Was it as good for you as it was for me?

Hours after this photo was published, it went viral.

I, personally, found this image very… stimulating.

I immediately wanted to learn more. What the hell was going on here?

Was this staged? Was this a real riot? In Vancouver? Over an ice hockey match? In peaceful Canada?

My interest had been stimulated, that’s for sure. Yep, I wanted to know more.

And that’s the purpose of this post: stimulating the buyer’s interest.

Listen? Yeah, I get it!

Years ago, I learned that the very best salespeople are good at asking the right questions and then listening.

This took practice on my part and, truth be told, it still does. But it’s been a game changer.

Today, just about every book on selling today covers listening. Many focus solely on that.

So, yeah, I get it.

Hello-o-o-? I get it!

And now salespeople are asking…

What If Buyers Aren’t Engaged?

There’s a lot of “noise” out there. Chatter. Clutter. Interference. Competition for buyers’ minds.

I could throw a statistic at you on how many messages the average B2B buyer receives on a given weekday? But you already know the answer.

A gazillion.

So now you want to engage Joe Buyer in a meaningful dialog?

You want to build trust through your incisive questions and acute listening skills?

Good for you.

But first you have to catch their attention!

In my view, this is the biggest challenge in Brave New Sales today: Finding early-stage opportunities. Getting attention. Stimulating interest.

The key word here is “new.” New sales. New buyers. New concepts. New markets.

Some say, stimulating interest is the job of marketing.

Some say, social media will have the buyers calling you.

Some say, build it and they will come.

I say, good luck!

Whether you’re cold-calling, presenting, opening a meeting or sitting down to a get-to-know-you coffee, you must be prepared to stimulate interest right out of the starting gate.

Keep it short, crispy, crunchy, easy to digest.

And if the buyer leans forward and asks, “Yeah, but how would you do that?”

You’re doing well. You’ve obviously stimulated interest.

Soon you’ll have earned the right to ask those incisive questions and use those active listening skills.

Soon, it will be as good for you as it is for the buyer.

– How can you get more prospects moving through the sales cycle?
– What can you do to stimulate interest early on?