How to Determine if Your Prospect Was Engaged

Back in 2018, LinkedIn took away the ability to include the share button from Blog posts. The button had a counter that tallied the number of times an article was shared on LinkedIn.  I used that number as a key metric for measuring engagement with my audience on a per article basis.  An article could be viewed 20,000 times but that doesn’t mean that 20,000 readers liked it so the number of views is meaningless to me.  People might feel moved to comment but most commenting has moved onto LinkedIn and I typically receive more comments via email than on the Blog itself.  When the shared metric reached hundreds and thousands it meant that the article resonated strongly enough for people to share it on LinkedIn.   

So what does that have to do with the article title and selling?  It actually has much in common.  It relates to a sales manager asking, “So, how did your meeting go?”

Salespeople usually reply, “It went great.”  It’s the same response a retail clerk gets when they ask shoppers if they need any help.  “Just looking.”  “It went great”  is the salesperson’s default answer.

The sales manager says, “Good, good.”

I wish that sales managers wouldn’t ask how meetings and calls went.  They should say, “Tell me about your meeting.”

When a salesperson indicates that the meeting went well, their sales manager should ask, “Why do you think it went well?”  This question should lead to an exploration of exactly how engaged the prospect was because engagement is the best measurement of the quality of the sales call.  That begs the question, how does one measure engagement?  Here are ten examples:

• The prospect shared information freely
• There was little to no resistance
• The salesperson was able to uncover the prospect’s compelling reason to buy
• The prospect was receptive to alternate ideas, approaches and solutions
• The prospect shared something personal, told a story, or confided to the salesperson
• There was mutual authenticity
• The prospect viewed the salesperson as a trusted advisor
• The salesperson received compliments on the questions, discussion or meeting that was led
• The salesperson and prospect legitimately enjoyed their time together
• The prospect indicated his/her desire to work together

Your ability to create engagement relies on how effective you are at taking a Consultative approach to selling, and while only 15% of salespeople are truly good at this competency today, the option to remain ineffective should not be the one any salesperson chooses.

Would you like to be better at differentiating yourself and your company and standing out from the pack?  That requires a consultative approach.

Would you like to be more effective at selling value so that your prospects’ buying criteria doesn’t come down to your price? That requires a consultative approach.

Would you like your prospects to feel like you are the right choice for them?  That requires a consultative approach.

Would you like to accelerate and shorten your sales cycle?  That requires a consultative approach.

The Consultative Seller Competency has ten attributes of which five are crucial:

1. Listening Skills – only 27% of salespeople have this strength
2. Asking Enough Questions – only 24% of salespeople have this skill
3. Asking Good Questions – only 41% of salespeople have this skill
4. Doesn’t Need Prospects to Like Them – only 42% of salespeople have this strength and it has a direct impact on Asking Enough Questions and Asking Good Questions
5. Controls Emotions and able to Stay in the Moment – only 37% of salespeople have this strength and it has a direct impact on Listening Skills

Back to engagement.  When you are selling consultatively, engagement should be obvious and automatic.  Focus on engagement and you’ll be rewarded by dramatically increased sales.