Sales Made Easy: How To Up Your B2B Sales Game And Fuel Growth

In a world where sales often carries the connotation of being hard, uncomfortable, and even manipulative, there is a refreshing new approach – “sales made easy” being embraced by thought leaders like Harry Spaight. Harry challenges traditional selling notions by advocating for a more human-centric and values-driven approach.

In this “Predictable B2B Success” podcast episode, Harry shared his unique journey from being a missionary to a keynote speaker, sales coach, and author. In this blog post, we delve into Harry’s transformational journey and explore how his philosophy of selling with dignity can make sales a more enjoyable and profitable process. We also uncover the strategies and mindset shifts necessary to transform your sales approach and achieve predictable success.

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About Harry Spaight

Harry Spaight is a Keynote Speaker, Sales Coach, and Author. After serving as a missionary in the Dominican Republic, Harry brought the principles he learned from that experience about serving others to corporate sales, where he successfully sold and led sales teams for a Fortune 500 company. Harry is the author of “Selling with Dignity” and hosts the podcast “Sales Made Easy”, which highlights that selling – when done right – is easier, more profitable, and enjoyable. He works with people who want to grow their sales and gain raving fans with long-lasting relationships, doing sales the right way, with dignity.

Harry had a significant turning point in his life in 1996. At the time, he was running a small janitorial business to support his missionary work. However, when his wife questioned if they would ever have children or if their current life was it, Harry realized that his mission work was coming to an end due to the ticking biological clock. Determined not to go back to his previous career, he decided to venture into sales. With his missionary janitorial background, Harry found a way to transition into sales and pursue a new path in his professional life.

Sales made easy: How to up your B2B sales game with Harry Spaight’s methodology

In the competitive world of sales, finding strategies that make the process easier and more enjoyable can significantly impact business success. In this blog post, we will dive into key insights from Harry Spaight to discover how sales made easy can be a reality and explore actionable takeaways that can help you streamline your sales efforts. These points will equip you with strategies to make sales a smooth and effortless process for your business.

1. Building Relationships through Social Media Engagement:

Engaging and commenting on social media platforms; specifically LinkedIn, can be a great starting point for building relationships and establishing credibility in the B2B space.

According to a study by LinkedIn, 78% of social sellers outsell peers who don’t use social media, and 45% of decision-makers are more likely to engage with a sales professional with a professional social media presence.

Actionable Takeaway: Start engaging with industry thought leaders and potential prospects on platforms like LinkedIn. Comment on their posts, share valuable content, and initiate conversations. Take the time to thank individuals who engage with your content and develop meaningful relationships from those interactions.

2. Providing Consistent Value through Content:

Sharing articles or summaries that bring value to clients or prospects can help establish yourself as a valuable contact and increase the likelihood of open conversations.

According to Patrick Campbell of ProfitWell (now part of Paddle), 47% of B2B buyers consume three to five pieces of content before engaging with a salesperson, and 82% of buyers prefer content that is personalized to their specific industry.

Actionable Takeaway: Create and share insightful content that addresses your audience’s pain points, offers solutions, and exhibits your expertise. Tailor your content to specific industries or niches to enhance personalization. You can foster trust and build fruitful relationships with potential clients by consistently providing value.

3. Treating Everyone with Respect and Humanity:

In sales, treating gatekeepers and other individuals respectfully creates a positive impression and opens doors for meaningful conversations.

My anecdotal evidence suggests that building relationships with gatekeepers significantly influences sales success.

Actionable Takeaway: Approach all individuals you encounter in your sales process with empathy and respect. Treat gatekeepers as valuable human beings and acknowledge their role in decision-making. Building positive relationships with them increases the likelihood of accessing key decision-makers and closing deals.

4. Cultivating Curiosity for Deeper Connections:

As sales professionals, curiosity is essential for asking insightful questions and understanding the unique stories behind clients and prospects.

Research indicates that curious people are perceived as more interesting and can form better connections.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Nurture your curiosity by asking follow-up questions during sales calls to understand your clients’ deeper motivations and needs.
2. Reflect on each interaction and identify ways to improve your approach in future conversations.
3. Beyond sales, apply curiosity to personal relationships, seeking to understand and connect with others on a deeper level genuinely.

5. Connecting with Different Personality Types:

Building relationships with clients of various personality types requires adapting your approach and finding common ground.

Research shows that adaptive selling, or the ability to adjust one’s sales approach based on customer personality traits, positively impacts sales performance.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Recognize that not all clients have the same personality traits or communication preferences.
2. Adapt your sales approach to resonate with different personalities.
3. Engage CFOs and financial professionals by highlighting financial benefits while catering to IT professionals by emphasizing technical details.
4. Seek their opinions and thoughts to involve them in the conversation and develop stronger relationships.

6. Research and Making Connections:

Before reaching out to prospects, conducting thorough research and making genuine connections can significantly improve the effectiveness of your sales strategy.

According to studies by leading industry analyst firms, an average B2B prospect could be as much as 67% of the way into their purchasing journey before ever engaging with a salesperson.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Use available resources like LinkedIn and company websites to research prospects before initiating contact.
2. Identify key players and their roles within the organization.
3. Rather than going straight into a pitch, establish a genuine connection by referencing shared interests, industry trends, or mutual connections.

By showing that you’ve taken the time to understand their business, you increase the chances of getting a favorable response.

Conclusion:

Sales doesn’t have to be a difficult and uncomfortable process. By implementing the insights and actionable takeaways from “Sales Made Easy” with Harry Spaight, you can transform how you approach sales, making it easier, more enjoyable, and ultimately more successful. Building relationships, providing consistent value, treating everyone with respect, cultivating curiosity, connecting with different personalities, and conducting thorough research are strategies backed by statistics and science that can enhance your sales efforts. Embrace these strategies, invest in self-improvement, and transform your sales process to achieve predictable B2B success.

Some areas we explore in this episode include:

• The importance of engaging and commenting on social media platforms like LinkedIn
• Building relationships and engaging with others in the community for success
• Providing value through engaging and sharing content on LinkedIn
• The speaker’s experience in hitting sales numbers and playing the game for results
• Treating gatekeepers and others with respect and humanity in sales
• Analyzing results and taking personal responsibility for improvement in sales
• The importance of empathy in sales, drawing from the speaker’s experience in the mission field
• The dignified nature of sales and the value of individuals who make significant contributions
• The balance between being focused on being number one and prioritizing relationships and loyalty
• The importance of curiosity in asking follow-up questions and understanding different personalities in sales.
• And much, much more.

Listen to the episode

Related links and resources

Connect with Harry

• LinkedIn

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