(This is our monthly Enterprise Selling Excellence video featuring John Klymshyn, brought to you by Channel Partners and the MSP Summit. The transcript is below.)

This month's idea, concept, philosophy approach is called Moving Conversations Forward.

Think about the difference between moving something and either pushing it, or dragging it, or trying to drive it forward. Moving Conversations Forward is an energetic, psychological, neuroscientific way of approaching enterprise sales conversations. We talked about this when we all met together at Channel Partner Conference in Las Vegas, and those of you that did not have the opportunity to join, I want to walk you through three steps that may impact how you move conversations forward.

First step -- when you are in a Zoom meeting, or a Google Meet, or a Teams meeting with someone with whom you have had at least one conversation before -- is to review the past. And the way that we do that is that we prelude our own statements.

“Prelude” meaning: Set them up in a specific way. One of the ways that I prelude my statements is, “Last time you and I spoke, you mentioned to me, blank.” Now, That means that I record what people say.

It means that I keep it attached to their record.

And something really interesting happens when we quote back something that they have said to us. Not only does it tell them that we have been listening, it shows them that we have been listening, and that makes a key distinction. In moving conversations forward, it's all about key distinctions. It's also about ensuring that we are connected with them, through a process.

This is not a one-touch sale. This is enterprise selling excellence. So, the first thing we do is we review the past. “Last time you and I spoke, you mentioned to me, blank.” Second thing we do, instead of trying to jump ahead, the second thing we do is we discuss their present by asking a great open-ended question, such as, “What's the latest with that?”

Or, “How did that end up working out for you?” Or, “What's new?”

Sounds benign?

It's deep, it's human, and it's very effective. First thing we do review the past. Second thing we do is discuss their present.

Now, of course, they may ask us about ours, and that's all great, fine, and wonderful. Keep your responses concise, and follow your responses with an open-ended question. “What's the latest with you?” “What are you guys working on now?” “How much time do we have today?”

And then the third thing is to plan the future together. And I say together because I want to spell it T-W-O-G-E-T-H-E-R. When you and I plan the future together, that's the result of me asking a great, open-ended question, such as, “So where do we go from here?”

Or, “What would you like to see happen next?” Or, “What do you think is our best next step together?”

Moving conversations forward is wildly impactful for the professional enterprise seller.

I hope that it will be for a very long time.

See you next month.