You know that referrals are like gold in the game of sales. When a customer or client opens their rolodex and shares contact info, with a thoughtful intro to boot, you’re almost certain to close that deal. Referral-based selling is the smartest way to sell, hands down. But how do you get referrals? Well, it’s pretty easy. You exceed your prospect’s expectations in strategic ways.
Now, a lot of folks will say “underpromise and overdeliver.” However, it’s better to just “promise and overdeliver.” If you underpromise, you risk losing the sale. So it’s best to be honest with what you or your company can deliver, and then blow it out of the water by exceeding the expectations that you’ve set.
This will not only score you loads of referrals (red hot leads), but it will also make brand-evangelists who will happily tell everyone they know about your product/service. And it will also earn you friends in the business world — or at least help you to build meaningful professional relationships, which are invaluable. Finally, if you consistently exceed expectations, you will make more money than you ever thought possible.
Let’s break it down.
Exceed Expectations on the Cold Call
First touch, let’s go. On the initial cold call, it’s all about drawing your prospect into an experience. Don’t you dare get on the phone and speak in a monotone voice. You have to bring passion, fire, and intensity. If you love your offering and it comes through in your speech, guess what, your prospect will, too.
Think of it this way… After the call, your prospect will put down the phone and do one of three things. They will either say to themselves, “What a schmuck, that guy doesn’t know the first thing about sales;” or they will quickly forget about the call and continue on with their day (which is actually worse than the first response!); OR they will say to themselves, “WOW, what an experience that was!”
You want to be that experience. No, you NEED to be that experience. If you want to cut through the noise and leave a lasting impact on people, you have to take some risks. And the best risk to take is to speak to your prospect like he or she is the last person you’ll ever speak to. Do this and people will start falling over themselves buying what you’re selling.
Exceed Expectations on the Demo/Sales Call
Maybe you make cold calls and close deals on demo/sales calls. Either way, when it comes to the sales call, you can exceed expectations by coming prepared. Take 5-10 minutes searching the web to learn everything you can about your prospect. If it’s a really hot lead, up that to 30 minutes, an hour, or even more. Then on the phone, you will WOW them by knowing more about their company than most of their employees do!
This builds massive amounts of trust, authority, rapport, and engagement. THESE are the types of salespeople that c-level executives make deals with… not the lackluster salesperson who reads off a script and puts them to sleep. If you only knew the power of preparation, you’d take the time to do your homework EVERY TIME.
Exceed Expectations With Speed
Speed, promptness, responsiveness — whatever you call it, it’s one thing that prospects not only love to see, it’s what they expect. And by speed, I mean how fast you respond to their emails, texts, and phone calls. The faster you respond, the faster the deal will close. When you’re quick to get back to your prospect, it shows them that your company values a fast-response. It’s a customer service thing, and honestly, customer service is fast-becoming a lost art in the world of B2B sales.
Remember how I said that speed is what they expect? Well, CEOs, CMOs, CTOs — or anyone in the C-suite, and even VPs — are accustomed to receiving lightning-fast responses all day long from their employees. It’s a respect thing. So letting an email or voicemail sit in your inbox for a day or two before replying is almost like sending a message that indirectly says “I don’t respect you.” So if you’re eager to close the deal (and I know you are), you should be aiming for a 2-3 hour response-time max. So it’s time to enable those mobile notifications.
Exceed Expectations With Scope Creep
Wait, isn’t scope creep a bad thing? Not if you can leverage it for deeper connections and referrals. If you’re able to work in some wiggle room between what you’ve promised your prospect (scope) and what you’re able to deliver, then you’re golden. In other words, go beyond the agreed-upon scope. If you promised your prospect five private coaching meetings, give them six. Just frame it in a way that communicates you’re making an exception for them; i.e. “I normally don’t do this, but…” These little bonuses go a long way when it comes to exceeding expectations.
Exceed Expectations With Frequent Touch Points
Once you’ve closed the deal, it’s easy to let closed accounts fall through the cracks. So it’s important to include in your CRM frequent touch points throughout the year(s). And the first one comes in the first month. It’s the “Just checking in call.” Later on, you’ll call them “Just to see how things are.” Eventually you’ll be calling “Just to see how little Olivia’s recital went.” You see, not every call should be to sell them something. In fact, make sure you are calling the client frequently without offering anything but your friendship and time. The sad truth is, 95% of salespeople don’t do this, and it’s hurting them in ways they can’t even see.
Final Words
You must remember the reason WHY it’s important to exceed expectations. It’s for referrals, upsells and cross-sells, lifetime value (LTV!), and to forge deeper business relationships. And then there’s perhaps the most important reason — because it will shape your character in ways that will transform your life for years and decades to come.
And let’s be honest, you aren’t in sales to just get by. And you certainly aren’t reading this because you have a mediocre mentality. You want the best for yourself and your life, and you’re willing to do what it takes to get it. Well, THIS is what it takes. Nothing more and nothing less. If you start exceeding expectations in your career today, you’ll be amazed at what your tomorrow can look like. It’s entirely up to you.
Until next time…
Johnny-Lee Reinoso