Bold Move #1: Create a Sales Process That Benefits Your Prospects

Summary

The Advanced Selling Podcast: Episode Summary Title: Bold Move #1: Create a Sales Process That Benefits Your Prospects
Hosts: Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale
Release Date: June 5, 2025

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Introduction to the 12-Week Series

[00:02] Bill Caskey
Bill Caskey kicks off a solo episode version of The Advanced Selling Podcast, announcing an upcoming 12-week series dedicated to the "12 Bold Moves" essential for sales success. He invites listeners to visit 12BoldMoves.com to download a complimentary copy of the book, initially free through May but now extended to July for accessibility.

“I want you to be with me for the next 12 weeks. Each week I will take one of these bold moves and dive into it in detail.”
– Bill Caskey [00:16]

Bold Move #1: Creating a Prospect-Beneficial Sales Process

Overview
Bill introduces the first bold move: "Create a sales process that benefits your prospect, not just you." He emphasizes the unconventional approach of focusing the sales process on the prospect's benefits rather than merely pushing for a sale.

Challenging Traditional Sales Processes
Traditionally, sales processes are designed to expedite closing deals, often leading to customer resistance. Bill criticizes this approach as being self-serving and ineffective.

“When we think of sales processes, we think of how do we create a process where I can shove people through it?”
– Bill Caskey [00:34]

Reframing the Sales Process
Bill advocates for a shift in perspective where the sales process is mutually beneficial. Instead of forcing prospects through a rigid structure, the process should help them understand and address their own needs.

“Make the process beneficial for them. They’re happy to follow your process if they knew what it was and they believed that it benefited them by following it.”
– Bill Caskey [02:00]

Step-by-Step Implementation

1. Discovery Phase as Mutual Understanding

   • [03:10] Bill explains that the discovery phase should not just be about identifying the prospect's problems from the seller's standpoint. Instead, it should be a two-way street where both parties assess whether there is a worthwhile problem to solve.

   “Think of the discovery process as a mutual understanding.”
   – Bill Caskey [03:30]

2. Deep Dive into the Prospect’s Pain Points

   • [04:00] The next step involves an in-depth exploration of the prospect’s challenges, not just surface-level issues. This helps both the salesperson and the prospect evaluate the economic viability of addressing the problem.

   “Understanding their plight economically is really important. But it’s also important for them because 80% of the pains they have are undetectable.”
   – Bill Caskey [04:45]

3. Utilizing Assessments for Better Insight

   • [06:00] Bill shares a client’s strategy of using a “rapid assessment” before the initial call. This assessment consists of seven questions designed to uncover deeper issues and filter out uninterested prospects.

   “He sends them to a page that has like a seven question assessment on it… It ferrets out people who say, ‘I’m not going to answer this.’”
   – Bill Caskey [08:20]

Benefits of a Prospect-Focused Sales Process

• Increased Trust and Engagement: By prioritizing the prospect's needs, salespeople build stronger, trust-based relationships.
• Higher Close Rates: As illustrated by the client example, shifting focus can significantly improve close rates (from 15-20% to 40%).
• Efficient Lead Filtering: Assessments help in identifying serious prospects early, saving time and resources.

“It’s found time, it’s found money.”
– Bill Caskey [09:50]

Practical Applications and Next Steps

[10:30] Bill encourages sales professionals to evaluate their current sales processes over the next few weeks. He urges them to ask whether their processes are genuinely designed to help the prospect or merely serve the salesperson’s interests.

“Think about your sales process over the next couple weeks. Is am I really focused on helping them by executing and deploying my process or is this just about me?”
– Bill Caskey [10:50]

Teaser for Next Episode

[11:30] Concluding the episode, Bill hints at the next bold move in the series: "Start from a position of I don't know." He invites listeners to tune in the following week for further insights.

“Next week we’ll talk about bold move number two. Start from a position of I don't know. See you next week.”
– Bill Caskey [11:50]

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Key Takeaways

1. Customer-Centric Sales Processes: Designing a sales process that prioritizes the prospect's benefits leads to higher engagement and trust.
2. Mutual Discovery: Viewing the discovery phase as a two-way evaluation fosters a more authentic connection between salesperson and prospect.
3. Effective Use of Assessments: Implementing pre-call assessments can significantly enhance understanding of prospect needs and improve conversion rates.
4. Mindset Shift: Adopting a mindset that focuses on helping the prospect rather than merely closing a sale transforms the overall sales dynamic.

Notable Quotes

• Bill Caskey [00:16]: “I want you to be with me for the next 12 weeks…”
• Bill Caskey [00:34]: “When we think of sales processes, we think of how do we create a process where I can shove people through it?”
• Bill Caskey [02:00]: “Make the process beneficial for them…”
• Bill Caskey [03:30]: “Think of the discovery process as a mutual understanding.”
• Bill Caskey [04:45]: “Understanding their plight economically is really important…”
• Bill Caskey [08:20]: “It ferrets out people who say, ‘I’m not going to answer this.’”
• Bill Caskey [09:50]: “It’s found time, it’s found money.”
• Bill Caskey [10:50]: “Is am I really focused on helping them…”
• Bill Caskey [11:50]: “Next week we’ll talk about bold move number two…”

Conclusion

In this episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill Caskey emphasizes the importance of reimagining the sales process to prioritize the prospect's benefits. By adopting a customer-centric approach, utilizing assessments, and fostering mutual understanding, sales professionals can enhance trust, improve close rates, and build long-term relationships. This foundational bold move sets the stage for the subsequent strategies that will further empower salespeople to achieve exceptional success.

