How to practice sales by yourself

The hardest part of improving your sales skills? Often it's simply having no one there to practice with, provide feedback, or share techniques. Whether you're a solopreneur managing your entire business alone or a sales professional without adequate training resources, this episode delivers six practical strategies to elevate your sales game independently.

Ever cringed at the thought of role-playing sales scenarios? You're not alone - but those uncomfortable practice sessions might be exactly what you need. We break down exactly how to simulate challenging client conversations, identify and correct distracting habits through self-recording, and adjust your communication approach to match different client personalities. You'll discover why recording yourself (despite how awkward it feels) reveals invaluable insights about how prospects perceive you.

The episode provides a masterclass in objection handling, showing you how to prepare responses that demonstrate empathy rather than defensiveness. We debunk the common misconception that objections mean rejection - they're usually just requests for reassurance. You'll learn to craft an elevator pitch that breaks from the conventional approach of talking about yourself, instead focusing on your client's problems and the transformation your solution provides.

Beyond verbal techniques, we explore the crucial role of body language, improvisation exercises to prepare for unexpected questions, and the balance between product knowledge and storytelling. You'll get practical advice on handling technical questions beyond your expertise and leveraging success stories ethically to build credibility.

Ready to transform your sales approach even without a mentor or team? These DIY techniques will help you build confidence, connect authentically with prospects, and close more deals effectively. Visit our website for more resources, and share your experiences implementing these strategies!

Chapters

• 0:25 Welcome and Introduction
• 1:23 Role Playing Techniques
• 4:34 Objection Handling Practice
• 8:36 Crafting Your Elevator Pitch
• 11:15 Improvisation and Body Language
• 14:54 Research, Storytelling and Recap
• 23:08 Closing Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

Okay, well, welcome to another podcast. Now, in this podcast, I'm going to talk through a few things that you can do if you are on your own, and there are things you can do to just help you practice your sales presentation technique, your closing technique, and it's really targeted at people who are working on their own. So you might have your own business and you might be doing your own selling, or you might be part of a sales team, but you don't really have the environment where you can get good training or get good feedback or whatever the issue is. So, whatever it is for you, if you are mostly on your own and you would like to just find ways to improve your confidence and perhaps improve your ability to close, this is the podcast for you. So, before I get into it, I would just like to ask you to like and subscribe, because most people who listen to the podcast don't do that, and it would really make a big difference for me.

Speaker 1: 1:11

Okay, so I'm going to run through about half a dozen things that you can do, and the first one is role-playing. Now, role-playing is one of those things that I certainly know. When I was learning sales and when I was doing sales training. It was one of those things that I absolutely hated, and so did most of the people I was with, but having said all of that, it is well worth spending the time doing it. So there's three things I'm going to talk about that apply to role playing. The first one is to just hold simulated conversations, so the kind of conversations that you typically have with clients, and the benefit of this is to simulate conversations that you've had where you've perhaps stumbled a little bit or you just lack confidence, or they caught you out. So just go back to any conversations that you've had with clients where you've had that experience you haven't been able to handle them so well and just talk through and simulate that conversation. Now the kind of things you can do are practicing how you present your solution, maybe how you interact with your client, how you handle objections, and the kind of closing techniques that you can use, and think about different types of clients. So it could be a buyer who's very skeptical. It could be someone who is very, very budget conscious. It could be someone who's really enthusiastic, and when you get someone like that, that in many ways is pretty easy, but you do still need to stay alert to what's happening and just be listening for any flags. That might be a problem for you. So the thing to do with that is simply to perhaps start with two or three and just practice them and then go into meetings and then you might you'll have other conversations that don't go so well perhaps, and just add those to the practice list, and if you do this every week, it's not something that necessarily you want to do daily or even spend a lot of time over, but it is definitely finding perhaps an hour or so every week just to start doing this as a practice routine. Now, if you didn't like the idea of role playing, you're going to like this idea even less, because that's recording yourself, and most people absolutely hate that.

Speaker 1: 3:40

But having said that, recording yourself is incredibly valuable because it's a way of noticing things that you do that might be distracting or even irritating to other people and irritating to other people. So examples of this might be using particular words or using pardon me using the word um a lot, just like that. You might even have hand gestures or odd things like that that you do, and so it's really easy to record yourself. These days, smartphones will let you do it, or if you've got a camera set up, you can use it. Doesn't really matter what you use to record yourself, just make sure you do it from time to time. And although it can be very uncomfortable to look at, it is also very valuable, because if you do have odd little idiosyncrasies, you can just train yourself not to do them, and that can make a huge difference to how you are perceived by people.

