How To Avoid Two Critical Sales Mistakes

By Jim Klein

In the last issue of "The Sales Advisor" I showed you how to find
the logical and emotional reasons for your prospect wanting your
product or service by asking specific open ended questions.

The answers to these questions will form the foundation for
presenting your product or service as the solution to your
prospects problems.

The next thing you must do is to determine if your prospect has the
authority to make a buying decision today, and whether they have
the finances available to make the purchase.

Another mistake many salespeople make is to assume the person
they're talking to has the decision making power for the purchase.
Sometimes, the person you're meeting with will give you the
impression they have the authority until the last minute. Quite
often, the reason for this is so they can feel important.

If your selling a product or service such as Real Estate, windows,
siding, cars, or anything else to consumers, always assume the
husband and wife will be in on the decision making process. Even if
one of them ultimately makes the decision, they will both be in on
the decision to some degree.

So, if you sell any of these types of products or services, I would
recommend setting a meeting time when all decision makers will be
available, and you will have their undivided attention. If you do
meet with only one of them, make sure you find out if the spouse
will be involved in making the final decision.

Also, don't make the mistake of assuming that if you sitting with a
couple, someone else won't be involved in the decision. I had a few
situations in Real Estate, where the couple needed the approval of
mom and dad, or someone else, before they were able to buy.

If you're in a business setting, there is a bigger chance someone
else will be involved in the purchase. Now is the time to find that
out.

There is nothing worse than going through your entire presentation,
getting the buyer all excited and revved up, and they say, "That
sounds great; however, I can't make a decision until I talk to my
partner. Can you come back next week and do this again?"

So, you must understand that you need to ask a qualifying question
to discover whether the person you're talking with is the only
decision maker involved. Here are some examples:

"Will you be the only person driving the car?

"Who other than yourself will be involved in making the final
decision?"

"Is there anyone else you usually consult with when making
decisions of this type?"

Now you need to be prepared for the answer. Many times you will
learn there are other decision makers. This can happen at any time
during the sales process, so be prepared. When this happens, gently
suggest that it might make sense to come up with a way to get them
involved with the proposal so they won't be caught off guard.

At this point, if you can, set up a follow up appointment to meet
with all the decision makers. If a face to face meeting is not
possible, say one or both are in different cities, suggest setting
up a conference call so you can get them all involved and up to
speed at the same time.

By suggesting such a meeting, you will also uncover any objections
the prospect may have, or you may learn right then whether or not
they're really interested. This will save you valuable time.

Always discuss with the original decision maker how you feel the
call should be handled, and get their input as to the best way to
proceed. Let them set up the day and time for the call. If you
initiate the contact, it may seem too push and set up some red
flags for the other decision makers.

After the call, allow all the decision makers to discuss your
proposal without you there, and set up a day and time for you to
get back to your initial contact. When you place the call, ask them
if any one has any further questions, and then close with one of my
favorite closes:

"Where do you think we should go from here"?

A few words of warning, even if the person you have been meeting
with is not the decision maker, do not let your enthusiasm with
this person wane. They can be an influencer and go to bat for your
cause.

You have gotten this far in the qualifying process, and you've
determined you have a prospect with a need and a desire to make a
change. They are anxious to find a solution for the problems you
have helped them uncover. Now it's time to determine if they have
the finances or the budget to make the purchase.

Before proceeding any further and presenting your solution, you
need to be absolutely certain the money will be there when you've
closed the sales. The time to deal with money issues is now, not
after you've made your presentation.

Begin qualifying a prospects' financial status by inquiring about a
budget. Many prospects won't give you a budget, so try offering
them solutions using price brackets. "Recently I sold two homes
similar to the one you have described to me. The selling price of
the homes ranged between $100,000 and $125,000.; can you see
yourself making an investment in that range?"

If you're dealing in monthly payments, you can adjust these figures
and the language accordingly. Knowing if the money is there to make
the purchase is a critical aspect of the qualifying process. If it
is, you're in position to continue on with the sales process.

If it's not, you need to back up and requalify their needs, and
what they're looking to buy based on the money they have budgeted

I understand if qualifying this way may seem foreign to you. Very
few sales people sell this way, and very few sales managers and
company trainers know how to train people to sell this way.

The small minority of sales people who do sell this way are the
same ones who earn 100, 250 or 500 thousand dollars a year, and
more. That's right; there are people who earn that kind of money in
sales.

In the next issue of "The Sales Advisor" I will cover the next step
in the sales process, "Get Commitments".

See you next week.

Make it a GREAT day!