...Or, Are You Selling?
Sometimes when I debrief a sales call with a client, the conversation begins with the client telling me that they had a ìreally good meetingî or even ìa great meetingî with a prospective customer, but what is a good meeting? A ìgood meetingî is one where one of two things took place. Either you ìqualifiedî the prospect and established exactly what would happen next, or, you ìdisqualifiedî the prospect, perhaps got a referral, and then moved on. Disqualifying a prospect means youíve determined that they failed to measure up to buying criteria.
Not Just What, But Why.
Now, when I ask the client that had the ìgreatî meeting: ìWhatís the prospectís reason to buy your stuff?î I often hear something like: ìTheyíre a real progressive company and are always looking for new and better ways to do things, and said that they are beginning to think we can do it better.î On the surface, this sounds positive, but in reality my client doesnít have much of a ìreadî on this prospect. A better ìreadî requires that we find out why doing ìbetterî is important, what pain they will avoid or will go away if they fix it, and whatís going to happen if they donít. If they have no real pains, or the pains that could be resolved arenít bigger than the investment in resources and money they would have to make, and/or your company doesnít fit theirdecision making process, theyíre disqualified.
With No Commitment, Youíve Got Hope and Prayer
These clients of mine then say something like: ìYeah, I know Iím not supposed to tell them all about my products unless I figure out that they are a fit, but they were nodding and cheering me onóthey seemed to really be into my presentation. You know, come to think of it, I think they actually gave me a ìstanding Oî at the end.î I ask: ìThatís greatóthey didnít happen to give you a P-O at the end, too, did they?î ìNo, but they told me they liked the presentation so much that they want me to go back and give the same presentation to the Executive Committee in July.î And I ask: ìSo when you give the presentation to the Executive Committee in July, theyíll give you a PO if itís well received?î ìI donít knowóI hope so.î
In this situation, my client really has little more than they had before the great meeting, and because they have already presented all the features and benefits of their company, they may have even given the prospective account more reasons not to do business with them. Worse yet, they donít have a clear picture of what could happen even if they do everything right at the Executive Committee presentation. More time, effort, energy, hope and prayer will be invested in this account before my client even knows whether this ìprospectî is really in any position to do business with them at all.
Use a System
This is why diligently using a systematic approach to qualifying creates greater sales efficiency. Systematically questioning the prospect helps them discover the depth of their internal motivation for fixing the existing condition or avoiding the future problem. Talking about what they want, or their needs, is only a starting point. Helping the prospect discover why they want it is your real goal if you want them to be emotionally invested in the process. Because people make buying decisions emotionally and then seek to justify their decisions intellectually, helping them understand their ìgutì helps keep them motivated to follow through with the buying process.
Go / No Go Are the ìGood Meetingî Outcomes
So the next time you have a ìgreat meeting,î ask yourself, ìWhat was so great about it?î Did you get to the real painÖthe underlying causes for the intellectual needs? Did the prospect recognize and acknowledge the pain, or did they try to explain it away? Is the prospect ready to do something now to address the pain or are they hoping it will take care of itself over time? Is the prospect asking you ìCan you help and how soon?î or are they just asking you (and 10 others) to submit your proposal? Remember, a ìgood meetingî has been held when one of two things took place. Either you ìqualifiedî the prospect and established exactly what would happen next, or, you ìdisqualifiedî the prospect, perhaps got a referral, and then moved on.
© Copyright 2004. Marr Professional Development Corporation