Speaker 1: 4:42

And then the third thing is just to adjust your approach. So be very aware of different tones that you're using. It might be friendly, professional, consultative, whatever that means to you and see which of those is most appropriate, which feels more comfortable in different scenarios. Now, it's always good to have different approaches. They really want to be extensions of your own personality, because that way they come across as natural. But there are definitely scenarios where you'll have some clients are very chatty, very personable, and it's really nice just chatting to them. So you want to sort of match them. You want to match the way they speak and behave, because then they will feel that you're on their wavelength, to use a phrase. So, equally, there might be someone who is very serious about what they're doing, so they probably wouldn't appreciate a joke every five minutes. So do practice those kinds of scenarios and ways of communicating.

Speaker 1: 5:43

Okay, the next thing is objection handling. Now I have given you tips in other podcasts on how to avoid objections altogether, and definitely I cover that this whole section on that in the training course. So there are definitely ways you can connect with your client where you can pretty much eliminate objections altogether. However, if they do come up and that may be the situation you're in right now then you're you can also practice handling those. So the first thing to do is to sit down and write a list of the common objections that you get. So there are probably one or two that will come up pretty regularly. It might be that it's too expensive, it might be that the time isn't right, or they don't have time right now, or it might be that they're happy with their current situation, current solution, whatever it is they're using. So I wouldn't recommend doing more than three at a time because it can get overwhelming. Just work with the three that spring to mind as the ones that are most common right now for you, and then obviously you can add to them later. But just look at how you can handle those objections. What can you say, what can you do, maybe in the earlier part of the conversation, or how can you handle those objections when they come up and just rehearse them Now, the most important thing here is to come up with.

Speaker 1: 7:11

Clear is to come up with clear, empathetic responses. So what I mean by that is to come up with responses that show that you've listened and you understand what your client is saying and that you understand why they're saying that. Don't start getting into counter arguments. That's not a good way to handle an objection, because what will happen is people will generally dig their heels in. And the important thing to remember with objections and I've definitely said this before on other podcasts is that often they are not a no, they are simply something the client has said because they need more reassurance in one area or another. Okay, so it's important to understand that. So, with that in mind, do look at the kind of common objections you get and think about how you can handle them. You might even want to put a cheat sheet together which has responses you can use. That might be good early on, particularly if you come up with a really good way of handling an objection, it's nothing wrong with writing it down and go from there.

Speaker 1: 8:20

Okay, the third thing is what I'm going to refer to as the elevator pitch. So this is generally a 30 second, maybe as long as 60 second pitch, but no longer. Maybe as long as 60 second pitch, but no longer, which really captures the value of what you do. Now you'll find different ways of doing this. Most of them are kind of pivot around talking about your solution and how great it is. I'm going to suggest that you don't do that, because you need to think about what the purpose of the elevator pitch is. I'm going to suggest that you don't do that Because you need to think about what the purpose of the elevator pitch is. It's not a sales proposal. You're not trying to close anybody. What you are trying to do is get them interested, to get them hooked, if you like that. They want to find out more from you. So if you just talk about yourself, that's what pretty much everybody else does. So you don't want to do that, because they're expecting that and you can easily turn them off and they'll just move on to the next person who will probably do the same thing. So with your elevator pitch, you want to make it about them. So how do you do that Well, you talk about the kind of solutions that you can offer.

Speaker 1: 9:31

You talk about the problems that your clients are having and the solutions, the transformation, if you like, that your product or solution gives them. Now I don't have a lot of time to go into this in this podcast. Again, there's more in the training course, but the important thing is you want them, they need to think that you're mind reading them. Basically, when you start talking about the problem that you solve, or, let's say, the key problem I'm not going to get into lots of problems because you've only got a few seconds but pick one problem, perhaps the most common problem that you solve, and talk about that, because if they are having the same problem, it will be almost like you're reading their mind. And then you can talk about the transformation, which is obviously where they want to go. With whatever solution they buy, they're basically moving from a problem to a transformation, to a solution, to a situation where the problem's not there and, rather than being an issue for them, maybe they're losing money or something else, they're actually gaining money. So that's the way to approach it when you are practicing.

