So you’re seated and the conversation’s begun. Naturally you know everything there is to know about your product or service and also a lot about the prospect. Actually you don’t even need to have this conversation, because you already know what the best solution is for this future client. Therefore you might be tempted to keep the conversation as short as possible. Quickly present your solution and ask the prospect what he thinks. Then expect nothing but a positive response and signing the contract is simply a piece of cake. Don’t jump to conclusions now and wake up to reality. The prospect’s real reasons for meeting are bound to be different to the reasons you give your prospect for purchasing your product. Remember that the prospect will only be prepared to do business with you when you bear his reasons in mind and adapt yours accordingly...
(34) Asking your prospect about his opinion will make a client out of him sooner than asking what he thinks of your opinion. ⇐
Now your prospect is really talking, it doesn’t go to say he’s telling you what you want to know. By now he should be regarding you as an advisor and confidant. Therefore he’ll gladly tell you what’s on his mind and that isn’t necessarily what you need to discover his motives for purchasing. So make sure you watch where the conversation’s going without keeping the prospect’s enthusiasm in check...
(35) Answers a client may give you are not always the answers to your questions. Luckily you’ve got check questions. ⇐
At last the prospect tells you everything you wanted to know. You’ve already thought of the right reasons for convincing him you’re the right person who can help him. That’s when you fire away. You give an effective presentation and at the end of your plea you ask: “Well Mr. Johnson, what do you say, shall we make things in order for you?” Unfortunately you didn’t see how Mr. Johnson jumped up and gave you extra attention when hearing your second point. Actually, he had been pondering on that point for the rest of the presentation...
(36) Open questions in between like: “What do you think...?”prevent a prospect from saying later on he had already lost you halfway. ⇐
The chances of your prospect deciding right away, once you’ve interested him are minimal. He’ll probably want to simmer on everything you’ve told him or might want to discuss it with someone else. Not responding appropriately to this, means throwing away your chances of turning this prospect into a client. ‘Sorry, haven’t had time yet’ or ‘We really don’t need it’ are frequently expressed reasons for bailing out. So make sure to agree on specific terms of continuation with that keen prospect. Mark every move and put it down in the notes of your conversation...
(65) He who plans ahead and sets dates together with his prospect, will prevent purchase decision postponement. ⇐
Now you’ll probably have a great time schedule in mind. Deadlines, bonuses, manpower and your holidays are truly important items. However experience shows that schedules you’d like to impose on your prospects are seldom bided by. For the prospect also finds the items he suggested himself are most important. So the trick is to let your prospect do all the planning and get this to be in line with what you already had in mind as much as possible...
(16) As your clients and prospects are limited in time and they don’t need to be flexible, they determine your time schedule. ⇐
There are all sorts of ways you can influence your prospect’s time schedule. The easiest and most frequently used is the giving of a discount to prospects who decide to become clients before a certain date. What you will discover is that prospects gladly accept such a discount and still not keep to the schedule. Try telling your prospect that he is no longer entitled to the discount you promised him. You won’t be the first salesperson who didn’t make the grade. Therefore never use price as an argument for speeding up the purchase date. For that matter, there’s only one moment in the sales process at which you should make price concessions...
(37) Only make price concessions in a face to face negotiation when your prospect immediately decides to do business with you. ⇐
Planning how to proceed is a subtle matter. Like I said before, both you and your prospect have the ideal time schedule. If you’ve had any sales training, you’ll know most training is geared to convincing prospects with the right reasons. It’s all about convincing him that what you’ve got to offer is the best thing that ever happened to him. With this sales method you may appear to be a sympathetic person to converse with, but are your motives really that honest? Don’t be so arrogant as to assume your prospect can’t see through your motives. He will only truly find you to be sympathetic when you’re able to really get under his skin and understand his principles and involve these in the sales process...
(38) It’s an advantage when prospects like you, but without your empathy it will never amount to anything. ⇐