Standing out without being unethical
===
Brooke Greening: I love hearing what people have to ask, and more importantly, I like when it helps them to make more money. So let's go. I would tell people all the time, I'm like, I'm not competitive, I just don't wanna lose.
Scott Greening: people always, always do business with people that they know, like, and trust.
And sometimes in an effort to not be. Pushy or whatever the case is. We soft pedal things. So in this meeting I was, kind of hinting around and I was giving people all sorts of outs on, on something that really, there wasn't too much of a choice then. And I'm like, wait a second, I just need to make this super clear.
Brooke Greening: But it's actually not helping us or our potential client at all. They desire to have a clear path. They desire to know what the next steps are. If they don't wanna move forward with you, they will tell you.
Scott Greening: Welcome to another episode of Sipping Matcha, and helping you make more sales. My name is Scott and I'm your host. In just a minute, I'm gonna be joined by matcha drinker and sales coach Brooke. But before she jumps in, I want to invite you to submit your question, an anonymous dear Abby style question.
about sales that you have. 'cause chances are, if you have the question, somebody else does too. And you can submit your question at buildingmomentum.info/matcha. We hope to hear from you soon. Let's bring Brooke in and see what today's question is.
Brooke Greening: Hello?
Scott Greening: Hello. Are you excited for today's question on sipping matcha and making more sales?
Brooke Greening: I am very excited for the question. I love hearing what people have to ask, and more importantly, I like when it helps them to make more money. So let's go. Let's get to it.
Scott Greening: Alright, today's question is from anonymous. Here you go. Anonymous, wherever you may be. His or her question is this, if a prospect already has someone who does what I do, how can I communicate what sets me apart without seeming unethical?
Pushy. So if I were going to kind of rephrase that question, like how can I stand out without putting other people down, without lying or cheating, stealing, those types of things. How can I be a good person but stand, stand out from? From my competitors?
Brooke Greening: Yeah, no, I think that's, that is a great question and it is a very popular one because it happens all of the time.
So I'm a certified StoryBrand guide, and there's probably. Hundreds of us in regards to how we support our customers. And so you can start to feel like, oh, we're all doing the same thing. And then you're trying to figure out, well, how am I able to talk to a potential client if they're gonna go talk to somebody else?
That does similarly, the same things that I do. Also, it reminds me when I was in corporate, literally when we were in senior living, like you could throw a rock and it would hit another senior living community. Maybe it was one of ours in our company. Or it was just another competitor entirely, but the fact remained the same, that there were lots of people doing what we did.
And so how are you able to talk to your potential client, truly be able to understand, okay, how you can help them, but also share how you're going to be different. Without it turning into you bashing someone else or you're making them look bad, because that's not what you wanna do either. That's, that is not good sales and that's not, that's not serving anyone.
And so it is a great question. I'm excited to be able to answer it.
Scott Greening: Yeah. And I know when you worked, uh, in the senior living industry, you had a very, you had multiple communities. You kind of alluded to that a little bit, but. But they wanted you guys to play nicely, obviously with, with one another.
But I think that you also had a fairly competitive streak in a friendly sort of way with your, your other communities.
Brooke Greening: I. I would tell people all the time, I'm like, I'm not competitive, I just don't wanna lose. And so, but it is true, and if you're on a sales team of more than one person, that is going to happen where you are going to be having a conversation and someone else is, and you're going to be offering the same thing unless you're coming up with one of.
I can't even think of an, I cannot even think of an example where you are not the only one that is going to be talking to a potential client about your products or services. There are always other people, there are always other competitors out there, and so knowing how to differentiate yourself between them, I.
In a way that serves you and your customer is an important thing to be able to do. So I would say the very first step in that is you want to make sure that you're actually understanding the problems that your customers are going to be facing. So many times we are so worried about what we say and how we're gonna be able to separate ourself from the competitor, how we can be able to show that we're different than our competitor.
But the reality is when we're in a sales conversation, if we are not truly understanding the main problem that our customers are facing, not that external piece that they share with everybody, but the things that are driving them and motivating them, if we do not understand that, then it doesn't matter how great our presentation is or how great our deliverables are.
It's not going to help separate us from the competitor. They're just gonna look at us and the competitors and think, oh, they're, they're the same. And then usually that turns into like a race to the bottom in regards to pricing. And that is not something you wanna be involved in, so you have to know what the problem is first.
