Episode 246: Steve Hall
Meet
Steve Hall
Steve Hall is Managing Director of Executive Sales Coaching Australia and is recognized as Australia’s leading authority on Selling at C-level. He is a member of the Sales Experts Channel and has been a finalist in several categories in the Top Sales World Awards.
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Prospecting—though every salesperson hates to admit it—is the necessary evil in any business. You have to prospect to get leads in your funnel to nurture them through the process. But how you do it matters. That’s what Steve Hall—the Managing Director of Executive Sales Coaching Australia—emphasizes in this episode of Sales Reinvented. Don’t miss it!
Outline of This Episode
- [0:48] Is it a matter of semantics?
- [1:17] Why are they important?
- [2:52] Steve’s ideal prospecting process
- [5:52] Attributes a salesperson needs
- [7:05] Skills for salespeople to develop
- [7:46] Top 3 prospecting dos and don’ts
- [10:20] Persistence and resilience are powerful
Is it a matter of semantics?
Prospecting and lead generation: They’re just labels, according to Steve. Prospecting is identifying potential customers who may have a need that you can supply and can afford to pay for it. Lead generation is looking for people in the middle of the buying process looking to buy.
In Steve’s opinion, prospecting is more important. You want to prospect for choice. If you have a full pipeline ready to buy, you won’t get desperate. You won’t try to close deals that aren’t ready or close those that don’t fit. The fuller your pipeline is, the less desperate you are.
Steve’s ideal prospecting process
Is there an ideal prospecting process? Steve’s answer? It depends. It depends on what you sell, who you sell it to, and what the deals are worth. It also depends on how big your team is. If you’re an individual, you have to do everything yourself. If you have a huge marketing team it’s different. Everyone has different capabilities.
The most important thing is to understand who your ideal customer is and identify companies that fit that. Assuming that a new customer’s lifetime value is upward of $250,000, they’re worth putting effort into. So you need to do research (either you or your minions). Then you reach out to them.
What do you do if someone is an ideal customer but they aren’t ready to buy yet? Do you come back in a year? Do you get them in a nurturing program? Who builds the relationship?
Then you have the actual sales process. Steve has one client that has multiple people involved in the sales process:
- The CEO’s executive assistant does the research—with the list they’ve come up with as a team—to find out who the key players are.
- The CEO or one of his staff get them on a business-to-business call. It works well for them—but won’t work for other companies.
What attributes does a salesperson need to be successful with prospecting? What skills should they develop? Listen to hear Steve’s thoughts!
Steve’s prospecting dos and don’ts
Steve shared quite a few dos and don’ts for salespeople to keep in mind:
- Prepare. Don’t just pick up the phone or send an email. Think about what you’re going to do.
- Targeting is critical.
- Get comfortable with silence.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
- Have a respectful pattern interrupt to get their attention on you.
- Don’t use smart tricks and techniques. Everyone knows them and is used to them. Be genuine.
- Don’t be too salesy or too pushy.
Don’t say “Hello, how are you?” Every single person does that. It says “I don’t really care how you are I just want to sell stuff to you.”
Persistence and resilience are powerful
Steve was working with a company trying to invest in aged care facilities. They wanted to talk to the CEO of the company they wanted to work with. The problem was that he couldn’t find a phone number for these people anywhere. Every single number for the company went to a call center!
Eventually, he went to their website and looked at their press releases. The head of corporate communications had their mobile number on the press release. So Steve called him and asked him to forward a message to the CEO’s executive assistant.
She got back to him and said “The CEO is away—do you want to speak to the CFO?” Of course, they accepted, and that’s how he connected his client to this company. The moral of the story is that not everyone wants to be communicated with. But if you desperately want to connect—try the PR people.
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More About Steve Hall
What was the last book you read?
Currently reading – taking a break from business books, reading fiction – the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovich (police procedural but with ghosts)
Who / What inspires you?
I’m inspired by people who stand up for what they believe; Ruth Bader Ginsberg; Jacinda Adren (NZ PM); colin kaepernick; Greta Thunberg; Anthony Fauci
Are there any aspects of your prospecting and lead generation skills that you are working on improving at the moment?
Aspects of prospecting I’m working on? No, I’m ok
Hobbies, Interests?
Football
How can our listeners contact with you?
Just search for #stevehallsydney. All my contact details are there.
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