When your sales people come back from a call after presenting a perfect, logical case for investing in your product or service and they get a “think it over”, don’t be surprised. That’s a logical ending to an intellectual process.
I tell my clients at our Thursday morning prospecting sessions that I don’t like making cold calls but the reality is…they work IF you do them correctly. Whether you struggle with the idea of picking up the phone without feeling like a pest or you have no problem calling people but your technique is old school, find a place where you can develop your skills in this area and it will pay!
Our brains are more powerful than any muscle in our body. Many of us work on our body image, thru the clothes we wear or the exercises we do to feel good. So why not exercise our brains to have the same effect?
Your strategies for interacting with prospects from the time you first meet them to the time you make a presentation can have a greater impact on your likelihood of closing a sale than the actual aspects of the product or service you have to offer.
The other night I walked into my house from a long day and greeted my wife with a barrage of questions. “Who’s picking up our son from school tomorrow? Are you going to workout tonight? Did you already eat dinner?” By the third question she snapped at me, “ I DON’T KNOW!!!! What’s with all the questions?”
I went to a restaurant with 9 other people a few weeks ago and the waiter took all our orders without writing anything down. That bothered me. He ended up getting most of the orders correct but one person received the wrong meal. For that person their dinner came 10 minutes late. This didn’t have to happen.
At the time I purchased my car I knew who I wanted to buy it from because I liked the salesperson. He transformed what is usually a miserable experience for many into one that made me feel confident about the whole experience. In short, I felt like I was dealing with a good friend. I don’t know how he pulled that off because I generally don’t like to be chummy with sales people when I buy things.
How quickly do you tune out when the salesperson you’re dealing with starts to give you a pitch on the product or service they’re selling? For me it’s a matter of seconds. I can see their lips moving but my mind is processing more important things like, anything other than what they are saying.
It’s important to recognize that not all RFPs are created equal. That is, there are various reasons buyers send out RFPs…not all of which are for the intention of doing business.
