Contrary to popular sales belief, that’s not a rhetorical question. If you’re attempting to sell something to someone, you’re interested in accomplishing a sale. Sometimes, your prospect is more interested in accepting your sales opportunity than you are in making the sale. Sound crazy (I’ve been called worse)?
To illustrate this point I would defer to asking the reader to select one item that you have, or will, purchase but were not really interested in jumping through all the research and information to make an informed decision. For me, that item is furniture. I truly dislike the process to select a piece of furniture.
I would prefer to go to one large furniture store, find a knowledgeable salesperson, tell the salesperson the type of style and purpose of the furniture and then select a piece from their inventory. Unfortunately, most salespeople are more interested in presenting their own agenda than quickly allowing me to buy the piece to satisfy my needs.
This is my point, I wanted to buy a piece of furniture as much, or more, than the salesperson wanted to sell it. What I simply needed was validation from the salesperson that my requirements for purchase would be met and that there would be no benefit for me to visit other furniture stores. Amazingly, if I don’t express complete satisfaction with the item, the salesperson might suggest for me to look around and let her know if I need further help. I wanted to be sold—but I was not going to sell myself.
Salespeople think that a kinder, gentler approach will ingratiate the customer to the salesperson and thereby effectuate a successful sale. Sometimes that might be the case, but more often the salesperson needs to be more explicit and clearly communicate to the prospect that the item in question will satisfy the prospect’s needs and that further “shopping” won’t accomplish anything of better value or greater benefit.
I wanted desperately to be taken off the market—I wanted to buy, just as much, or more than the salesperson wanted to sell.
Asking insightful questions at the initial contact with a prospect will give the salesperson a better understanding of how badly the prospect wants to buy. It is always advisable to anticipate what might be your prospect’s buying process. Due diligence and comparison shopping for price, benefits or features is always on a prospect’s mind. An effective salesperson will make it easy for the prospect to say “yes” to the proposal if the salesperson can take the prospect off the market.
