Tell your Prospects to "Jump into the pool"

Not the exact phrase, I mean. Or even an equivalent phrase that means the same but replaced with your products / services, say for ex: “Get on board, Sign up soon”. No. Instead, what I am asking you to do is this: When you align with your prospects and travel with them in their buyer’s journey, you should say and do things that eventually make them want to jump into the pool and they in fact end up jumping into the pool. It is nothing but developing the prospect / lead and using closing techniques to close. No point in repeating that the pool is in fact cool and not that deep and the water is crystal clear and the pool is clean etc. If he doesn’t know swimming, you can offer to teach him swimming if he gets into the pool. Is it a Deal ?

The sale is normally a done deal before even the sales person walks into the prospect’s office. Now, buyers are anywhere between 60% and 70% of their buying journey when they call you. They would like to hear from you that their decision [assume that he is already your customer] is in fact perfect and will go places. Prospects like to hear things that re-assures their own ideas.

If you don’t match the buyer in his journey in terms of speed, accuracy and the exact stage in his buying decision process and instead if you follow your own sales process and force the prospect to sit through that process, you have lost the deal. Remember the prospect still needs your help to cross that line, though he has made up his mind. But that doesn’t mean you should restart the whole process from the beginning.

Buyers analyze deeply and evaluate options that are in front of them before getting to a conclusion. But they need someone to endorse that decision and tell them why such a product or service is the best he / she should buy, and how it is going to change their lives forever. He still expects you to say nice things about it. Of-course, with evidence. At that moment, your confidence matters. Details can come later. You may not have the contact no of your referral customer handy but that is fine. If you say confidently that such a customer is using your product / service and this is how they benefited, that is sufficient at that moment. The details can be presented to the prospect later in the form of a case study.

All things same, between two vendors, it would be the Sales person’s ability to close. Some of the phrases / questions you can / should use during this stage are:

1. So, how soon are we starting off on this project ?
2. Will it be a wire transfer or a credit card purchase ?
3. What are some of the things you advise me to watch out for during the implementation / execution stage ?
4. Who in your team is more dependable and who are the core team members that I will be working with ?
5. What is important for you ?
6. How can I make it a big success for you ?
7. What will ensure our continued success ?
8. Will you be looking at signing up AMC for 1 year or 2 years ?
9. What are some of the things that I need to be aware of, while delivering the product / service ?
10. What are the locations that may be difficult, in terms of adoption rates for our product / service ?
11. Would you prefer that in matt finish or glossy finish ?
12. I am sure this contract is in line with your expectations. Isn’t it just perfect ?
13. Is there any question that I have yet to answer ?
14. Is there something that still bothers you from signing up / placing the order ?
15. The price is going up from next week. I am sure you would like to take advantage of the current price. Won’t you ?
16. So, if I guarantee delivery within two weeks, do we have a deal here ?

Your prospects expect your help to close. There is something still in their minds that needs your assurance or re-assurance. They are reluctant to speak about those things openly but you can uncover those by asking smart questions and satisfying the prospects with your answer to those nagging little things. Give your prospects comfort, confidence, trust, safety, zero risk, long standing reputation, proof of your expertise, your willingness to walk that extra mile etc.

Happy selling. Enjoy every bit of it. The whole world runs because someone sold something to someone else somewhere. I know that’s you !!