the focus in the latter part and certainly with plexi and the the roles before that is is marketing focus um and so and so the process that a lot of you are going through and the process that plexi have been through in the last few months um is kind of a combination of like the last few years of just testing digital channels out and using those almost as a salesperson to to just find a predictable scalable way to to to use those digital channels to support a sales process so yeah i kind of come at this whole process with a very sales focused mindset um and so so the out of the gate the first step is to frame frame the conversation get control of the conversation um and uh and the way i do this with every conversation with every every lead every intro call that that comes in uh is i open there maybe a little bit of small talk i might just ask them a little bit um and then i'll frame the conversation with okay like this is a great opportunity for us to introduce ourselves you to get to know a little bit more about us and uh and for us to to learn more about you to to find out more about your challenges and to see if we're a good fit and that that frames the conversation that gives you control over the conversation uh and what i mentioned earlier about every time you pick up the phone to a prospect like the the mindset to have with every single interaction is that the the opportunity that you're selling them the the service the product will change for the right person will completely change their their life or their business because the reality is that it will and that's like that that really is a reality and that applies to selling t-shirts and it will it'll boost their status with with their with their friends they'll be the coolest kid in school as much as it does to um selling uh marketing automation software and uh and that completely revolutionizing uh the the whole management process of large-scale marketing budgets saving companies millions of pounds um and and hours of work and a whole lot of of headaches like that really is the case with um with any product or service and and you have to go into any interaction with that so that frame is crucial that sets up the the first the first bit of of the process of the interaction and what you genuinely are seeing if this is a good fit for who you're on the phone to and you genuinely are asking questions uncovering elements we'll go into in a second to find out whether whether they're a good fit for this and if they're not then sack off the conversation if you can see that straight out the gate don't don't take it any further just just move on to the next one give them your phone number give them your details send them an email say look this isn't good fit for you now um here are my details love to hear from you in the future move on to the next one and and lots of people sales people don't do that they they as soon as they get uh somebody who wants to speak to them then they'll drag that out but that's not it's not a good use of their time it's not good use of your time um but that really is the goal of the frame and then the second section which is like your your intro or your qualification so so this second section um is is part of this first this first call so normally and like i say this is a framework uh innovate on this depending on the size and scale of your business depending on the price point of what you're offering uh play with this framework but the way so we've actually been playing around with this in the last few months looking at do we do an intro call so step two and step three as two separate calls um or or do we do we just do it in one and actually for us and for for our business the best approach is just to be flexible sometimes we'll be able to get through both of these both of these stages so the intro and the qualification call um in 5 10 15 minutes and then we'll go into um to the demo or uh or like the the proposal the match and propose stage of the process um and we can do that in one call and and that's that's fine and sometimes it needs a little bit longer sometimes there are more decision makers and so if we can see that there's three four different decision makers and they all need to be on a call then i'll i'll say to people look um i haven't gone through stage two um let's let's set up another time for for stage three for the demo call uh make sure that everybody is on that call and we'll do those like i say innovate on the process can i jump in just what was the headline for stage two so uh let me just outline the stages so step one is frame that's your open and your frame where you take control of the interaction step two is your your intro call so so for sas companies the four stages are frame intro call demo and close um and uh and yeah like i say in bigger organizations um with higher price points then you'll actually you'll have a separate call for each of those stages and you'll probably have a different person doing each of those stages we were talking about cognizant the other week um if you haven't done it already like this afternoon ring cognism as as if you're interested in what they're offering and they break these stages down down perfectly and they have a different person for each of these stages and they pass you on they'll have like a sales manager go through they'll do the frame and the intro call they'll fact find and then they'll they'll schedule another call with like a mid-level or a junior sales person to do the like the demo call and then they'll have like a specific closer for each product or service that you're interested in and they'll filter out that way i would highly recommend that you just pick up the phone and uh whether you're a customer or not just pretend to be a prospect and just go through that process if you haven't already their sales process is a is a really good example um so so step two that intro call i literally on each sales call i'm sat at my computer um at the moment everything's over zoom so i can just type away as i go and take notes as i go um completely up to how you prefer to work but i have four headings for every single intro call and i just take notes on each of those aspects so the first the first thing that i'm looking for and and this really is absolutely crucial is pain points so i i have uh i just copy and paste these four headings into so we use hubspot so i just copy these into every prospect's record and i'll i have pain points and under that as we go through the conversation and uh i'll be picking apart pain points like that's that's where i'll start we'll start the conversation i'll frame it um and then i'll ask so what like what what's the reason you you put the call in is there a