In this episode, co-hosts Jeff Loehr and Joe Rojas discuss a sales strategy that makes selling easier and more natural, and according to those who study this sort of thing at Harvard, 86% more effective.

The key is to negotiate with your prospects, rather than against them, and show them how you solve a key problem they know they have. Join us to get the prescriptive sales formula for MSPs.

Tune in to gain valuable knowledge from this dynamic duo as they give you the solution to improving your sales conversations.

Featuring

​Transcript

Jeff Loehr: So we’re going to talk about prescriptive selling, which is a topic near and dear to our hearts and Joe being our resident sales guru, it’s especially near and dear to his heart.

This idea of prescriptive selling came out of our experience working with, MSPs on their sales program. There were some themes that kept coming up.

For example: Pestering people with questions. It’s fine to ask questions, But they’re like really pestering people with questions and driving people nuts. We have one example somebody selling to me I was ready to buy, but he wouldn’t stop asking questions-

Joe Rojas: He wouldn’t stop going through his sales process

Jeff Loehr: So we noticed that, people are expecting their clients to know what they want. They’re expecting their clients to know their budget. They’re expecting their clients to be ready to buy these services. and the truth of the matter is what we find over and over again is that nobody understands technology.

Jeff Loehr: They don’t know what the value of it is. They don’t know why they need it, and they don’t have any way of valuing it. So, when you’re asking people, Hey, what’s your budget for IT? What are your IT problems? They don’t know. They can’t answer the question.

The Effectiveness of Prescriptive Selling

Both Joe and I realized that our style of selling was very prescriptive.

And this is actually borne out by research done by some professors at Harvard Business, and other areas that say a prescriptive selling approach is 86% more effective.

It’s pretty good, Joe. 86%. Like it’s not quite a hundred, but it’s pretty darn close.

Joe Rojas: Listen, I would take 20-30% more effective. You give me 86% more effective. I’ll take that all day and night, baby. Bring it.

Jeff Loehr: And not only is it 86 % more effective. It is a much more enjoyable process. So, what I find is this is literally the only way that I can sell because I don’t like the smarmy going in, figuring things out, trying the structure.

We’ll talk about what I mean by that in a minute, but I don’t like doing that, and I don’t like being sold that way; this is a much more fun process.

Why Prescriptive Selling Works

Jeff Loehr: So why we do this? here, I just want to summarize a couple of points. Why we do this, leading with the problem.

It makes them like you more, and it makes you seem like a member of their tribe as you get them. When you lead with the problem, which is what we’re talking about with Prescriptive Sales, you lead by telling people, this is the problem I solve, rather than asking them what the problem is that they have.

They have this experience like you’re reading their minds, and it is very engaging. For that reason, it’s inspiring and emotional. It pulls out the part of the brain that does the buying, that emotional brain rather than the logical brain. It is very good at establishing value and trust because right off the top, you’re showing them that you understand them.

So, the fact that you understand that makes them very excited and wanting to work with you. it’s 86% more effective, which we already talked about, and it leads to your easiest sale ever.

Do you have anything to add to that, Joe, on the why here?

Joe Rojas: The other thing is that it leaves the person feeling like you knew them before you even walked in.

It leaves the prospect thinking, wow, this person knows me, who I am, my industry, my problems, and all the things that I need to be better. And that’s an interesting place to be when you’re in a sales conversation.

Jeff Loehr: When they feel that you get them, it is a powerful place to be.

Traditional vs. Prescriptive Sales Approaches

Jeff Loehr: The contrast that we’re driving here is this idea of prescribing what somebody needs. So, you start with. their solution and that means that you approach the sale from a fundamentally different way.

There’s the used car salesman’s way of selling, right? Hey, you want a car? I got a car. What do you want? What do you need? Let me show you this two-seater jalopy over here that is perfect for your family of six. I will show you exactly how you can shoehorn them all in. Do not worry about the fact that the muffler is falling off. We will tie that up for you before you go, right?

It’s that idea of whatever I have, I’m going to match it to your needs, I’m going to solve your problems. The thing that we want to encourage you to do, the place that we find more effective, is to go to this, more prescriptive sales like a doctor, and the way I think of this is…

Imagine a doctor, and says to somebody, Oh, you’re dying of a heart attack and have a gash in your arm while giving birth. Sorry, I only do undersea hyperbaric medicine, nobody here even knows what undersea hyperbaric medicine is, right? But the point is that’s all she does. So, Hey, you know, sorry you’re having a heart attack and a gash in your arm.