Speaker 1: 10:39

So I would just draft something out very quickly and then just practice and again time yourself to make sure that you can deliver it with a certain amount of energy. You want to be upbeat. You don't want to sound really depressed about it, because that's not really going to work with anyone, so it needs to be upbeat. You don't want to sound really depressed about it because that's not really going to work with anyone, so it needs to be upbeat, but also keep it very tight and succinct.

Speaker 1: 10:59

Okay, number four is improvisation exercises. So these are the kind of things where you sort of test yourself. So this is where you can work with different scenarios, and you might do that by using flashcards. So that's one way of handling it. So the way to do that is to just write down some cards, write the situation on one side, blank on the other, and just pick them at random. And just pick them at random. And it could be something like why should I choose you over a competitor? So that would be something that a client might say to you. So with that one, what would you say? Why should somebody choose you over a competitor? Or it could be something like what if I'm not satisfied? So what happens if it's not a good fit? Now, the thing I will say and it's something I've said in other podcasts, it is something that I go through a lot on the course, in the training course is that you really need to talk to your client and understand what their problems are. So these things, while they're good practice, you can't beat having a really good conversation with your client.

Speaker 1: 12:21

Okay, number five is what we call in coaching circles, matching and mirroring, and all that means is that you mirror somebody's body language. So it's good to do that in front of a mirror, just first of all, to be clear, on your own normal body language, you can look at where your eye contact is or where your eyes go. And in fact, it's a good thing to think about. Because, think, put yourself in the client situation. If you're talking to a salesperson who apparently is telling you that they can solve the problems that you've got, or at least the main problems that you've got, but they won't make eye contact, what is that telling you about that person? So, again, just film yourself initially, or when you've been filming yourself in these scenarios, and have a point somewhere which represents your client it could be a spot on the wall, or whatever it is and look at how much eye contact you make.

Speaker 1: 13:19

Look at your body language. Is it open or is it closed? So by closed, I mean arms across yourself or legs might be crossed anyway, but definitely arms across your chest in that sort of protective stance is a very defensive body language and that is not good. So you really want to be open. You know the thing is to be open. How are you smart? Do you smile? You know, how are you coming across? What's your demeanor? Are you coming across as somebody who is trustworthy? If you are standing, how are you standing? Are you pretty much upright or are you leaning to one side? Are you slouching? Are you showing engagement? So leaning forward is a way of engaging with somebody, but if you're sort of laid back with your legs wide, open, arms behind your head, not good. So a lot of this is common sense and you can also find out a lot more on the internet about body language. But just look at your own, look at how you position yourself and think about how you would feel if you were talking to somebody with that kind of body language. Okay, okay.

Speaker 1: 14:32

Really, the last thing I'm going to talk about in this podcast, because time is moving on is just the categories research and storytelling. So the first part of it is just basic product knowledge. Now, what I would say to this? Because a lot of people, particularly who are new to sales, think they have to know absolutely everything about their product or solution. And the reality is that if you're not an engineer now, you may well know. If it's your own business, if you're on your own, so that won't be a problem for you. But if you are working for somebody else, you may well find that your level of knowledge is not as in-depth as possibly even your client. So is that a problem? Well, it can be, but only if you make it one.

Speaker 1: 15:18

So the thing to do there is, first of all, to definitely learn as much as you can, but be very conscious of the things you need to know, versus the things that are kind of nice to know but don't come up very often. So what are the questions that come up most often? What are the things that people want to see if you're doing a demonstration? What are the qualifying technical points of your solution? So are there certain requirements that a client may have that you can't meet and certain requirements that they have which are absolutely in your sweet spot these are really. In fact. You want clients who have this problem because you know you can solve it and solve it well. So you need to be very clear on those parts Now. With the rest of it, it's quite likely that over the course of your career or your time in that particular role, questions will come up that you don't know the answer to. So don't stress about that.

Speaker 1: 16:12

The thing is simply to write down the question and what I would do because I used to sell very technical stuff and my technical knowledge was not as deep as even most of my customers, to be honest. But I knew enough. I knew what I needed to know and then the things that were outside that. I would simply use a technique of writing down the question, asking them to check it while I was there to make sure I'd got it right. I would then make a commitment to find out for them, and when I was working in Australia, often the suppliers, the people who really knew the product in the level of detail that I needed, would be overseas somewhere. They might be in the UK, they might be in Europe, they might be in the US, wherever it might be. So I would make a commitment to raise the question and come back to them the following day, usually if I could expect an answer overnight, whatever was reasonable. But in most cases you want to do it within a day or two because you need to keep the momentum going in the sale. What I would then do would commit to a time when I would get back to them, so it might be midday the following day, and then I would always come back to them before midday, if that was the agreement, and that was regardless of whether or not I'd received an answer. Now, if I had, that was really easy. I could just forward that.

