To be a potential customer within a shrinking world is to be a fish in a sea littered with hooks. Where some bait may seem wildly inviting to some, most fish have evolved to know better than to fall for it hook, line and sinker. Especially when it can often result in costing their time – their most cherished commodity.
Luckily, those in sales aren’t fishing at sea. They’re at their desks working hard with the near nonexistent time they have to balance customers needs with the demand to meet their KPIs. But in a shrinking world where selling is becoming increasingly more difficult by the day, how can businesses capture the quality attention of their audience and cinch more sales?
Internationally recognized sales strategist Jill Konrath shares her method for overcoming the biggest obstacles when selling in the modern age in her 2012 best-selling book Snap Selling: Speed Up Sales and Win More Business with Today’s Frazzled Customers. For those who don’t have time to read the whole thing, we’ve got you covered.
Here’s how to use the snap selling method to win deals more successfully and crush your sales goals, and a list of our takeaway shotgun snap tips.
Let’s unload.
SNAP Selling in a nutshell
You may or may not have heard of the SNAP selling method before but it’s designed to bring salespeople to the prospect’s level and increase the chances of making – and maintaining – quality customer relationships.
This is what the SNAP selling acronym stands for, along with some takeaway quotes from Jill, as found in the book.
Keep it Simple
Complexity frightens buyers. The best salespeople don’t let on to the customer as to how little time they have. They instead are resourceful with the time they do have by making their product or service easy for prospects to grasp and eventually adopt. By making your solution look less complex and keeping communication direct and to the point, your customers will more likely change their behaviour and become persuaded to listen to your offering.
“When you keep it simple, you make it easier for customers to buy from you.” – Jill Konrath, SNAP Selling
Be iNvaluable
Information overload can feel like an attack on the modern-day buyer. It’s up to a salesperson to ease this dissipate this feeling and rapidly become a trusted expert for the prospect. Only then can they truly showcase their value and stand out from the crowd.
“Be your buyer’s resource centre.” – Jill Konrath, SNAP Selling
Always Align
Aligning your solution with their organization goals is a sure-fire way to make prospects more willing to work with you, and not your competition. Conducting timely customer interviews can be the fastest way of finding out their concerns and better understanding their needs.
Proving you are comprehensibly aware of your customers’ objectives, issues, and needs will keep you relevant to them. The tl;dv Google Chrome extension can keep you in sync with both your customer’s and teammate’s time by recording and time-stamping these interviews in seconds.
“When you align your offering with their critical business objectives, you capture and maintain your prospects’ interest.”- Jill Konrath, SNAP Selling
Raise Priorities
The lives of busy people are often interrupted by information or products they do not consider useful. The SNAP technique helps salespeople understand their buyers and the selling environment so that they can directly address their needs and surpass their expectations.
By putting the most critical decisions first, you can maintain momentum and place your solution as the tool for achieving your customer’s priorities.
“When you raise priorities, your sales process goes much faster and you get the business with less competition.” – Jill Konrath, SNAP Selling
Following the SNAP selling acronym makes it possible to become the one customers can’t live without and achieve ultimate staying power above the competition. It all depends on its application.
SNAP Selling in the ‘New Normal’
We must recognise the ways in which scarcity mindset was inflicted upon us when lockdowns were put in place. The majority of the global population incurred costs they can’t claim back.
Healthcare limitations (i.e. hospital beds and space in general) were highlighted. A real economic cost was ensured when restaurants, bars, and other non-essential services were closed for weeks or months in some cities. And the emotional cost of border closures and being physically separated from families and friends wreaked havoc on our mental stability.
As a result, there’s an undeniable need for salespeople to stand out as credible, relevant, and valuable enough for prospects to part with their money. More than anything, those who are trying to embrace the new normality of returning to the ways of life they’re used to, including making new purchasing decisions, people want to be able to trust they’re having their needs met with the utmost care and professionalism.
According to Randy Illig, global leader of FranklinCovey’s Sales Performance Practice, futureproofing your mid-pandemic customer sales strategy doesn’t include asking “what can I sell them” but rather “how can I serve them”. The SNAP technique addresses these needs in a way that sets a president for a new era of living and working remotely.
Shotgun SNAP Tips for 2022
Now you’ve received the knowledge you need on SNAP selling, it’s time to put it all together in an actionable tips list.
Tip 1. Simplify your offering
It’s not a “who can sound more clever” contest. Overcomplicating solutions won’t win business. So, streamline your sales pitch, keep your messaging cohesive and your answers easy to understand and engage with.
Tip 2. Become a subject expert
Nothing fosters trust more than a salesperson who can handle objections and – as Jill says in the book – serve as their “buyer’s resource centre”.
Tip 3. Invest in knowing your customer
Never underestimate the value of a video call. Conduct a timely interview with your prospective customer to uncover deeper insights, unpack their concerns, and re-package your solution as the best tool to address them.
Tip 4. Stick to the point…
…and keep to the point. Don’t waste customers’ time with insignificant detail. Keep to discussing the issues that directly affect them to allow them to see you’re on their wavelength and go with their flow.
Tip 5. Personalise communication
Take advantage of the numerous online tools to engage with your customers whilst organising both your own – and even your team’s – workload. Let them know you’re willing to go beyond a follow-up email and warm them up to the possibilities of video conferencing.
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If you’ve employed SNAP selling initiatives within your business but are yet to achieve any results, it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. But it could mean you’re encountering a few roadblocks.
Understanding Your Prospect’s Three Decisions
As Jill explains, there are in fact three critical decisions customers make when it comes to accepting offers.
- Allowing access
- The choice to move away from the status quo
- Changing resources
With this in mind, let’s address a few common problems you could encounter as a sales rep and offer some solutions as to how to overcome them – in the form of more shotgun SNAP tips.
Problem: Lack of “ways in”?
Tip 6. Get on their level
Create more opportunities to reach your customer whilst not impeding their time. Take every opportunity to have face-to-face interactions to prove you’re a genuine human, and avoid the tl;dr trap of email back and forths.
Why not offer a quick face-time and show them you’re in the know about the most time-efficient and entertaining tech hacks?
Problem: Lack of industry knowledge?
Tip 7. Know your competition
It goes without saying, the more you know about what’s going on with your competition, the better. Dedicating regular time in your working day to carry out competitor research will make you better equipped at handling objections, provide more value when answering on the spot queries, place yourselves as marketplace experts, and prove to your customers your key strengths over your competitors.
Problem: Lack of sales execution?
Tip 8. Scale your remote onboarding efforts
In our interconnected world, especially in software, it’s crucial to provide new hires – and current employees – with fast access to all relevant information, including technical, product, industry and social onboarding via virtual meetings.
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By using the SNAP selling method, salespeople gain the ability to deal with busy prospects and provide valuable advice, connect their product with issues vital to buyers, and assist with smooth, easy purchases.
So, keep your relevance within an overcrowded world and in a sea of fishing hooks, you’ll become a net of opportunities.
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