Getting Decisions: A Perspective About Qualifying & Asking Good Questions

Many buying decisions are delayed due to prospect procrastination in one of two primary areas:

1. Expertise: They are unfamiliar with your solution or are not an expert like you are—so they procrastinate. They have no sense of urgency. They feel they could make a mistake or lose if they buy the wrong thing.

2. Money: Decisions that involve a significant financial investment naturally increase the prospects’ tendency to procrastinate.

The combination of an unfamiliar solution and an expensive product creates the perfect storm for prospect paralysis.

The Hard Truth: If procrastination is based in confusion or fear of making an expensive mistake, it is totally the salesperson’s fault if a sale is lost to procrastination!

Professional Selling recognizes that you must get the prospect to make a decision. You must take action so the prospect does not procrastinate. Why? Because the longer a sales cycle takes, the less the prospect retains, and the lower your chances of closing the deal.

Below is a cheat sheet of questions you can use to prompt action and get decisions.

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Coaching Clues….

 Coaches take an “Ask vs. Tell” approach. Don’t tell the employee what to do, instead
ask powerful questions. This allows the employee to create their own solutions. When
they go through the thought process to get to resolution, they are much more bought-in —
it’s their idea!
 Coaches focus on the employee vs. the task — it’s about their development.
 Coaching is not about “fixing” anyone. Again, it’s about their development and
facilitating the learning process.
 Coaches set up a clear accountability structure for action and outcomes. It helps keep
the employee focused on achieving the desired goals.
 Coaching is something that can/should happen as needed and in-the-moment, which
is the best way for learning to occur. It’s a great way to reinforce what may have been
learned in the classroom by capitalizing on those on-the-job learning experiences.

Acting more like a coach

So how can a Manager behave more like a Coach?

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 The real question is: Where in the process do they get “stuck” and “why” do the get stuck or stalled?

• Do we understand their issues, who’s involved, their “conditions and compelling reasons” for changing?
• Do we know their buying and decision-making processes?
• Do we understand where they are in their process?
• Did we “rush” through the sales process, missing critical steps or milestones?

It seems customers procrastinate for a few predictable reasons:

• They may be unfamiliar with you, your company PLUS they may have no urgency to change because we didn’t ask good questions, or enough questions to determine their compelling reason(s) to change.
• They are unfamiliar with your solution OR they are not an expert, like you. They feel like they could “make a mistake” or lose if they buy the wrong thing.
• Money: Without having done a good qualifying process to determine their compelling reasons to change, almost everything looks expensive, since there is no “value” established. This leads to indecision, procrastination and stalls.

Here are a few critical considerations and tactics to help avoid this and actions to take to keep them moving.

1. At the end of each call, you must “Recap & Review” what happened, what was discussed and what was agreed to-using your Active Listening skills.

• You mentioned that you need to…

• Your current supplier is not doing …

• You have a deadline of…

• You need ____ to make the final decision

1. After doing a “Recap & Review” of the meeting…ask one more simple question: Did I miss anything? This helps gain further input and gives the prospect the opportunity to enhance your statements and add any final understandings.
2. Next summarize the next step to MOVE FORWARD: (date/time/invite others/commitments/etc.)
3. If prospect is “non-committal” about a next step: You need to acknowledge this and nurture them and slowly and softly ask:

“(name) What is your biggest FEAR or CONCERN about moving forward with us?”  OR: “What hurdles or risks do you see in moving forward? (pause…don’t react…just listen.) Let them speak. Acknowledge their concern(s.) 

Ask them what they’d like you to do to address them. Have a conversation with the goal of creating a better & clear understanding to relieve their concerns.

1. If No Next Step: Ask why not?
2. Let them tell you…don’t interrupt; don’t make excuses; don’t start “re-selling.” Just listen. You may find out that it is something you can address…to keep the process moving; or else it is over, and you can save time and move on to another account.
3. Never leave a meeting/sales call without an “agreed to next step.” If we leave a meeting without an agreed to “next step” with the prospect, we have just lost control of the process…and the “chase” (unfortunately) will begin.

Conclusion: Identifying where & why deals get “stuck” is a critical exercise to categorize what you must do to move forward. Improving this one area can have a huge impact on your sales success and results.

Want a no risk, objective perspective on your company’s sales and business development processes, call us @ 630-560-3614 or just contact us 

And tell us what you’d like to discuss.

• Remember:  “It’s natural to be liked.”  If your need to be liked gets in the way of executing your sales plan and activities, it will have a negative impact on your sales and success. The strongest impact is usually in the beginning of the process…the cold call. Will you worry about if you are interrupting a busy person, or if they might get flustered with another sales call?
• Replace your need for approval with a need for respect!  Gaining respect from others is the key. You need to know that they respect you for your experience, your knowledge, your skills (listening & questioning), your uniqueness, your integrity and your difference. Seeking respect will get you to act and perform differently than seeking approval.
• Understand the consequences of your need for approval. If you get a high number  of “TIO’S” , call backs, “no decisions”, put-offs and stalls…it is usually because we don’t want to appear to be aggressive or pushy….and we would rather be liked or approved by the prospect. If the prospect has a problem, the way to gain their respect is to be persistent, polite and professional…ask for the appointment or decision. They will ultimately “like” you if you help solve their problem…not if you accept their stalls…because you will not have helped them with their problem(s).
• Seek approval in you personal life, not at work in your sales life. Have someone special in your life who gives you all the approval and caring so you won’t need it from prospects. If you don’t have someone today…find them!
• Overcome Rejection…quickly! Don’t dwell on the rejection…it is a waste of time and it puts you farther away from reaching your personal goals. Realize that they are not rejecting YOU as a person; they are rejecting any of the following:
  1. The call
  2. The interruption
  3. The offer
  4. The message or your approach
  5. The request…for a meeting

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Problem: good intentions, incomplete communications and missed expectations typically create delays, misunderstandings, misinterpretations and closing opportunities.

 So, what do we do to be better in our communication to get agreements & commitments?

We must adopt a clearly written letter/email that spells out the “expectations” for “Both Parties” regarding:  What is needed and expected, as a next step!

Solution: It is the: “AS WE AGREED TO LETTER.”

(This avoids the “I think I know what is going to happen; OR…You think you know what we are going to do or, have to do next” …mindreading or assumptions- don’t count.

The “AS WE AGREED TO LETTER” …

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80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients.

In 1896, Italian economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto formulated the 80/20 Rule. It states that 20% of the work force produces 80% of the results. How does the 80/20 Rule apply to you, your accounts, and your results?

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Good training will accomplish three goals:

1. It will teach skills that develop efficient work habits (behavior).
2. It will form positive attitudes that promote healthy self-esteem and belief systems.
3. It will build salespeople’s knowledge of techniques which allow for qualifying, closing, and developing relationships.

Get the most out of your Sales Training:

Basic Do’s:

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