Selling end-of-life care can be difficult and seem like a bizarre concept. “Sales is the nature of being human and the ability to influence another person,” said Gloria Turner in her recent webinar, The Art of Successful & Meaningful Selling Series. Turner believes this influence can be used to better serve patients within your care. Gloria broke down the five steps of authentic and meaningful sales conversations, in part one of the webinar series.

Why the skeleton? “The steps discussed are the bones and structure. Not everyone is a clone. Each of us has an underlying skeleton. You then flesh out the skeleton and that makes you different.”

Step 1: Taking Time for Account Investigation
“Do not wing it.” According to Gloria, your past and present referrals are the best place to identify sales opportunities. Prioritize accounts based on current and potential utilization, then select the top 10 accounts. Strategize the best time to check in with those accounts and anticipate questions, problems, and solutions that may arise.

Step 2: Building Rapport Before & After
“Let the customer see that making an appointment is going to benefit them and you are going to provide value.” When setting up an appointment, be sure to identify yourself, your organization, and establish your value proposition. “The goal is to establish credibility,” stated Turner. It only takes 90 seconds for a customer to form their full opinion.

Step 3: Understanding the Customer’s Needs
“Focus on what your customers need and want, not what you want.” Go into the conversation with an educated guess. Gloria suggested asking 3–4 questions about each need and to use a variety of open-ended, closed-ended, and deepening questions. Ask deepening questions using a phrase such as “would you mind explaining…” or “could you share with me…”. Once you get your customer talking, remember to listen! The best salespeople do the least amount of talking and practice actively listening.

Step 4: Sharing Solutions
“Know what your differentiators are.” Take the time to ensure your differentiators showcase how your agency provides solutions and give specific examples. Be prepared with case studies, in-service evaluations, testimonials, statistics, CAHPS scores, etc. If you are off target, Gloria recommended to “go back to your probing open-ended questions,” and ask, “If you don’t mind me asking, what did I miss?” From there, re-group and move forward with new solutions.

Step 5: Tie Up with Commitment
“Commitment is securing an agreement that moves the sale forward toward action.” Start with assuming the sale by saying “Is there something we can do today to get started?”. Schedule a follow-up on what was promised and ask for a referral, if appropriate. Thank the customer and provide a genuine compliment. Emphasize that you are the customer’s service champion and ensure a reason to come back.

You have followed the steps, but what if they say “No”? Gloria Turner continues the conversation in Sales Training Part 2: Remove the Chaos in Selling. If you want to learn more about any of these steps or continue the conversation, please contact us at support@eewebinarnetwork.com or call us at (406) 442-2585 to learn more about The Art of Successful & Meaningful Selling Series. You can also tune into the Essential Insights Podcast