Speaker 1: 17:28

Generally it would be an email and I'd follow up the call, or I might call them just say hello, come and send this across, do you have any questions? Or you you need to make a judgment on the best way to keep the momentum going with your client. One thing I would do with an email is take off um the address information of the technical specialists at the manufacturer, because I'm managing the client relationship, not them. That if you're in that sort of agency situation. So you just need to make sure that they don't have direct access to the manufacturer. Unless that is something that you decide strategically is something you want to do, and the relationship with the manufacturer supports that. Sometimes it will happen, sometimes it won't, so always get back to them and if you don't have an answer, come back and say look, I said I'd get back to you today. I just wanted to let you know. I haven't had a reply overnight. I have followed up again for you and what I'll do. I'll call you again by midday tomorrow, is that OK? So something like that. So it's always about keeping the momentum going, committing to getting back to them by a certain time, then being absolutely certain that you do get back to them.

Speaker 1: 18:41

In terms of storytelling, which is the other thing I mentioned, and this is the final thing it's always good to have some success stories of other companies that are in the same business as this potential client that you're talking to. Again, you need to make a judgment call, but sometimes it's really good if you're working with one of their competitors and it's okay to name drop them. Now, with the name dropping thing, I always used to check just to make sure that that company was okay with me, using them essentially as a reference. I might not get them to put a reference on the website, although if they're willing to do that, that's fantastic, because that gives you social proof, which is brilliant, but if not, I always made sure that it was okay if I could use their name if I was talking to other potential clients. Some companies have very strict policies about not using their names, so you need to respect that, and that is very important. Okay, so that is it for this podcast.

Speaker 1: 19:47

Now, just to go back over the six things that I mentioned, so the very first one was role playing and having those simulated conversations on your own, but just sometimes just saying stuff out loud gives you ideas. Role-playing and having those simulated conversations on your own, but sometimes just saying stuff out loud gives you ideas, so it's a good idea to do that. Definitely record yourself and also look at different ways of approaching people, so friendly, professional, whatever. Second thing is to practice objection handling. Can't overemphasize that enough, and the key thing, though, as I've said, with objection handling is Can't overemphasize that enough, and the key thing, though, as I've said, with objection handling, is you always have to. People would get really stressed about objections. The most important thing to remember about an objection is it is not. I was going to say not usually. I think that's probably a fair comment. Actually, it's not usually a no. It's simply that the client is just needing reassurance on something, and that's really the thing you've got to find out.

Speaker 1: 20:42

The third thing we spoke about was the elevator pitch. So talking about how you would briefly introduce your product solution in 30 or 60 seconds. That might be at a networking event. You might be in one of these events where businesses meet regularly and you have to stand up and do a very quick introduction to your business. So if you're going to do that, most people will talk about themselves. Don't do that. Talk about the client and talk about the transformation, the solution, the difference to them that you're offering. The fourth thing was to look at exercises, improvisation exercises. So this was where we were looking at flashcards, which was just particular, generally around objections.

Speaker 1: 21:26

But you can also think about difficult customers. What are the kind of things they'll throw at you and just pick them at random and talk through one we did a little bit of. We had a quick look at matching and mirroring. So mirroring body language and also being aware of your own body language and how your posture is and also your tone of voice. So do sound confident, be enthusiastic, don't go mad, you know, but be approachable. Don't come in looking really miserable and depressed and be like, oh no, it's another customer.

Speaker 1: 21:59

Okay, and then the final thing was researching and storytelling.

Speaker 1: 22:04

So, knowing the key things about your product, if you don't know it in depth, don't let that be a hang up and always make sure you're very clear on any questions that come up and make sure you get back to your client in a timely fashion and then always have a few stories that you can tell. If it is a client who doesn't want to be named, you can just talk about a client you know, just say there's another client we have, they have this problem and ideally that problem is very close to what this new client has, and then you can talk about the difference, their experience of your solution and the difference it has made to them and their business. Ok, I hope you found that useful and if you have anything you'd like me to cover in a podcast, please put a comment or send me an email. Whatever you want to do, and I'm very happy to do that. Please take a look at the website, like and subscribe, and I'll speak to you in the next podcast. Bye for now.