And I don’t know how to do that. I don’t solve that problem. It’s not the thing that I do. I can’t help you.

The difference between traditional sales and prescriptive sales is that you’re approaching it from the perspective of, I have expertise in this area, and I am going to sell to you within that area.

Real-World Example of Prescriptive Selling

Jeff Loehr: And Joe, you just had an experience with somebody who you thought, this is not a fit for us. I thought it’d be instructive to have you chat a little bit about that.

Joe Rojas: What happened is they came in and they’re a technical company that does technical work, but they’re not an MSP. And as soon as they started describing their business, I said, look, We’re probably not the right company. And they were a referral. So, they were referred by a referral partner that we know really well that knows us and said, Hey, maybe they can help you.

When they came to us, I said, I don’t think we can because our processes, our procedures, the things that we’re going to talk about are a bit different than what you do. Now, there are some things that we do that can help you. So I’m happy to give those to you.

I gave him a bunch of frameworks and tools, but I don’t think we can help you.

And that’s where we ended the conversation. I was okay with it. He was happy that I was straight with him about what we could and couldn’t do. He’s going to have a better experience with somebody who’s a specialist in what he needs. I don’t want to create a situation where I have a bad customer experience. it was very good on both sides.

Jeff Loehr: Sometimes you just have to say to people, we are not the team to solve your problem.

We don’t have the tools to solve your problem, even if you do. The other thing I want to emphasize is that we could probably solve this problem, but we don’t have the right language. We’re going to say things a different way. everything we have is geared towards MSP. So, when you start adding another person in there, it feels uncomfortable.

Although the problems are the same, they could use the same things. That’s why Joe’s sending the tools.

Joe Rojas: Fundamentally business is business.

The tools are for business as a set; the EHR for a podiatrist and the EHR for an ophthalmologist are markedly different, interface to different machines, have different problems, and have different things.

They’re both doctors. They both have electronic health records. They both have the same fundamental compliance requirements, but they are different in a way that impacts your delivery, how you’re going to make them feel, and how you’re going to be able to do things for them.

The Prescriptive Sales Process

Jeff Loehr: I want to bring it back to the actual prescriptive sales process. The idea behind the prescriptive sales process is that you’re going to meet with somebody, you’re going to have a conversation with somebody, and you have some good reason to believe that this somebody Is your target market, your target audience.

So, when you have the first conversation with them, you are going to connect somehow, some way, right? You’re going to have a conversation with them about whatever because we’ve actually had people completely skip this because we didn’t tell them to do it.

That’s the challenge with connecting. You have to really connect. And if we don’t connect, then you have a bad conversation. So, we put that in there at the top as just like a thing. Remember, this is all human beings. We must make a connection. But now let’s imagine you go into your sales conversation.

Structuring the Sales Conversation

Jeff Loehr: So you’re going into the sales conversation. This is a structure for the sales conversation.

And it starts with telling them what the problem is that they have. So you know the problem that they have. If all you do is oversee hyperbaric medicine, you know exactly what the symptoms are.

You know exactly what their problems are. You can tell them this is what you have. This is the problem that we see. Once you’re there, they’re either going to nod or not nod. When Joe talks to somebody, and they’re the wrong person, they’re not going to nod here.

They won’t say, “Yeah, that’s our problem.” If they say, “No, we don’t have that problem,” then you’ll know you’re the wrong person for them. So, the sales conversation is over.

Joe Rojas: Listen, you might know somebody that solves that problem.

Jeff Loehr: Make a referral. Do something along those lines. But if you don’t get the nod, you don’t go any further. If you do get the nod, then you accentuate the problem. So, you have a conversation with them about the problem. I like to call these “War Stories”, this is where you can have War Stories, talk about what happens if you don’t get this solved, and they’ll talk about what happens if they don’t get it solved, and you can compare notes, you start to have a conversation with them, and you’re really getting into that problem space.

Joe has a very graphic way of talking about this Accentuate.

Joe Rojas: You stick your finger in that bullet hole, and you twist!

