I’ve spent a lot of January coaching IT Sales teams to use GROW on the phone. Here are my top tips that have helped them (and therefore their customers) get the most value from their interaction by using GROW.
1. Only have 1 goal for the call. It will focus you and your customer’s thinking – and make it SMART!
2. Picture the buyer in your mind – if you make 30 calls a day you need to ‘get into their shoes’ before you call.
3. Make the call count – Don’t ask the buyer questions you could have answered yourself before the call. Do your homework, it will raise your credibility.
4. Get really nosey! It’s about them, not you, so find out about their reality.
5. Remember value not volume. Before the call, prep your 3 high value questions in order to achieve the goal for the call.
6. Listening on the phone is a skill – this is not the same as waiting to speak!
7. Reflect back the buyer’s language. It not only shows you’re listening, but hearing their own words back can raise self-awareness about an issue.
Needless to say, remember to summarise at the end of the call what you have agreed as the Way Forward…and deliver what you promised!