It’s always nice when a member of your sales team reminds you to use one of your own frameworks!
During a 1:1 with a top-performer on my team, I was sputtering out some ideas for an email on a critical deal. He interjected: “Shouldn’t we use Affirm - Ask - Benefit?”
Yes, we should!
Affirm - Ask - Benefit is the framework that you should use for 60% of your significant mid-funnel emails. It’s your starting point for communications designed to move the deal forward after you’ve established an active conversation.
The Challenge
Friction kills deals at the middle of the funnel. Prospects are interested in the product but completing the evaluation takes a lot of work.
It’s easy for promising deals to just… die out.
How do you stop that from happening? You keep the next steps moving.
There are two parts maintaining momentum: (1) communicating the value of the product and (2) communicating the value of the next step.
You have to do both. The best thing you can do to communicate the value of the product is continuously sharing and updating Summary Slides that summarize the Problems you solve, the Solutions you offer, and the Impacts you generate - check out our video on that here.
This article focuses on communicating the value of the next step.
The best way to do that is the Affirm - Ask - Benefit framework. It avoids two traps that sales reps often fall into.
The first is muddle: Many reps aren’t willing to clearly state the next step they’re asking for because they feel like they’re imposing.
The trouble is that being vague forces the prospect to interpret your request. There’s a chance they’ll get it wrong or just not spend the mental energy to figure it out.
The second is motivation. Many reps feel they can motivate prospects to take action by relying on relationships. To be clear, relationships help and you should invest in them.
But a sales process is a business relationship. It got started because there was a business purpose and it will grow based on that business purpose.
Your contact is going to do what makes business sense for them. Unless you’ve worked together for a long time, respect the relationship but don’t rely on it.
Reps need a way to clearly request a next step and plainly make the business case for it, all while respecting the relationship
The Approach
That’s where Affirm - Ask - Benefit comes in. There are three steps:
Affirm: Affirm the relationship with the prospect. Keep this brief unless you’re genuinely close.
Ask: Make your ask openly and specifically. Prospects should know exactly what you’re proposing so they can evaluate it and act on it.
Benefit: State the benefit to the prospect of acting in the way you suggest. What do they get out of saying “yes?”
Let’s think through the kinds of benefits you can cite.
To be sure, there are circumstances where you’d come back to the benefit of the product. You might cite the importance of the problem you’re helping the prospect solve. Taking the next step helps them address that problem.
But don’t turn every email you send into another product pitch. Remember that you’re asking for the next step in an evaluation process, not a final decision. And remember, you can (and often should!) attach the Summary Slides to the email to cover the value of the product.
Usually, the email should focus on the benefit of the next step itself. There are three kinds of potential benefits: benefits to the company, benefits to the recipient of your email, and benefits to their colleagues:
Company benefits help the prospect make a better decision, a more efficient decision, or get a better deal. The next step could address an outstanding issue, get key stakeholders together so everyone is on the same page, or potentially lower the price by in looping more departments who could purchase together for a group discount.
Recipient benefits help the person you’re writing the email to. The next step could make it easier for them to be sure their colleagues are informed or potentially lower the budget impact for their team by getting other teams involved in the purchase so they can all pool their funds.
Colleague benefits help co-workers of the person you’re writing the email to. The next step could help them get answers to their questions or let them offer feedback that will shape the implementation.
Putting it Into Practice
Imagine that you met a manager of sales operations at a conference and he agreed to a meeting after the conference. On the way home, you realize that it would be great if the manager brought along his boss, the director of sales operations.
Here’s how you’d use the Affirm - Ask - Benefit framework to make that request. Each element is highlighted: Affirm - Ask - Benefit.
Hey Jim,
Great to connect at the conference the other day!
Could you invite Jane to join us for the demo on Thursday?
It will make the best use of your team’s time to have us all on one call. I don’t want you to end up being a messenger bringing Jane’s questions to me and then bringing my answers back! This way, Jane can get quick answers to her questions and we can resolve everything efficiently.
Let me know how that sounds.
Looking forward to connecting on Thursday!
Best,
Phil
Notice three things in this example. First, the Affirm is short and to the point. The rep likes Jim but they don’t know each other that well.
Second, the Ask is set off in its own paragraph. It’s impossible to miss it.
Third, the Benefit section covers benefits to the company, to the recipient, and to colleagues. This next step is in everyone’s interest, so let’s make it happen!
The Takeaway
Deals aren’t just about selling the value of the product, they’re also about selling the value of the next step.
The Affirm - Ask - Benefit framework is a great tool for helping you put a series of productive next steps together so you can win the deal.
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If you liked this article, have a look at our piece on how to prepare for deal update calls where the prospect will share the latest on their decision process so that your team can take the momentum they build and turn it into a great deal. You can also check out the P.S.I. Selling Content Page for more insights on sales communication, strategy, and leadership.
Want to build a sales process that proves value and a team that can execute? Have a look at our services and get in touch.
For more about the author, check out Mike's bio.