When you finally go on that appointment that you worked so hard to set, do you find yourself on the defensive from the first moment you get out of your car? Are you spending the entire trip thinking about what you are going to say to create interest in your product or service? What do you say when your prospect asks you the price, or to do a proposal? Do you find yourself explaining how you are better than the competition when your prospect tells your they’re going to “shop your price?” Are you sharing a new idea with your prospect in order to get ahead of the competition? Let’s face the facts, if this sounds like you, you’re giving away all your best stuff and not getting paid for it! We call that “Free Consulting!”
Sometimes salespeople are so afraid they won’t get the order they try to dazzle the prospect with product knowledge and all they really accomplish is to set the sale up for the competition. In the Sandler world, we work with salespeople to get control from the beginning and keep it! If you systematically approach your selling situations, more concerned with listening than talking, and you stop giving up your expertise without a clear understanding of why and a commitment as to what happens next, you’ll be amazed at how you’ll close more sales and feel better about the ones you don’t!
If you want to shorten your selling cycle and increase your closing ratio, start selling “contracts” with your prospects that reflect your mutual goals, and stop devaluing your expertise by giving it away!
