He Who Hesitates...

It was a particularly positive sales call. In my excitement I almost forgot to ask the hesitation question: “What might make you hesitate in deciding to work with us?”

My prospect replied:  “I don’t have any hesitation but John Swift our president needs to sign off too—I know he thinks that sales training is a big investment for an event that never sticks.  I’m hoping I can convince him otherwise…” Suddenly I had fear in my heart.

I wasn’t surprised that there was another decision maker (which yeah, yeah, I should have asked about earlier), the big problem was that my prospect preferred to make the sale to the president on his own.  I had to rely on someone else to sell my product, a skill I’ve been honing for years, and he wants to take the ski lift to the top of the mountain on his first time out.

In the world of wholesaling, that may be an analyst who needs to sell a complex investment to the decision makers or even the advisor who needs to position a new product to a discerning client.

Bottom line they have to look good and be prepared for any curveballs.

So how can you very subtly coach your prospect so they can do what they need to do to make the sale?

I have a couple of approaches with varying degrees of success (that I will share) but first I’d like to learn from you.  How do you coach your prospects to sell your product effectively?