Jeff Loehr: So the problem is creating the bullet hole. Twisting the wound or putting salt in the wound, whatever you want to talk about, right? So that’s the accentuate the problem.

Here’s the next part. This is where most people stray because now you want to offer a solution. But the key to this solution is that you are not involved in the solution. So you want to give us an example of how most people present their solution, Joe?

Joe Rojas: How we do that is we jump in and then we solve this. We know that, and then this is what we do to make it better.

And then, we, we, we, I, I, I, we, we, we, we, and…

So, in the solution phase, everybody wants to talk about themselves.

You don’t talk about yourself. You talk about what they need. If you’re having hyperbaric medicine issues, you need to be in a pressure chamber. If you want to drive across the country, you need a van, not a two-seater jalopy.

Jeff Loehr: I call it In Passive Voice, You Are Not Involved. You can add a little bit of social proof here. So, you can talk about the solution, and here’s what it looks like when people get that solution, and that leads nicely into the next stage, which is the transformation opportunity.

So here, you talk about how they are transformed. Once they get the solution. Now, you’ve talked about problems, solutions, and transformations.

Making the Offer

Jeff Loehr:  Now is when you say, I can do this for you, because at this point you’ve already got them to agree.

Yes. I have the problem. I agree that’s a good solution. I want that transformation.

Now you can talk. About the amazing offer. how you will solve that problem, how much it will cost, the value they can expect. Like all of that can come in here, but it comes at this point in the process.

Not earlier. You do not talk about yourself early on.

Joe Rojas: You really need to make the distinction between a solution and an offer.

The solution is just a solution by itself, and the offer is the offer. It’s like what I do. If you can make that distinction, then when you are in the solution space, you’re sitting next to them, showing them something, and you’re not sitting across from them, selling them something.

Jeff Loehr: When you’re talking about the solution, you’re both on the same side of the table. You’re not negotiating. They agree that they want that solution and transformation.

And it has nothing to do with you. If you put yourself in it, then they must agree that they want the solution, and they want it from you. You want to separate those. Talk about the solution. Do you want the solution? Yes. Awesome. Now you can say we can deliver that solution and you separate those two things.

Joe Rojas: And that’s what increases you to 86% really this framework. You’re prescribing a solution to a problem that they’ve agreed that they’ve had, and they agree that’s the solution to solve that problem. Now you’re giving them a prescription that matches the thing they have already agreed on.

Jeff Loehr: Just like a doctor, right? A doctor says, hey, your cholesterol is high. If you don’t solve your cholesterol problem, you are going to have a heart attack. What you need is this pill. If you have this pill, you won’t die. I can give you the pill.

Amazing offer. That’s why we call it prescriptive selling: it’s prescribing a solution.

So I have another example that I wrote up here. My name is Jeff, we formed Start Grow Manage to help MSPs build a scalable business by focusing on building a well-oiled machine that gets more time and fun without the aggravation and expense of figuring it out themselves.

Joe Rojas: Even if you deliver this poorly, if they have the problem, they are locked in.

Jeff Loehr: All that matters is that you get the nods at the problem and the solution.

Whether you deliver it well or you deliver it poorly, I always stumble over my words in these things, so I always say, I’m doing a poor job of explaining this, and that works out fine.

Here’s another example, I love these CPA examples. We know a few MSPs who work with CPAs.

You might say the problem that a CPA faces is that they’re working in an ever changing environment. they have shifting customer demands. They need communication and security with their clients and they have a real trouble sort of keeping up to date with all of the changes in the tech and this impacts their ability to deliver quality service

And if the accountant nods and you’re like, okay, cool, we can continue, right? because then you can get into. If you don’t solve this problem, you could be hacked, you could have reputation issues, you could lose clients, you could lose billable hours. And I almost promise you that if you say these things to an accountant, they’re going to start saying, Oh, yeah, I was hacked last year.

Yeah, the billable hours thing is driving me nuts. Thompson Reuters is costing me so much in billable hours that I can’t deal with it, right? so then you would come up with a solution. You need someone who manages your infrastructure, keeps you secure, keeps you up to date, and makes sure you are using the right tools to deliver quality, build client satisfaction, and bill more.

