SalesMotivation.net

by Craig James

How many times have you gotten prospects interested - grabbing their attention on your initial phone call - then spent the next two weeks chasing after them? Where did that interest go? It waned, because you didn’t take it to the next step - transforming that interest into desire. You must transform your prospect’s interest into a desire so strong that the tables turn, and the prospect is asking you when you’re available for a meeting.

How do you do this? You do it by asking questions:

* Questions that help you understand his current situation, his desired situation, and how big the gap is between the two.
* Questions that get him thinking about the consequences of doing nothing, and how wonderful things will be once he’s using your product or service.

As he’s answering your questions, listen with one thought in mind: Is the gap between his current situation and what he wants it to be big enough that he’ll want to invest time and money to bridge it? If not, what questions can I ask to increase that gap - to make deciding to do nothing more painful for him than deciding to something? When you get your prospect to that point, he’ll be eager to learn what you can do for him - and how. Simply recommend a meeting date and time, and gain agreement on them.

But what if, as is often the case, your prospect isn’t so cooperative. What if your prospect isn’t willing to answer all your questions? You need a fallback position. Your fallback position is to simply and directly ask for a brief - and I do mean brief - meeting. Ask for a 15-20 minute meeting. What could you possibly accomplish in such a short time? The purpose of this meeting is to accomplish what you didn’t get the chance to do on your initial phone call - to get your prospect excited about moving forward. From there, you can more easily schedule a normal length meeting, only this time it will be with additional members of the decision-making process.

Why specify a 15-20 minute meeting, and not just “a” meeting? Think about it: Why are most prospects reluctant to meet with you? It’s not necessarily because they don’t believe what you’re offering can help them. It’s because granting a meeting will force them to give up one of their most precious, limited resources - time. Their expectation, based on experience, is that you’re going to eat up at least an hour of their time, probably more. Who wants to commit that kind of time to meet with someone whose product they’re not even sure they need? I wouldn’t. But, if all you ask for is 15 minutes, few people will argue with you, especially if you emphasize that you’ll stick to those 15 minutes. Of course, your expectation is that as you pack up your bags at the 15-minute mark, you’ll have created such desire for your product or service that the prospect won’t let you go, and you’ll get the time needed to conduct a proper meeting.

Action item:
Make a list of a half dozen or so questions you could ask prospects to stimulate their thinking about their dissatisfaction with their current situation, and where they’d ideally like to be. Practice using these questions in role plays with your manager or with your peers. Work on transitioning to your fall back position in case a prospect doesn’t “bite.” Do this several times, then put it to work with a real prospect. I assure you that your appointment-to-call ratio will head north - in a hurry - and you’ll find yourself closing more business, faster.

About the Author

Sales Solutions Founder and President Craig James has over 12 years experience in sales and sales management, primarily in technology and software. He may be reached at 877-862-8631, by email at craig@sales-solutions.biz or on the web at www.sales-solutions.biz.