When a prospective customer asks you for a discount or some sort of negotiable pricing. They might be asking because they want to look good in front of their boss or maybe they just have a policy that you have to ask. In any case, give the discount.

The discount can be in many forms that are both in the form of money. Here are some options to choose from:

• First month free
• We will throw in some extra features (if you don’t want to give monetary discounts)
• Percentage discount on the first year only

In most cases, it doesn’t really matter what you give as long as you give something. They want to be able to go back to their team and tell them they won. Remember, when they win, you don’t lose, you win Big, by sealing the deal and making your customer feel good.

When I first starting doing sales demos, I would jump right into our product to show all our features. After talking for about 15 minutes, the prospect would be either bored (I could hear typing in the background) or confused on why this would help out their business. I lost their interest and rarely could go anywhere after that.

My new and better approach is the Sales Demo Sandwich. It keeps the prospect engaged and more likely to convert.

Here are how my 30 minute demos go in my Sales Demo Sandwich:

• First 7 minutes: Talk about their business and what their goals are.
• Next 5 minutes: Quick overview of my product, sprinkling specific ways to improve their business (based on what they just told me).
• Next 7 minutes: Ask for feedback and questions on what they thought about our product solving their goals.
• Next 5 minutes: Jump into a more detailed demo. Answer questions by “Showing” them the product… not just telling them. Seeing is believing!
• Next 6 minutes: Ask for questions. If they don’t have any probe for objections. Everyone has objections, make sure you get them out of the way.
• Final: Close the deal if possible or close the follow up meeting (if they need to discuss with their manager).

When I first starting selling Digioh, I would wait until the end of the demo to ask questions like “Do you think you would use this product?” or “Does our price fit your budget?”. Towards the end of the demo the prospect was one of the following:

• Tired/Distracted (checking email, etc)
• Already wrote off the product as not something they could use
• Didn’t see value in it

This sucked! Because I just spent 45 minutes busting my hump giving an amazing demo.

I now have a different method that has been working – I call it Objection Based Selling. I try to get sales objections within the first 10 minutes of the demo. By getting the prospects objection super early while I have their attention, I can overcome it. This keeps the prospect engaged and I can steer the demo towards something they would actually use.

Objection Based Selling Demo

1. First 10 minutes – Get to know their business (aka look for opportunities where can provide their business 10X value). In most cases the prospect may already know of a way your product can help.
2. Next 10 minutes – go over a few features and ask “Is this something you could use?”, if they say no ask why, probe deep and make sure they aren’t confused on what the product does.
3. Next 10 minutes – go over setup and “how it all works”, ask questions like: “Does this make sense to you?”, “Is this something you would want to use?”, if they say no, ask why.
4. Last 10 minutes – go over pricing and ask “Will this fit your budget?”, if they say no, offer an irresistible offer like a money back guarantee. If they say “I’m not the decision maker.” Find out what price they can easily sign off on (most managers can sign off on a $250/mo charge without having to talk their boss)

I no longer fear objections, I crave them! You can’t sell your service unless you overcome their objections. Checkout this post on 7 Common Sales Objections and how to overcome them.

Good salespeople know their pitch and can easily communicate the product.

Great salespeople talk to the customer and can tailer the pitch based on their needs.

Figure out your customers needs is what really sells your product.

Good salespeople will ask for things like a Demo Sheet, Brochure, or other assets.

Great salespeople will ask for more targeted leads.

Understand of which type of customers you can close the fastest.

Good salespeople will demand new features in order to close more deals

Great salespeople will demand higher prices in order make more money.

Identify which customers are willing to pay more money for the product as-is.

Good salespeople will practice their pitch over and over again.

Great salespeople will practice overcoming common objections.

Most salespeople fail at “Closing the customer”, not the actual pitch. Most prospects will give you at least 2 objections before they buy, practice how to get over those.

Lots of great books on this topic. My 2 favorite are “The Closer’s Survival Guide” and “SPIN Selling“

Sales has a bad rep. Maybe it is because of how movies depict sales people (think: Wolf of Wall St. or Glen Gary Glen Ross) or because the common consumer only encounters them when they buy a car.

It’s All About Solving Problems

It’s Also About Honesty

I’ve done a little over 100 webinars and I would like to share a few of my insights if you are just getting started. Here are my three tips to closing customers on your webinar:

1. Tell them exactly what to do to “Upgrade”

When I say exactly, I mean exactly. Here is the script I use:

In order to get all the features I covered today and this incredible deal, just follow my steps: Step 1: Go to this URL {Insert Your Pricing Page URL}

Step 2: Click on the green “Buy” button

Step 3: Enter in your Credit Card Information.

I even show them a screenshot with an arrow of exactly what to do. Then, I repeat the offer and go through the 3 steps again.  I know this sounds pretty unintuitive, but it works! Tell them exactly how to give you money and they will. When I tell webinar attendees exactly what to do to upgrade, I get a 55% conversion rate. When I leave out the exact steps, my conversion rates drop below 15%. Even if the offer and everything in the webinar stays the same.

2. Create a Time Sensitive Irresistible Offer

One of my biggest mistakes was not offering a discount during the webinar. I thought all the information I provided would be more than enough to get them over the edge. If you want your attendees to pay you today, try offering a time-based discount. I usually say something like this:

“This 20% offer is only going to be available during this webinar, after this webinar is over, this discount will be expired.”

3. PUMP IT UP

I’ve attended a lot of webinars and most of them are BORING snooze fests. Do a webinar, where you can speak LOUDLY, you should be projecting as if you are talking to your grandma and she just lost her hearing aid. Keep things light, fun, and entertaining. Be excited about what you are presenting and your attendees won’t drop off. Here are three things I like to do to pump it up:

1. I like to play Eye of The Tiger before the start of the webinar and I even say “I’m playing my favorite Pump Up song Eye of the Tiger, This should PUMP YOU UP for this amazing webinar we are about to have.”

2. I love what I’m presenting and truly believe in it. Any slides or material that I don’t believe in, I take out immediately.

3. I talk LOUD. My neighbors hate me, but my energy stays high and my webinar attendees love me

What are your webinar secrets? Lets discuss them in the comments below.