This is a solution. And then you can talk about the transformation. If you have this, you can build more, have happier clients, grow your firm, and not suffer the way you’ve been suffering, and then you make the offer. I’d be happy to do this for you. I have a program that does this.

Our Keep CPAs Up To Date program is 10,000 a month. Whatever the story is at this point, you can make the offer. As long as they’ve nodded the whole way through, they’re already sold on the whole concept

Two things Jeff wants to share

Jeff Loehr: Now I have two things that I want to share, Joe,

So, let’s look at the slides again. the next thing I just want to point out is what the conversation kind of looks like. you’re not going to just blast through this. You’re going to have a conversation.

They’re going to contribute. You want to talk less than they talk. All of these nuances come in later, but essentially this is how you want to think about presenting it. I notice that people in target market often have this problem. And if you don’t fix it, then you accentuate the pain.

So what you need is a solution in passive voice has nothing to do with you. If you implement the solution, then you get the transformation. I can do this for you. Here is my amazing offer, and then you can put in some more social proof.

But this is the general outline of how you would have the conversation. The next thing I want to talk about, and then I’ll turn it over to you, Joe, to correct everything that I got wrong here, is because Joe is a sales guru.

Elevator Pitch and Networking Tips

Jeff Loehr: I’m just the guy who does the presentations. I like to introduce myself this way, right?

You can say, “I help [Avatar], with the [problem] you solve by [solution].” So when you’re introducing yourself at a networking event, when you’re talking about what you’re doing, this is a really succinct way to do it. And if you really want bonus points, you can add in the transformation so that they get transformation without Whatever agitation, whatever is bothering them.

So it would look something like this, right? I help MSPs profitably grow their business by teaching them to build a business machine so that they make more money, have more time, and have more fun without the grind. And this is a great way to present yourself when you’re networking, when you’re meeting people.

This is your quintessential elevator pitch. It’s going to leave people asking for more because your avatar, the person you’re selling to, or the person who knows the person you’re selling to is going to ask you, how do you do this? I want to learn more.

Those are two little frameworks that I wanted to get out there to help anybody. Other than that, Joe, what did I miss? what other thoughts do you have on this?

Joe’s Two Cents

Joe Rojas: You didn’t miss anything, but I think it’s really crucial for people to understand that if you say that I help, avatar a problem you solve by solution. That, number one, that’s by far the best way to introduce yourself.

The best way to introduce yourself. Instead of I’m a blah, blah, blah. And I do like your title. Don’t do that. If you tell that to 10 people and 10 people, don’t ask you how you do that…

You’re doing it wrong. You’re missing a step. You’re glossing over something. you didn’t explain the problem enough. if they’re not left with a question, how do you do that? You’re doing it wrong. if you say it to 10 people and three of them don’t ask you how you do that, don’t tell them.

Cause they’re not your people. They don’t care. it’s not personal. It’s just, they don’t know anybody and they’re not the one. So you have to be mindful of that.

Sometimes, I go to networking events, and people tell me way more about what they do than I care to know.

So what I do is I say that I help MSPs so that they don’t, they’re not in the grind. And if they don’t ask me, how do you do that? If they just go, Oh, that’s nice. I don’t say anything else about it for the rest of the night to that person. And if they say, how do you do that?

Or what are MSPs? Cause that’s, those are the two top questions that I get. What’s an MSP? And then I answer that question. They go. I know somebody like that. Oh, that’s interesting. And then I know they’re not my avatar, but it’s really understanding who’s your buyer and then not talking to people who are not your buyers about a problem that they don’t have.

Jeff Loehr: Find out about them. Get curious. You can find out, but then move on. Don’t spend all your networking time over there.

Here is just a quick networking tip: When you’re networking, you want to listen more than you talk. If somebody’s not interested, they’re not interested. So don’t force it; they will ask if they’re interested.

(And if you want more networking tips watch this)

Conclusion and Next Steps

Jeff Loehr: other than that, I think that is the Prescriptive sales outline so you can find more about prescriptive sales on our website.

Just Google prescriptive sales, and we’ll come right up. Other than that, have an amazing week. I hope you guys are solving lots of problems and closing lots of clients. Joe, do you want to take us out?

Joe Rojas: You Are Loved.

Jeff Loehr: Thank you, everybody. Have an amazing day!