Scott Greening: Yeah, and I would say the, the flip side of that, or the positive side of that for people and their businesses is that when you do know, when people do discover the problem, the price. It doesn't completely become irrelevant, but people are, people are willing to spend, and I know like within our business or even as a family or whatever, we've sat with people and they've taken the time to understand where we're really coming from, what the needs that we're facing, and then mm-hmm we're willing to potentially invest more money than if it's just.
Hey, let's compare features and benefits and, and that, and, and see what happens. And so it's a great way to, to set yourself apart from others by uncovering customer's true needs and motivations.
Brooke Greening: Yes. And I would also, I just wanna encourage that if all we're doing, when we're talking to them and we're trying to convince them that like, we're better.
And that we can be able to help solve their problems maybe faster or whatever the case is. That's what everybody else is saying as well. And so you don't want someone to be making a decision based on, well, can they do it better than the other person can? 'cause that's really subjective and that that's gonna be hard to be able to, to communicate and to work through.
But when we're truly understanding what their motivations. And their desires are behind what they're, what they're wanting. And that comes through having really good questions and listening and asking more validating questions. When we do that, we completely separate ourself from the competitor. 'cause a competitor is trying to solve that very first problem and we are actually beginning to know truly what's motivating them and driving them.
And that's how we can start to speak to that. And that completely separates you from the competitor.
Scott Greening: Right. I know when we are talking and, and thinking about this question a little bit one of the, the surprising things that came up for me and hearing and reminding me of, of what you often did with customers, but, but I know that, that you would actually help customers know how to talk with competitors or, or ask questions in that.
Would you mind sharing, sharing a story or, or how that worked?
Brooke Greening: Yeah, I, that's a great, that's a great reminder. And so the second piece I want people to know is that when they're trying to figure out, so yes, the first piece is you wanna be able to understand what their real problem is. If you do that, you're.
You're much further ahead than your competitor. You're giving your competitor a pretty steep hill to climb, but it's not just knowing it. Now you're gonna come in and say, okay, well how can you be able to help solve the problems that they've just shared with you? And that's where you want to be able to know who you are and own it.
And so what Scott was talking about is when I was in the senior living industry, I had already been in senior living, specifically in regards to rehab and skilled nursing. And so that's when. Older people are beginning to have like hip replacements and different things like that, and they need a little bit of what we call short-term rehab.
I was already in that world before I went to another part of the senior care sales world, and so I owned that. I owned what I had and I brought it to me to the next round. And so I would help people to ask questions as they would go to their competitor, and I would give them three or four questions to ask.
So that they could be able to know if it was a good decision or not. I gave them questions to ask that would cause red flags. I gave them questions to ask to help them to know. If they say they don't know the answer to this, that's not good because this is like a state requirement. They have to know the answers to this.
Scott Greening: Hey, popping in real quick. It's Scott here from Building Momentum Resources, and if your sales conversations feel like a hamster wheel, lots of energy, not much forward motion, you'll want to check out something that Brooke has made just for you. It's the sales conversation assessment. It's a fast free tool that helps you figure out what's.
Actually stalling your sales chats and how to fix it without guesswork or gimmicks. If you want more insight and less facepalm, head to buildingmomentum.info/assessment to give your strategy a little bit of a tuneup. Now back to the episode, because your next aha moment is probably just around the corner.
Brooke Greening: I was giving them more power to be able to make the decision that they needed to make. Whether they chose to work with me or not. I was giving them more power to be able to go and ask questions. As they were heading off to the competitors. And that was what we mean by know who you are and own it. Be there to be able to guide them and help them.
And so I would do that every single time. In the beginning I wouldn't, 'cause I was like, oh, they don't really need to know. Like that's not really what they're looking for. And the more we continue to talk, the more I realized in this realm, they didn't really have a lot of information or knowledge of how to make the best decision.
And that would be the case. Actually in any type of service-based industry, the people who are coming to you don't actually know exactly all the ins and outs. That you do so own it and help them to make a decision.
Scott Greening: Yeah. So if what I hear you saying is for anonymous, who's concerned about being unethical or, or concerned about being pushy?
If he or she can be confident in the, the services, the products that they, they have. Then there's really very little risk in empowering your customer to make the best decision possible. Yeah, because in the end. You're fairly confident, like, Hey, I'm gonna be at or above other people.
