nine secret elements of highly effective sales …...what separates top sales reps from their...

Nine Secret Elements of Highly Effective Sales Conversations(BASED ON 1M SALES CALLS)

https://www.gong.io/

Set the rhythm

Dictate the agenda

Use powerful language

Listen more

Have natural conversations

Address competition early on

Sell in teams

Talk value, not features

Focus your demos

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The highlight reel

How did we get this eye-opening data?

What does this mean for sales teams?

The nine

Recap

About Gong

Table of Contents

9 SECRET ELEMENTS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE SALES CONVERSATIONS

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What separates top sales reps from their average- and low-performing peers?

Here are the nine things they do to ensure effective sales conversations:

They set the rhythm for the call by

getting prospects to mirror them.

Great sales conversations

That’s the most decisive separator.

There are very few other differences in what successful, average, and poorly performing reps do. They send

similar follow-up emails, work similar hours, and have a similar number of discovery calls and demos.

In other words, a top rep’s success lies less in what they do during their sales conversations.

Add each of these elements to your sales conversations until you’ve mastered all nine … and watch your sales

numbers rise!

The highlight reel

They dictate the agenda of what’s

discussed and when.

They use powerful language that

prospects associate with success

and authority.

They listen more and talk less.

They have natural conversations

with plenty of back and forth.

They address the competition early.

They sell in teams.

They talk about value, not technical

features.

They focus their demos.


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How did we get this eye-opening data?

What does this mean for sales teams?

That’s right. Using machine learning and conversation intelligence technology, we recorded, transcribed, and

analyzed 1M sales calls. At Gong, our research team focused on the words, timing, pitch, sentiment, and tone

that top sales reps use. We analyzed every element of a sales conversation that could be analyzed.

We pulled hard data from those conversations to discover what works and what doesn’t. That’s how we

detected the nine most important elements that set star performers apart from their peers.

This data matters.

Why? Because every sales representative can replicate the nine elements of highly effective

sales conversations, and boost their sales numbers.

Everyone on the team can function more like their top-performing peers when they know exactly what to do

during sales conversations.

The nine elements are easy to understand. With a bit of practice, anyone can master them.

What does that mean for a sales team? It means that an upward trend in the entire team’s sales numbers is within reach.

We analyzed 1,000,000 sales conversations.


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The nine

Where are you?

If you’re not in that top 20%, wouldn’t you like to crack the code on what makes that top-tier group so

outstanding? Are they naturally gifted salespeople? Are they all master rapport builders or great negotiators?

Those last two are popular theories among sales managers. Neither is true.

The truth is, what separates top reps from everyone else are the practices they use during sales calls. There are

very specific techniques and behaviors that increase their chances of a win on every call.

Let’s dig into those so you can start to use them too.

Star performers usually make up approximately 20% of a sales team. Another 60% have average numbers and the last 20% are poor performers.


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Set the rhythm

Our analysis of 1M calls turned up some surprising

findings here!

Have you heard of mirroring? It’s a common technique in

which salespeople subtly imitate their prospect’s way of

speaking. The belief is that if they imitate the prospect’s

tone, talking speed, or certain words, they’ll seem more

familiar and thus more trustworthy.

It turns out to be wrong. The top sales reps use the

opposite approach to get results. They get the prospect

to mirror them. Here are a couple of examples of how

that happens:

Talking speed

On average, top sales representatives’ prospects adjust their talking speed by 13% within the first three minutes

of a call. Meanwhile, the average sales reps adjust their talking speed by 7% in order to mirror their prospect,

who often barely changes at all.

Star Reps Prospects

200

175

150

125

100

Wor

ds/m

inut

e

Call duration

5 10 15 20 25 30 35

It turns out, the top

salespeople don’t mirror

their prospect’s way of

speaking. Instead, they get the prospect to

mirror them.


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Sentiment

We qualify sentiment as whether a person uses positive or negative language. Again, top reps don’t adjust their

word choice to match their prospect’s positivity or negativity; they let the prospect become more or less

positive to align with their language.

Sent

imen

t

Call duration

0.6

0.4

0.2

05 10 15 20 25 30 35

Star Reps Prospects


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Dictate the agenda

Pricing

When you bring up pricing is particularly important. It’s one of the most loaded parts of a sales conversation.

Here’s the skinny: Star reps talk about pricing late in the call. For example, on a one-hour call, they wait until

three-quarters of the way in. By contrast, average reps talk pricing at the 12 to 15-minute mark. Top reps

establish the value of the product first, and the upshot is that the prospect is more likely to agree to favorable

terms.

The timing of when you raise certain topics can influence the

success of a sales call. Here are two examples of how that

plays out.

It’s not only what

you say, it’s when you say it.

Call duration38 - 46 min

window

Star Reps Average Reps


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Next steps

Percentage of Call Discussing “Next Steps”

Winning sales reps also spend almost 13% more time at the end of their demo on next steps. They confirm how

they’ll move the project forward, which is critical to confirming buy-in. And buy-in is the difference between

hosting a sales call and actually making a sale.

Average Reps

Star Reps

0.00% 2.50% 5.00% 7.50% 10.00%


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The prospect’s name: Who doesn’t love the sound of their

own name? It makes prospects feel important and

respected.

Imagine: This word conjures up possibilities and

increases the prospect’s desire for the product.

Successful: Everyone wants to succeed in their job, so

this word is very compelling to prospects.

Decisive language: Words like “definitely” and “certainly”

demonstrate confidence and give you an air of authority.

So do brief and definitive phrases like “we can do that.”

They let the prospect know that you have the authority to

make decisions and promises, and that’s an appealing

characteristic.