specific reason um and then what the conversation will start flowing and start rolling and i'll be hunting down and i almost i feel like sales process is like pulling apart like pulling weeds out out of the way to try and get to the real pains and motivations and reasons for someone buying and once you know those objections um and and you do a good job of uncovering what those objections are what what their problems are what what you can actually help them solve then the sales process becomes easy because you can just match whatever it is you're you're offering to to those specific pain points so um i've actually got a pretty good document on uh on this intro call that goes through these sections and i can share that with you with a few ideas um so rob sorry yeah go for it um i need to shoot in a minute but the guys will uh hang around but i was just gonna say i think i think that framework lends itself quite nicely to marketing as well as sales um and the way you structure your messaging from you know that first touch point you don't go and ask someone to book a demo straight away it's about talking to them on like an emotional level that we spoke about last week and then as you go through the you know you might be sending them emails or linkedin messages or whatever it is as you learn more about that prospect you progress the messaging to be more focused around maybe his pain points or maybe he's booking a demo or that kind of thing so um i'll thank you for that and i'll have to shoot but uh if you could send over this recording rob i'd send it around to brett and his guys but um yeah yeah we'll do that meet you soon [Music] um so so yeah on that intro call i'll go into pain points and i have a like when i first started this process and for each for each new product service each new business i joined as a salesperson then uh then i'll i'll list out the the questions for for that process uh like that elicits those pain points so um that could be anything that could be business that could be personal um so for us for for plexi then often that's around like previous experiences with um with marketers and previous processes that people have been through um and uh and we'll just dive in in as much detail as possible into the pain points of of that process second one uh that we go through on that intro call and that quote call is um is buying value so what what is important to whoever you're speaking to and that's different for every single person so for some people they might be more interested in status have you worked with uh x number of different companies for some people that might be about you and your personality that might be about do do our values fit i are you a good person i like doing business with with people that i get on with and again just pick apart those buying values uncover that um as step two and i have buying values as a header on that intro call um step three is about urgency sorry not step three but the third section of that intro call like the third header i have is urgency and i will like uncover what why is this urgent what i'll know what the pain is um and and then i'll dive into what is um why do why does it need to be solved now does it need to be solved now what what does the urgency come from do who do you have hounding you is your wife kicking your bedroom door down every single day to to get you to sort this what like what does the urgency come from what uh what situation is the business in what for us it's a lot about sales and marketing plans what like uh what the goals are what the targets are and and how can we help you get to that but you pick apart where that urgency comes from um and help create that urgency and then the fourth um heading in that intro call um is just about the numbers is picking apart like what other specifics so going into like as much detail as you can on on those pain points looking at like the real specific details of uh okay so you're you're struggling with um uh with managing communications with 20 different segments of people or you're struggling chasing payments with 20 different customers they're based all over the world um and you can't you can't manage that process so how many like how many invoices have you got outstanding what's the value to that what's the impact of that on the business like what what's your manager's opinion on that what is um what's uh like what are the specific details what are your targets what are the like the numbers um around that process um and just pulling apart by the the real granular details of those pain points and those pain points are are the most important one out of those because like i said earlier like the perfect sale is someone that comes in they don't really have any objections they don't really they don't really question anything they're fine with you they're fine with the company they're fine with the business they go through anyone could could sell uh could sell that like that that's not really selling you're not doing anything with a prospect like that for the majority like the vast majority of people that are a good potential fit for what you've got what you what you're offering them could genuinely make a massive difference to them and their business um but they don't they don't just go through and just kind of roll through that that process themselves uncovering those pain points and really diving into the detail of those painful pain points in an almost uncomfortable level of detail is what gives people the impetus to actually purchase at the end like helping them understand how like how much of an issue they actually have is what gets people to buy at the end of the process so diving into those pain points is far and away the most important part of that that intro call that that quote call so so that's your intro call you pick apart those details um and and if it's if it's just you managing the whole sales process then that and you're just doing it in one call then that's the first part of your call that's five ten minutes at the beginning of the call diving into those details diving into those those pain points and those issues if if the business is bigger if what you're selling is at a higher price point or the business is more complex you might have um you might just be one person you might spend 15 minutes 30 minutes going through that intro call you record that and you pass that information on to whoever's doing the demo um so so you take that information and then you move on to stage three of the process which which is the pitch um in a sas context then then it's a demo like your demo is your pitch essentially and so that demo and that pitch is is where you lay out exactly what you're offering um what