And what's gonna differentiate for me is that I have helped them, that I've listened, that I've understood their needs, that I've given them the information that they could make good decisions on their own. And that, and then they're gonna say, well, these two are about the same, but that Brooke or that anonymous, uh, was, the type of people that, that we like to work with. And so people always, always do business with people that they know, like, and trust. And so it's a great way to, to build trust with. Your customers?
Brooke Greening: Yes, it is. And it's that whole piece of, we always say like, we're here to serve our customers. So if we're truly here to serve our customers, then we need to help them in regards to how they're gonna be able to make their decisions.
And a lot of times they're not entirely sure even what to ask as they're headed to other competitors and they're looking at things. And so just own that, own who you are and be able to share that. And then. And you're exactly right. So then they may say, Hey, this didn't work, but then they're thinking about you for the next piece.
Because the reality is when we're in a service based industry, they're not usually just going to say, well, that was less expensive. So then I went with this offer. That's an easy thing to do. That's an easy thing to say. But there are usually underlying things that are going on, and a lot of those times it's because they've already worked with one service provider and they got burned.
It didn't work the way that they wanted or the communication wasn't working. Whatever the case is, it didn't work because if it did, they wouldn't be actually talking to you at this point. And so we need to remember that, that is where a lot of pieces are. That's where a lot of problems and motivation are coming from.
It's because they've worked with someone in the past and it either didn't work or they're retiring or whatever the case is, but now they're stuck and they have to try to figure out. Well, who do I work with next? And so from the very beginning, you are helping them to succeed. You are helping them to be successful, whether they choose to work with you or not.
And actually helping them to think through a couple of questions to ask the next person they're gonna talk to is really important.
Scott Greening: I think the, the other thing that, that we've talked about, and I find myself doing, I know I just did this in a meeting not too long ago and I, I caught myself, which I think everybody in the meeting will appreciate, but sometimes we confuse, like being direct or providing clear answers with being pushy or manipulative or that type of thing.
And sometimes in an effort to not be. Pushy or whatever the case is. We soft pedal things. So in this meeting I was, kind of hinting around and I was giving people all sorts of outs on, on something that really, there wasn't too much of a choice then. And I'm like, wait a second, I just need to make this super clear.
If you're not gonna be able to make it, we need to talk. And everyone then was like, oh, okay. I understand what he's saying because before they're like, oh wait, do. Maybe I don't need to do, you know, it was just creating confu. It wasn't being helpful and I was, I was trying to be kind but I was just being unclear.
And I think that can translate sometimes into our sales is that we just get confusing 'cause we're so afraid of being pushy or manipulative.
Brooke Greening: I think that is very true. I think we have all been in situations. Where we've had a really pushy salesperson at us, and we do not wanna do that. So we swing all the way to the other side and then we're actually not helping and serving our potential clients because they don't really have any idea.
'cause we're giving a direction and then we're backpedaling and be like, well, it okay if it works for you or, but you need to do this. But I understand if it's not the right time, like we're like throwing objections at him. We're doing everything all in the name of not being that salesy person.
But it's actually not helping us or our potential client at all. They desire to have a clear path. They desire to know what the next steps are. If they don't wanna move forward with you, they will tell you. But there is nothing wrong in helping them to know what those next pieces are and how to be able to do that.
And so. Don't go to the other side and try not when we think I'm being pushy, I'm being manipulative. You really wanna kind of ask yourself, am I, or is it just because it's really kind of feeling uncomfortable and I'm not entirely sure what to say? That doesn't mean you're being pushy. That doesn't mean you're being manipulative.
That means you're not entirely confident of what you're saying.
Scott Greening: All right. Well, thanks Brooke. And I think this is really helpful for anonymous and good reminders. Like for me, uh, as we go through it and that, so, keeping everybody's in a competitive environment find your value by asking deeper questions, find the motivations and connect your value with, with the problems that you're discovering.
And then, mm-hmm. Uh, just be. Be clear and be direct and empower your customers, and those would be all great things to differentiate yourselves and mm-hmm. Make more sales. So thanks for, thanks for joining us. If you found this helpful please leave us a review on your podcast platform, share it on social media, write flowering messages, and the comments your favorite matcha flavor to Brooke.
Uh, we'd love to hear from you and get your engagement
Brooke Greening: lavender.
Scott Greening: So yes, Brooke's, a big fan of lavender cold foam with matcha.
Yes, yes.
We'll talk to you next time. Thanks so much.
Brooke Greening: Have a great day.
