#sales #overcomingobstacles #gettingtocommittment
Dedicated to Russ: One of the best participants ever!
You secured the meeting and you were brilliant; you built rapport, you understood the customer’s needs and you had an action plan – a solution! So, how come nothing ever happened? The follow-up went flat? You wonder what went wrong? You got “YESSED!!”
As a designer and facilitator of sales training I am constantly working with sales people at all levels to help provide them with tools to “close the deal.” On of the challenges I hear on a frequent basis is that they were able to secure commitment during a meeting but when they followed up there was still no action on the part of the customer. I found myself telling them – you got YESSED! In one training session, a rather astute sales leader pondered this and said, “It is occurring to me that it is not overcoming no, but rather overcoming the YES!” He is correct! With a no you at least know what you are dealing with and can proceed with persistence or choose to spend your energy on a more welcoming prospect.
Why would a client “YES” you? There are a multitude of reasons:
- They think it is a great idea at the time.
- They do not like to disagree.
- It is a cultural thing – polite to agree.
- They would like to get you out of their face!
- They understand your point and heard what you said.