you're offering that that prospect as they come through um and the key to getting that right is adapting it and taking the information from that intro call looking at what their their three biggest pain points are looking at what their urgency is looking at what that one big thing is that if you could solve would completely change their business and you're matching and proposing aspects of what you offer um and and running through a fairly standard fairly standard demo but making sure that you hit those pain points so you might have a particular feature that um that that like matches perfectly and just solves one specific pain point um so so if you're so you're already learning software and uh and you know that um there they've already told you that they're struggling with uh like a webinar function or like a video conferencing function um and you've got a specific feature that solves that pain for them and just makes their whole training process a million times easier then then go into that in in detail and pick out from those pain points from that urgency and those buying values hi make sure you highlight aspects of um of your your software or your service uh that matches with all the information that you found out on that on that intro call and really paint the picture so so that demo um is a fairly standard standard process and the more you do this process the more the the more you'll you'll know how to structure this the more you'll know um like what aspects of the demo people resonate with people most um like and structuring structuring that demo whether it works better if you have a full presentation whether it works better if you if you just do this verbally and you just do it in person and you just have a natural conversation with someone um whether whether it works better if you actually travel to to a client's site and run them through the the process and those details you figure out but this friend how you structure that process um and so that's that's step three is the demo and then the final step of the process that like stage four is the close and now uh most people think that that's that's the end of end of the sale um that you get through the demo you ask someone okay does this look interesting or not do you do you want to buy now is what typically happens and if this like they might at that point um i mean how i've just phrased it is not it's not a great way to ask for for the for the sale or for the clothes but at that point then rarely like in that perfect sale where someone just is happy and they just go through and they're ready to buy they'll say yeah fine let's let's start let's get signed up um and let's jump on board right away 99 of the time when you ask for that sale when you when you ask for the the sale the first time you'll get an objection come out um and that's really when the sales process starts so so this stage four the close um i've always been taught and i always share with with team members and sales people that i'm training and working with uh that you have to get comfortable asking for the sale three times at the end of at the end of this process you've laid out you've pulled out their pain points their urgency their buying values you've shown them how what you offer matches and reflects those and and just hits all of those and at that stage you've gone through the process you've got good rapport with them they trust you they trust the product they trust the company and at that stage then you ask for the sale and i say do this three times and this is the hardest part for me because i'm not this is just for me this is way out of my comfort zone i'm not like i'm not a pushy person at all i'm not comfortable um with this part of the process i'm great at getting people to talk and and just having a conversation with someone great asking questions because i i love i love those kinds of interactions i love learning closing for me some people love it i'm i'm really not comfortable with that but asking for that close three times is actually what's made the difference for for plexi in taking us from spending spending thousands a month on ads um and just packing out our calendars and and getting us from like we were in the reg for a few months when we first started the process and the difference was actually in getting this close right we weren't we were getting a ton of great prospects we were getting uh a ton of great conversations but the issue for us wasn't getting getting this close right and so in asking for that sale three times you get to the end of the demo the end of the interaction and um layout so so this looks like a perfect fit for you i think we can help you do x y and zed um and um this is the process to get you signed up and set up you've got this many days to to cancel you've got this much setup time so when do you want to when do you want to get started and getting that asking for that sale the first time normally draws out an objection and then from there then then the sales process really starts and the way to handle that once you get that first objection and they say i need to um yeah it looks great um i need to and i need to make sure that um that uh it'll integrate with um our like our our software system already that we've got in place already so at that stage then the goal is to acknowledge that objection um and isolate that objection and then handle the objection now what i used to do is is i'd be far too blunt about it somebody would come up with an objection at that stage and i would um i would just dive straight into uh yeah but um yeah but this integrates perfectly like you're crazy with what you're talking about um and and that's just not the right way to do it and honestly like that that just leads to conflict and that breaks rapport and that's not the right way to handle an objection you want to keep that rapport but you want to ha you want to understand the objections say yeah absolutely get it i completely appreciate that we have lots of clients that are on a similar system um and have been through the same process uh now if we if we get that sorted is there anything else stopping you from from jumping up or jumping on board so i've acknowledged that objection i've isolated it to make sure that there's nothing else um and and if they say there's other things then you handle those in exactly the same way um and you just keep looping back to each objection until you've covered every single objection without breaking that rapport and get to the point where where they sign up with you um and so then you you acknowledge you isolate the objection and then you you handle the objections so um so if the objection is like i'm not sure if this integrates with our with our