Everyone’s heard the saying “practice makes perfect”. As cliche as it sounds, it’s true! The only way to perfect your sales pitch, is for reps to practice and managers to offer consistent sales coaching. Although many salespeople regularly rehearse for big presentations beforehand, the techniques used for cold calling and value touching are rarely practiced. More than 40 percent of salespeople say prospecting is the most challenging part of the sales process but it doesn’t have to be. It’s time to go back to the basics with these sales role-play scenarios to prepare your team for the win.
The Objector
An objector is a prospect that rapid fires tough questions and reasons why your solution is not for them. They usually try turning you down before they even know what your solution is all about. This is a very common scenario when making sales calls and can be very frustrating, which is exactly why it should be a sales role-play scenario that is practiced often.
Most objectors are used to getting several phone calls a day, taking away productive time. Your reps need to add value so the prospect feels like the call is worth their time. Instead of pitching, have your reps practice looking for the root of the organization’s challenges and address those needs rather than spout product information. That way, your reps can expose how your solution can help. This teaches your team to remember to listen, understand, respond, and confirm.
The Budget Conscious
According to Hubspot, almost six in ten buyers want to discuss pricing on the first call. There is not a set scenario pertaining to pricing objections — each prospect will have their own reasons for trying to negotiate on price. This makes budget-conscious prospects all the more challenging to sell to. A skilled salesperson should be able to respond with some information about pricing, perhaps the structure but not actual prices, and then pivot into discovery to learn more about the prospect’s situation so that a more accurate and detailed price can be delivered… later. Practicing this sales role-play example will help your reps ask questions that dive deeper and hone their objection, discovery, value messaging, and even negotiating skills.
The Gatekeeper
Running into a gatekeeper is a fairly common sales prospecting scenario, especially when trying to get ahold of C-level decision-makers. Practicing this sales role-play scenario is necessary if your team ever wants to reach executives in larger organizations. Some skills your reps should practice before dealing with a gatekeeper include:
Demonstrate knowledge of the prospect so they’ll know you’ve done research
Treat the gatekeeper with respect and trust
Accept that you may need to go another route and pursue someone else in the company
The Demo Pusher
Discovery calls are crucial for sales professionals to understand the details of a prospect’s situation. Although most prospects are okay with participating in a discovery call, there are some who want to skip the formalities and get straight into product functionality. The problem? You can’t deliver an effective, personalized and value-based demo until you discover your prospect’s pain points.
It can be tempting to follow the prospect’s lead and get right into the demo which is why roleplaying this scenario is crucial to professional development and success. These sales role-play example allows reps to practice patience, thinking on their feet, and being firm.
The Option Seeker
Sometimes, a prospect is honest from the beginning that they’re just browsing. There are many reasons for this. They may be looking into options before presenting the idea to leadership, researching your space, or comparing you to their other options (your competitors). Although this can be intimidating, dealing with these prospects gets easier with practice. Make sure to roleplay these scenarios of prospects having multiple motives so your team is prepared to deal with browsers, competitive situations, and those looking for thought leadership.
There are many benefits of incorporating role-play exercises and coaching in your team’s training such as developing creative problem-solving skills, building confidence, and picking up on verbal and non-verbal cues. Integrating a multitude of sales role-play scenarios into your team’s onboarding and sales enablement training will ensure they’re prepared for whatever the next prospect throws at them, resulting in more deals closed and business won.
