(This is Part One of a five-part series)
Last week, I had the honor to speak at the National Medical Alliance sales conference in Dallas. My client, Jeff Worrell of Advantage Medical, is one of the founders of the alliance and asked me to talk to their network about some modern selling strategies.
I always start speeches by asking, “What’s the biggest problem facing you in sales today?” And as usual, the number one answer was—STALLED DEALS.
This post is for the world to see as well as for the NMA member, because we didn’t quite get to all the reasons deals stall and what to do about them.
There are five reasons your sales processes stall out.
- You haven’t found the true compelling reason the buyer has for buying.
- You haven’t made it easier to buy than not to buy.
- You haven’t laid out a process that he/she can follow.
- You’re not talking to the right people.
- You’re too desperate for the sale.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll cover the remaining four parts, but let’s start with number one—you haven’t found a compelling reason for them to change.
In the last week, I’ve run across several of my clients who are struggling with deals they thought were moving along toward the close but all of a sudden hit a road block. In this economy, the problem is even more common. It probably happens as a result of you pitching your solution before the true diagnosis has happened.
At the NMA meeting, where this problem was discussed, they call on therapists who would not dream of doing a recommended therapy program until first the problem is diagnosed and assessed. Yet, we as salespeople go in and launch directly in to the product or service, before we do an adequate diagnostic. Stop that. Right Now!
Inventory of Questions
You need an inventory of pertinent questions to ask your prospect so you can diagnose the issues. Take a lesson from your Dr. He has that clipboard with all of the same questions on it. Why? Because he wants to do a thorough diagnosis of the issues before he prescribes. He doesn’t want to forget one.
You need your own version of the Clipboard. If you’re calling on someone who is slightly different than the rest of your clients–or you’ve had a brief conversation with him/her, then write down the still-unanswered questions from that talk. But at the least, you should have an inventory of 5-10 questions that are thoughtful and meaningful so you can determine if you can help solve a problem.
Tip: Stop prescribing until the diagnosis is done. Stop pitching until you know what the pain is that the product you are pitching will solve—then you’ll find deals continue to move and not stall out. And you’ll stop wasting your time.
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Great article. There are so many new salesman who try to prescribe the correct product for the customers needs without fully knowing what the customer is looking for.
Additionally, I can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure you’re talking to the right person. Successful sales takes a great pitch, but more so than the pitch, is making sure you’re talking to the person who can decide whether or not to buy or not buy.
Great tip. So many salesman keep prescribing before they complete the diagnosis because they are anxious to make the sale. Unfortunately, they end up coming off as desperate.
Additionally, you need to make sure you are doing needs based selling. You need to sell to clients who have needs because if you aren’t they’re not going to be good clients.