crm system with our erp system whatever that is uh after after those first two steps then then you can dive in and say you can open up your computer and you can go through and you can just show them how easy the integration is between between the two bits of software and run them through that process or you can just do it verbally or if you're on site then then you can go through and show them that bit of the process and and so you go through that acknowledgement isolation handling the objection uh once you've been through that then you ask for the sale again so so you go through that objection and then you ask for for the sale so if there's nothing else then then we can get you set up in in five days we can get um we can get you up and running when do you want to when do you want to kick things off what what's the best method of payment if you're doing lower end transactions or who's the best person to to send the contract through to if you're dealing with higher higher and higher price points um and then the the same process goes again so at that point either they'll they'll close and again most people the second time you ask for the sale will not close right that's um that's just a reality but they'll give you another objection they'll come up with another another thing that another obstacle for you to work through and again acknowledge that that objection that second uh objection um maybe they they just ask you to send a proposal through um and you'll come up with ways of uh acknowledging those isolating that making sure that that is the only thing that is stopping them moving forwards and then handling that objection um and and then asking for the sale again so uh again the the more you go through this process the more you'll you'll come up with creative ways to to not just use the same the same questions and the same language every time but keep it natural keep it organic and and work through that process so you ask for the sale three times and it's so important to get comfortable with with doing that and so many people don't do that so many people end a great demo and a great a great sales conversation with so do you want to get started if somebody's a little bit on the fence then they don't push hard enough for that sale and it's not about being a hard ass closer and and being a being a dick about it like you're you're genuinely sometimes like people just just need some help to get over the line um and you genuinely are in a lot of cases going to completely transform their business and completely transform how they how they do things but some people just need a nudge but like i say the art is to do that without breaking rapport like it's not about getting into a conflict and just and just beating someone over the head until they do it it's about artfully doing it and doing it without breaking that relationship so so ask for that um sale three times if at the end of that they're still not not quite there then then fine at that stage then you leave it there and and you send over details a summary over email you send over um like a summary of the conversation the details of of your your service and then uh and then you just keep keep working through objections um over the period beyond like however long that is whether that's days or weeks or or months and you just go into follow-up mode and handling objections and just following up at that stage but that's that's the form the four-step process um framework uh that i've used to to sell millions in service contracts in sas products in in tech tech products and services um and also for now as a founder for for my own business and getting each step of that process right um is what will make the difference in in boosting conversions now that's a quick question rob um where does pricing sit in that because is that class as an objection would that be the question that's thrown back at you or uh yeah definitely uh are you just talking about at the end where you're going through that that close and that objection handling yeah would you leave pricing till last in the process you know or would you put it instantly because we me and johnny are putting a um a presentation together at the moment actually would you put the pricing into the presentation towards the end of that so they can see the cost of what they're actually buying into or whether it's more of a validation thing you know yeah so so as with all of this like this is this is a framework the reality is that you get tracked into a conversation and uh and the more controller you have over the process the more it will follow that that structure but out the gate you might have someone pick up the phone and they might say to you how much is it i just i just want to know roughly how much it is and if it's the right price then i'll buy and if it's not then i won't um and at that point then you want you want to delay the pricing as much as you possibly can so at that point if pricing comes up earlier in the conversation the way i tend to handle it is i give people a range um so i'll say look i don't know what your [Music] i need to understand more about you and about the business and about what you're struggling with before i know exactly what's going to be relevant for you but to give you an idea um then like it ranges anywhere from 500 pounds to to 10 grand a month whatever whatever the value of of that is but basically you want to leave pricing until the very end only when somebody absolutely understands the value of what it is you're you're giving them and understands exactly what's included um like exact exactly what's included in the service or the product um and how much how valuable how valuable it is at that point do you include pricing so pricing should come at the very end um of of that uh stage three of the demo or or the pitch and that comes right at the very end just before the close and so like the idea is that you control the energy and the rapport and you kind of build people up to a climax um at the at the end of that demo and then you drop the the pricing um what once they're they're at the point where they understand the value the most they're excited they're engaged um and almost in a state where it doesn't matter what price you tell them they're so excited about what it is that you've laid out and what you've got to offer and how it's going to help them solve these 10 different different things and then that makes pricing irrelevant um because because you're gonna your service is gonna help them with these 10 different things so put pricing at the end of that demo and the close and yeah and then move straight into your clothes and ask him for that for that sale three times perfect thanks thanks yeah all right