One of the most common complaints we hear from salespeople is how hard it is to get someone to commit to an appointment.
They find their prospects using the same excuse over and over again: “I’m busy, so call me in a month.” Then, when the salesperson calls back, they are busy again and use the same excuse… “call me next month.” To make things worse, they blame this problem on the prospect. However, it is not the prospect who is to blame, but rather the salesperson. The real issue is that most of the time when your prospect says, “call me in a month”, what they really mean is “don’t call me.” Although we sense this, we are afraid to hear it. So, instead of getting a “no” and discovering there really isn’t an opportunity for us, we would prefer to chase a prospect that is unwilling to see us.
The professional salesperson operates quite differently.
They know that time is one of their most precious assets and they only want to spend it with people that really have an interest in seeing them.
They also realize that constantly hounding an uninterested prospect does nothing more than annoy people and therefore make them less likely to ever want to see you. So rather than take the classic stall of “call me next month” the professional responds differently.
They ask, “What will be different in a month and do you really want me to call?” The professional salesperson tries to get the prospect to say “no”. Then, if the answer is “yes”, they follow by saying “let’s schedule a meeting for next month now and I will call to confirm it.” What they know is that once an appointment is written in a calendar – a majority of the meetings are kept. Therefore, the key is to find out if a prospect really wants to see you and then to get them to make a commitment.
Remember, all of these stalls are a form of indecision. Professional salespeople are good at making decisions are good at getting their prospects to do the same. This simple tool will make you more appointments and more money!
Make sure your salespeople are not accepting these basic put-offs. Contact US to discuss how to help your team.
