How Did I Get Here?

Who said that?

On a sales call, do you find yourself explaining and educating to establish your credibility and expertise? Are you displaying your knowledge in the hopes of generating interest and enthusiasm? Are you presenting the unique aspects of your product or service and discussing all the benefits of working with your company…backed up, of course, with testimonials and awards?

If you answered "yes," you most likely talk too much.

At the end of a sales call, your prospect has learned more about you, your company, and your product or services than you have learned about your prospect. Do you know the prospect's perceptions about salespeople? Do you know the prospect's preferences for doing business? Do you know how the prospect makes buying decisions for products and services like yours? Do you know about the prospect's past experience with similar products or services - what was favorable and what wasn't…what worked and what didn't?

What happened?

After the sales call, when you're back in your office, do you find yourself trying to figure out some critical elements like how much time or money the prospect would invest in your service? Or, what they would need to see or hear to be comfortable to say yes and what would cause them to say no? Do you know the prospect's level of commitment to and timeframe for making a buying decision? Can you say for sure why some prospects buy from you and why some don't?

If these questions hit a little too close to home, you are most likely relying on mind reading (and perhaps a little wishing and hoping) rather than your ability to ask questions…specific and sometimes tough questions…and get answers.

If asking questions to obtain information is uncomfortable or even difficult for you, then you're probably finding it just as difficult to ask your prospects to make commitments and decisions. What's the result? You do all the work and jump through the hoops while your prospect's sense of urgency seems to disappear. The next thing you know, the prospect is unreachable and doesn't respond to your numerous calls and voice-mail messages.

What can you do?

The first thing you can do is decide that you will do something. Just how much longer will you put up with the roadblocks that have been holding you back?

The second thing you can do is accept the fact that you will have to make some changes. Usually, it's not for the lack of trying that you find yourself in the above situations. Perhaps, you need a different set of questions. Maybe you need to ask them in a more effective manner. More likely, it's a combination of fears - Oh, I could never ask a prospect that question - and your self-limiting beliefs-Prospects aren't going to reveal that information even if I do ask-which handicap and prevent you from breaking through the barriers to greater levels of success.

The third thing you can do is plant your feet and exercise your rights. That's right. Salespeople have rights, too! They have the right to the truth, even though sometimes it's not what they want to hear. They have the right to ask questions to determine where they are in the selling process and what's going to happen next. They have the right to determine, early in the process, if there is a real business opportunity so they can decide where and with whom to invest their time.

What will you do?

Notice the sequence of the three-step solution. You must first decide to change - and be committed to it - before anything will happen. As you begin to change your beliefs and behaviors and exercise your rights, there will undoubtedly be some short-term discomfort - the kind that accompanies change. This discomfort is short-lived, however, and well worth the trade-off of greater long-term success.

By Ken W. Edmundson
Edmundson Northstar Companies