2 Simple Frameworks That Changed the Way I Do Sales
Discover two simple frameworks that transformed my approach to sales. Learn how 'Touch-points & Trust' can build integrity and drive results by consistently delivering on your promises.
#1 - The Trust Framework.
“Do what you say you are going to do”
Sounds simple, we learned that concept in preschool.
“Do what you say you are going to do” or “Stick to your commitments” Those are the fundamentals of integrity…
But as humans, we need practical application, and that is where thought frameworks help.
I have learned this the hard way, repeatedly the hard way… and once I understood it, it completely changed the way I handle sales.
It's the simple and obvious things that we often forget to think about when it matters.
And this… matters, so let's re-frame it.
Think about it in the context of your business website.
Your website has one job: To be a 24/7 salesman for the product or service you offer. It is (or at least should be) an extremely high leverage way of filtering prospects and converting them to clients.
All three of the following matter, but I see so many businesses screw up the third part, that's what we are going to work today.
Overall, a good salesman will do these three things:
- Clearly explain the offer (Filtering prospects)
- Defining the features
- Explaining the benefits
- Convince the prospect that your company is the best choice for them (If it is)
- Build enough trust and confidence with the prospect that they purchase your product
If I asked you, “Is your top salesman lying to prospects” - What would you say?
I'm guessing the majority of you would say, NO!
But I'm going to challenge that with an example I see EVERYWHERE.
If your website promotes a “newsletter signup” and you don’t send a newsletter, it’s like hiring a salesman who promises to get in touch, and ghosts the client.
It doesn't take specialized training or tactics to get the basics of selling down.
It’s why many noobs start with a mission to become a “hardcore closer” and end up a hardcore “sales isn’t for me”.
Sure, honing skills through training from experts does have a place, and sometimes it is even necessary. But it's so easy to get overwhelmed when you don't understand the basics.
Here is the key:
Every touch-point, where you do what you said you would do, builds trust, and trust is key to earning and retaining customers.
- Every email
- Every quote
- Every text
- Every line of sales copy
- Every single phone call
Those are all touch-points, and if you treat them that way, you can start to see how winning with the basics is possible.
Every touch-point should be designed to either clearly explain your offer, or build trust with the (soon to be) client.
You create good experiences that build trust, by telling your client what you are going to do, and then doing it.
I have talked about this many times one-on-one and when we get to this part is usually when my counterpart has a light-bulb moment, and starts thinking up new, crafty ways of using this to design new promises.
I hope you will use it for that, someday...
But what most owners need to do first, is change the “promise” they make to something that they were actually going to do anyway.
Go back to the “newsletter signup” form on every website, where none of them actually send a newsletter. If that is you, you don't have to start writing a newsletter to match the promise, change the promise to say something that you were actually doing.
Something like: “Give us your email, and we will send you three specials a year” or whatever it actually is, just make it something you are already going to do anyway.
Or if you are a seal coating company, and every driveway you seal coat is finished off with caution tape across the end of the driveway, and a sign to promote who performed the work, tell the client you are going to do that.
You were going to do it anyway… Why not turn it into an example of trust?
What inevitably happens when you use the framework of touch-points and trust, you will see new opportunities to add new promises, but you will build it from the ground up with the perspective of delivering that promise.
#2 - Leverage... Treat it that Way!
If you think your website is a website, it will never convert the way you want it to.
Sadly, this one is only available on the LTL podcast because I did not have time to write it down before this release 🥲 - Worth the listen!