High-performing reps use the following words on their calls:


Not all words are created equal. Some have the power to

trigger feelings of confidence, comfort, and trust … all of

which help get a prospect to “yes.”

Finally, risk-reversal language puts prospects at ease.

When you take away risk, you’re more likely to make a sale.

For example, saying “We offer a 30-day, no-obligation trial”

or “You can cancel at any time” improves win rates by up

to 32%.

Imagine

You can cancel at any time

Successful

Certainly

Definitely


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Top performers have a

46% to 54% talk-to-listen

ratio, meaning they speak less than 50% of

the time.

Listen more

We’re talking therapy-grade listening skills, here.

You have to listen if you want to sell at the top of your

game. How do you know if you’re listening well? Check

your talk-to-listen ratio.

Average performers talk for up to 68% of the time and

low performers speak for 72% of the conversation.

What can be gained by listening more intently? When prospects talk more, you learn valuable information and

forge a connection. Listening more also keeps you from rambling or, even worse, talking yourself out of a deal.

Don’t jump in too soon when your prospect pauses. Leave at least one second after they finish speaking to be

sure they’re through. They may start talking again just to fill the silence, offering up more valuable information.

STARREPS

AVERAGEREPS

BOTTOMREPS

Talk Listen

46% 54%

68% 32%

72% 28%


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The call isn’t a checklist

you have to get through, a

“pitch,” or an interrogation.

It’s a dialogue.

Have natural conversations

No one likes being on the receiving end of rapidfire

questions, especially when they’re trying to get to know a

product, rep, or company. Prospects want to have a deep

and rich conversation in which they feel heard, their

problems are surfaced, and solutions are offered.

That can only happen when there’s a healthy ebb and flow

between the speakers. It’s a simple rule: Take turns.

Top salespeople know it works. When reps and prospects

take turns speaking, the chances of a second meeting and a

sale increase.

Ask questions throughout the call instead of frontloading them at the beginning of the call. When you do, there

will automatically be more back and forth in the conversation.

Que

stio

n Fr

eque

ncy

Call Timeline

STAR REPS AVERAGE REPS


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A deal is 49% likelier to close if you discuss the competition early in the

sales process, rather than

later or never.

Address competition early on

It’s a talking point many reps dread — the competition. Some

put it off completely and others wait a while until they feel

secure about their chances with a prospect. They’re both using

the the wrong approach.

That may seem counterintuitive, but when you tackle the

question of how you stack up against the competition early,

you influence the prospect while they’re still forming opinions.

By the time they get to yes, they’ll already have forgotten

about the competition.

If the competition is discussed in the middle or at the end of

the sales cycle, the odds of closing the sale go down.

Simply asking, “Who else are you considering?” early puts you ahead of the competition.

0.7

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0.3

0.2

0.1

Succ

ess

Rat

e

No. of Competitor Mentions

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Early Stage Late Stage


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Close Rates

Team selling is

shockingly effective at

raising close rates.

Sell in teams

The data we uncovered here is astounding.

Having just one sales call with multiple participants from your

company makes you 258% more likely to close a deal than

flying solo during the entire sales cycle.

That’s why top-performing salespeople recruit others to join

them on sales calls. Who they recruit is less important. It can

be their CEO, sales manager, sales engineer, or another

stakeholder.

By having multiple people from your company on a call, you’re telling the prospect that they’re important and

giving them even more chances to understand your product and your company.

OneParticipant

MultipleParticipants +258%


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Time Spent Discussing Value-Related Features

Return on investment

The prospect’s pain points

The prospect’s business challenges

Project agendas and timelines

Prospects would rather

hear how they’ll benefit from a product than

understand its techie

features.


That’s why you need to talk less about a product’s features

and more about the end result the customer will achieve.

Star reps spend 52% more time talking about value-related

subjects than average performers. That’s a significant

difference. Here are some examples of what we mean by

value-related:

Top reps also spend 39% less time than average reps talking about technical topics and features.

Average Reps

Star Reps +52%


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Questions Received from Prospects During Demos

Star reps give their

prospects just enough

information to spark

curiosity and provoke

questions.

Focus your demos

Star reps don’t water down their demos by packing in every

feature they can.

When prospects ask questions, they’re engaged in learning

about your product. They’re also doing you the favor of

pinpointing the topics that are guaranteed to engage them.

That’s exactly the kind of information you can use to tailor and

focus your demo on the fly.

It’s not surprising then that top-tier performers get 28% more questions from prospects during product demos

than middle-of-the-pack performers. How do they do it? In part, by asking 30% fewer questions of their

prospects during demos. That leaves space for the conversation to go back and forth, and prospects can ask

about what’s really important to them.

Average Reps

Star Reps +28%


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Set the rhythm

Dictate the agenda


Listen more

Have real conversations

Talk competition early on

Sell in teams


Focus your demos

Recap

If this all feels like a big shift for you, tackle one or two elements at a time during your calls. When you’ve

practiced them and they feel natural, add another … and another … until you’ve mastered all nine.

Here’s your checklist. What will you do on your next sales call?


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Contact

1200 Park Place #100, San Mateo, CA 94403

Gong.io is the #1 conversation intelligence platform for sales teams.

It automatically records, transcribes, and analyzes

your team’s sales conversations so you can drive

higher quota attainment across your organization.

About Gong

While this ebook will jumpstart your sales team, each of these nine elements are general industry best

practices.

Your company is going to have its own unique blueprint of a successful sales conversation.

We can help show you what that is so you can replicate successful sales conversations, coach your

middle-of-the-pack reps, and ramp new hires faster.

Connect with us to learn more by requesting a demo

REQUEST DEMO


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https://www.gong.io/demo/

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