No matter what you sell there are natural steps, common questions and a normal way of doing things. I often work with clients to help them define what is normal and what is abnormal. I have talked about the four buyer types in a past blog and it is true that each one operates in a different way. The difference is how slow/fast they move or how much/little detail they need. With that said, there is still some commonality to the sales process. What do I pay attention to if the prospect wants to move through the sales process in a normal vs. abnormal way? Because when something falls outside of the norm my radar detector goes up and starts flashing warning signs. I am not saying everyone has to conform but usually if something is outside the norm then typically you are loosing the deal. That makes me slow down and dig deeper so I understand what is going on. Fortunately many times you can save yourself from losing the deal if you acknowledge that there is something abnormal with the deal and act in a proactive manner before problems arise.

So what are some common warning signs you maybe losing the deal?

1)       They withhold relevant information

2)       They want way too much information for where they are at in the
sales process

3)       They want price quote or proposal prematurely

4)       They tell you there is an opportunity here but don’t let you
develop a relationship

5)       The deal moves way too slowly

6)       Typical decision makers are not involved

7)       You don’t have access to decision makers and influencers

8)       Your competition has met with the boss but you are blocked from
meeting the boss

9)       When they dictate and demand vs. collaborate

Many times we know these these red flags are there but we are too worried or scared to acknowledge them and thus continue on our normal process with our fingers crossed that these flags will disappear. The more you ignore the warning signs and not take the action needed the more deals fall through the cracks.  In summary – work proactively instead of reactively.  If you have any more warning signs that you are losing a deal I would love to hear them!

Thanks!

Do you let this guy stop you from getting the deal?

Years ago I had a scheduled an appointment with the VP of sales for FedEx. I had done everything right…found his pain, set an agenda, confirmed the appointment and tied it down to make sure it didn’t get canceled. He knew I was flying in to meet with him and had confirmed the night before. However when I showed up for the appointment he wasn’t there. I was concerned because he had confirmed and I didn’t believe anyone would miss it unless an emergency happened. I had his assistant track him down and she found him at home. He said he decided not to come in that day and that was it. So now I had a few hours before my flight out and I decided to make the best of the situation. I pulled out my org chart that I had made and started calling around. Everyone was either in meetings or out of the office. So I decided to shoot for the moon and do a cold walk-in on the CEO, Fred Smith.

With a little detective work that even Scotland Yard would have been proud of I found out that the CEO was in town and was in his office that day. I found out what building he was in and took the campus bus over to his building. When I walked in it was about 10am and the security was tight. I knew I couldn’t just ask for the CEO so I asked for the Sales VP who I knew was not there because he stood me up. So the security guard started tracking down the sales VP and after a few calls got nowhere as I knew would happen. What this did was gave me time to get to know the security guard. While I was getting to know him I asked him where he liked to go for lunch and he named his favorite place. I asked when he liked to go and if it was crowded because I liked to avoid the rush and he told me when his lunch break was. So guess what. I left and returned when he was at lunch. When I walked up to security I said “Hey you aren’t Joe…oh yea it’s his lunch time”. The point is I sounded like I belonged there!  I told the security guard that I was there to meet with Fred Smith and they told me to take the elevator to the 6th floor and he was the hallway on the right. Earlier I had found out his assistant’s name so when I got up to his office and she was there I told her I was there to meet with Fred.  It was a good idea and I almost made it all the way but unfortunately at the last minute they realized what had happened and I was excorted out by security.

Ok so I didn’t actually get the meeting but what surprised me was how far I could get with a little tenacity and creativity.  My question for you is have you ever pushed the limit and been thrown out of an office building?  I am willing to bet the most of the time you are “playing safe”. I say go for it…shoot for the moon and see just how far you can get. You may be surprised.

Good Luck!

Tired of not connecting with your Clients?

In my last post I told you about my seven components to effective communication and I let you in on what I know is the be-all and end-all when it comes to connecting with a client or prospect – your intentions. (Go check it out if you have not already.)

I have had a few of you ask me to elaborate some more on the other components.  I realize that you have heard some of these components before but maybe not in this context. The main focus of these components are to eliminate the many pointless road barriers of communication that can put many of your deals “on hold” leaving you with a lot of wasted time and unnecessary frustration. How many times have you been frustrated by a stale deal because you did not take the time to “get real” (in a professional and polite way obviously) and ask the questions that need to be asked. I see this happen in business all the time. We are too afraid that we will step on toes, cross the line, or to step out of our comfort zone that we avoid asking the questions that need to be asked. And many of the times you will not only get the answers you need, but you will end up creating better communication between you and your client! 

So here are what I see are the Top Seven Ways To Avoid BS When Dealing With Clients:

1. Intention is the first and most critical communication skill we will discuss.  Your intentions are more important than your techniques.  People can sense your intentions.  Good intentions, stated poorly, are always better received than bad intentions stated masterfully.  Prospects always intuitively sense your intentions, which are the foundation to building or breaking their trust of you.

2. Asking for what you want is the second communication skill we will discuss.  It is amazing how many salespeople don’t ask for what they want.  Yet there are two major studies showing that, if you ask for what you want, most of the time you will get it.

3. Reflective listening is the third communication skill we will cover.  Many people do this naturally.  It is the ability to really listen to what someone is saying and repeat back to them what they said.  Many salespeople, however, don’t practice reflective listening.  Instead, they have a monologue going on inside their head while the prospect is talking, so they miss valuable information that the prospect tells them.

4. The fourth communication skill we will explore is Congruency. Congruency is the ability to listen beyond spoken words.  It is the ability to observe the speaker’s tone of voice, word choices, and body language in order to hear what is being said and what is “not” being said.  In other words, is the speaker fully expressing what is going on or holding back vital information that is needed to really help solve the problem?  Being able to read non-verbal cues will tell you whether the speaker’s words are congruent with – or match – the speaker’s true thoughts and feelings.

5. The ability to listen without filtering is the fifth communication skill you should master.  It is important not to apply your own subjective “filter” to what someone else is saying.  If you don’t filter, you will be able to fully listen to what the prospect is saying without jumping to conclusions, passing judgment, or creating a “story” in your mind about what you think is going on.

6. Questioning style is the sixth communication skill we will look at.  It involves the ability to determine which questioning approach will work best to help us get to the truth, and then to use it to get a clear understanding of the prospect’s situation.  There are three different questioning styles that can be used, depending on the situation and what the prospect is saying.

7. How to have a difficult conversation is the last communication skill we will discuss.  How many times have we heard the prospect say something that we felt was incorrect or wrong, but we left it alone because we didn’t want to cause trouble?  Or how about when we accidentally misinformed a prospect about something that was critical, and we knew he or she would be angry when we called back to say we had made a mistake? 

And remember some of these may not always get you the answers that you want to hear but they will undoubtedly get you the truth! I encourage you to go try it for a week. Next time you sense that something your client/prospect is saying is not what you think is going on – ask them. Do you want that big fat deal that is a perfect fit for you and your business? – go ask for it! But always remember, you have to have good intention or else none of these will work.

Let me know what worked and what didn’t. And let others know – you can stumble, digg, email this post and much more by using the share this link below.

Thanks and all the best,