Transcript

[A]

Everybody, Bill Caskey, back at the solo episode version of the Advanced Selling podcast. I'm with you today, and I'm going to talk to you about lowering the music down a little bit. Okay. We're going to do a series. That's what we're going to do. I want you to be with me for the next 12 weeks. I'm going to be releasing one of these per week. And it's going to be. The topic is going to be the 12 bold moves that we've talked about a little bit on the show. I want you to go to 12 Bold Moves.com and download the copy. It's complimentary. I was going to do the comp thing through May. We're going to extend it through July to accommodate you. So each week I will take one of these, go into it in a little bit of detail, but I'm not going to read the chapter. That would be a cheap. That would be a cheap fake. I'm going to share with you my impressions of it. If you want to read more, you can download the book. Cool. All right, so let's go. Bold move number one. And I'm going to explain why these moves are bold, even though when I read them, you're going to say, well, it's not really that bold. But it is, because nobody's doing it this way. Number one, create a sales process that benefits the prospect, not just you. Now, this is unusual because when we think of sales processes, we think of how do we create a process where I can shove people through it? I know you may not feel this way, but when I watch sales trainers and coaches, this is. And they talk about sales process, it's usually what they mean is, how can we get people through this process as quickly as we can so we can get their money? And I think that's a stupid, idiotic, insane way to look at it. It sets you up for resistance because people, you know, we think we hide that. We don't hide that. People know exactly what you're up to when you take that tact of trying to shove people through. So my bold move number one is to make the process beneficial for them. They're happy to follow your process if they knew what it was and they believed that it benefited them by following it. People always do what they believe is in their best interest. If they believe your process is all about you making the sale to them and extracting money from their bank account, they're not going to follow it. It's the reason most sales processes aren't followed. And and not even a lot of times, sales processes aren't even proclaimed by the salesperson because we know they're not gonna follow it. So the bold move here is that change your entire perspective about what a sales process is. Now, I'm not saying change the whole sales process. Change your mindset around it. And I think when you do. So let's say, for example, let's say part one of your sales process is some sort of discovery where you're there to discover from them whether they have a problem. Okay? I want this to be a discovery for them. Through your questions and your connection and your expertise and wisdom, you're going to help them discover if they have a problem that's worth solving. If they do, then obviously you're going to stay and welcome them into the fold and tell them exactly how you're going to help them. If they don't, then you can leave. So think of the discovery process as a mutual understanding. You're discovering if they have a problem that would warrant you staying in the sales process. They're discovering whether they have a problem that would warrant them asking you to stay in the sales process. And so many sales processes not built this way. It's only about my discovery, what's in it for me, not what's in it for them. So let's say step number two, after you discover a little bit, let's say it's a little bit more in depth finding of the pain, the problem, the situation, the destination, you're really getting into the nitty gritty. Well, is that good for you? Yeah, because it helps, you know, whether they have a problem that's big enough to warrant what you're charging. If they have a million dollar problem and you have a $10 million solution, they may not buy that you got a million dollar problem and your solution's 100 grand, that's going to be an easier decision for them. So this idea of understanding their plight economically is really important. But it's also important for them because we say that 80% of the pains they have and the problems they have, they're undetectable because they're not even aware of them. You're aware of them because you are in this business day in, day out, they're not. So your role is to help them understand their own pain. Yes, it's good for us to understand it, but it's even better if they understand it. If they understand it, what do you think the odds are of them doing something about it higher than if they don't understand it? Or don't connect with it, what it really is. So your questions and your habits and your approach is going to help them understand the nature of their problem. Finally, I've got a client who runs a, what he calls a rapid assessment. And the idea here is before he has the first call with a potential customer, he sends them to a page that has like a seven question assessment on it. And he says, he tells them up front, says, look, this will help me understand any plight you have, but it will also help you because I'll be asking you some questions that maybe you haven't been asked before. So he doesn't wait until the sales process to do that face to face. He does it with an assessment. I highly recommend this. A, it's going to ferret out those people who say, well, you know what? I, I'm not going to answer this. Okay, well if you're not going to answer the assessment, you might not even answer it when I ask you directly. So it ferrets out people. B, it helps you understand what is the nature of the problem and what is the nature of their explanation of the problem. So assessments are good. And that's what he does. And what he has found is that probably 80% of the people he talks to actually take the assessment. And he used to have a close rate of about probably 15, 20% when he proposed. Now his close rate's 40%. Now he's not calling out as many people, but he doesn't care as long as he has enough people and the percentages hold up. Heck, he's just, it's found time, it's found money. So this is an example of an assessment that's helping the customer. So think about your sales process over the next couple weeks. Is am I really focused on helping them by executing and deploying my process or is this just about me? Next week we'll talk about bold move number two. Start from a position of I don't know, I don't know. See you next week.