When you have been in a face-to-face meeting with your salesman seeking to close a deal, you start thinking about all the things you need to remember to say and what to ask.
But knowing what to say and what to ask is not the same.
For example, when I was in sales training with a partner of mine, he asked me about my methodology for asking for the business. After a while he asked why I always asked at this point in the sales conversation whether or not the customer was happy with his solution.
I stopped having questions. At the end of the first contract, a clear indicator for me that the relationship was good, my sales partner, Needle, asked whether or not. I had already closed the deal, so I didn’t have to ask again.
There’s two sides to my question. One is:
Does this contact feel that I am giving them a sales pitch?
A definite no!
The sure sign of a great sales person is someone who asks me, I wonder why? How come? What do you mean? Can you give me an example of a sales pitch that may be making the wrong impression for me to include you in my portfolio of people I should work with?
On the other side of the question is this one:
Would you say that any of the people you have worked with in your life are not doing a great job?
I say this without hesitation, because I believe that words can hurt. So if I learn from the example you are pointing out that you are not doing your job, it is very important to me to evaluate, and if I need to make changes, change the conversation around.
By making these two simple changes, you will get what you want from every sales call.
When it’s about making sure your customer feels positive about their own decision to work with you.
When in doubt, ask yourself: Now that I know what to say and what to ask, do I have positive answers?
Good Selling,
Joe D Promise
If your customer answers “No,” it’s over before the end of your sales presentation. You’ve already tried to tell your customer about how great you are and what your solution is. Don’t get nervous. They know that you know how doing their services will help them and get them even more value, but they are not sold on YOU.
Overall, this is actually always a great question to ask yourself. There is much more to get into in a conversation with a customer, but this is a great place to start. You don’t want to waste anyone’s time showing off your sales process either. You need to try to sell people on why you are best for them and where your solutions are superior.
When the customer answers “Yes” you are now in sales!
If your customer answers “No,” then your conversations are over and you never had one to begin with!
You just don’t know – what they really want.
How wide of a spectrum do you need to close your focus, on either talking to achieve your objectives that you have already discussed and agreed upon (ideally together with your customer) and bring the picture of a beneficial package to your customer.
Remember, your customer is just another person and is not a yet another thing on your resume. Don’t take them for granted. Do what you can do today to make a change in the direction of your actual conversation with them. Don’t do what you have done before with every customer. Satisfaction is a give and take. Engage in a conversation that allows you to demonstrate that you can and will be a bigger asset to them. If you do, you will develop a relationship that will make him comfortable and starting to be open to the fact that perhaps, there is something out there that will make him have more confidence in not only you, but in working with you instead of just not having you at all.
