A prior article noted the conflict you often face when the sales process you want to follow is at odds with the evaluation process your prospect wants to follow.
Have you had a prospect express mild interest in your offering and ask you to send information? You agree, and then when you call to follow up to talk about his interest, he ignores your calls.
Have you found yourself telling a prospect everything about your offering without learning anything about the reason for his interest, his sense of urgency or his ability to buy?
Have you ever responded to a Request for Proposal (or RFP), and when you call to follow up a reasonable time afterward the prospect gives you only minimal information about the status of their decision?
These are all examples of you giving a prospect everything he asks for without getting any useful sales information in return.
This article provides a framework that can reduce or eliminate the likelihood of finding yourself in such situations.
Why Can’t They See It Your Way?
The problem in each of the preceding examples is a mismatch of expectations. It arises because each party wants to follow a decision process that serves its own interests rather than those of the other party.
Isn’t that what you’d expect?
The only way to resolve such a mismatch is to negotiate a hybrid process both parties can accept.
Start Negotiating the Moment You Have Leverage
The best time to negotiate such an agreement is early in your relationship.
The first good opportunity for doing so arises just after a prospect has acknowledged that he wants benefits you’ve described, and he has expressed interest in learning more about your offering.
It’s a good opportunity because it’s the precise moment when you start to have leverage.
You always have leverage only to the extent that the other party thinks you may be able to provide something he wants.
Swap Information for Information
Early on, a prospect probably wants to know what your offer, what it might do for them, how much it costs, who else is using it successfully, etc.
This is natural. They’re trying to figure out if it’s a good investment of their time to continue working with you.
At this stage they also hold a lot of information you want – their wants, current pain, intentions and motivations. You want to know their vision of the kind of solution they’re looking for. You want to understand their sense of urgency, their evaluation and decision process, their ability to buy, and more.
This is also natural. You’re trying to figure out if it’s a good investment of your time to continue working with them.
The strategy is to give a little information, then get a little information. Give a little more information, then get a little more.
If they withhold information, you withhold information.
Hazards of Giving without Getting
If you give them what they want before they agree on what they’ll provide in return, chances are you’ll be left empty-handed the moment they get what they want from you. They’re under no obligation to do anything they haven’t previously agree to.
Be Clear in Your Mind About What You Want
Unless you have a clear idea of what you want, you’re not likely to get it.
- What next step do you want your prospect to take with you?
- What do you need to know in order to make an effective decision whether that next step is worth your time?
For example, do you want a 30-minute phone call? A one-hour discovery session? A face-to-face meeting at their office?
For a meeting in their office, what would be the minimum qualifying information you need in order to make a good decision about whether it’s worth your time?
Trade What They Want for What You Want
From the moment they express interest in your offering, start asking for small things you want in return for each bit of information you give.
Consciously (but not obviously) deflect questions about your offering until they provide you with information you need.
How you do this is extremely important. We’ll cover that in future articles.
Think Like a Negotiator, Not a Public Servant
The main point here is that you must think like a negotiator if you want to avoid being left without the basic elements you need for an effective sales process.
The moment you’ve given them enough of the information they want, you’ll have no leverage to motivate them to share their information with you.
And without key information about them, you can’t do a proper job of selling. Your process is toast, and your likelihood of closing the sale goes way down.
Examples next time.
Stay fresh.
– Scott Silverback
Related Articles
What to Do When Your Sales Process Conflicts with Your Prospect’s Decision Process
How to Control the Only Two Things You Can
Selling and the Delusion of Control
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