Now What?

Have you ever walked out of a sales meeting feeling that it went really well? You had a great conversation, they seemed very interested. However, afterwards you couldn’t get the prospect to return your phone call? It leaves you scratching your head and wondering what’s going on.

What actually happens here? Most likely it is one of two things.
1. You had a great conversation because the prospect is kind but they really aren’t going to buy. In this case, you exaggerated the energy of the meeting. You convinced yourself they were interested.
2. The product or service you are selling is not a priority for the prospect. They have other, more pressing things on their plate so you keep taking a back seat. It’s not that they’re uninterested. It’s that they aren’t interested right now.

Now don’t get upset about point 1 or point 2. These happen all the time in business. It’s the nature of the beast. And the good news is there are ways around these points; things you can do to reduce or eliminate these occurrences.

Let’s start with understanding why these things happen. They happen because our focus is in the wrong place and we aren’t asking enough questions. For most of us, when we are on a sales call our focus is on getting the business. It’s easy to develop a belief about interest based on behavior instead of words. When we don’t ask enough qualifying questions we leave ourselves dependent on that behavior because the words aren’t there. And when our desire to gain the business overshadows our pragmatism, we can get ourselves in a situation where we are convincing ourselves of a better outcome than truly exists.

Listen, we can’t fix what we don’t acknowledge. My goal is not to beat us up but rather to face reality and then change how we deal with it. At the end of the day, we want to be spending our time cultivating those relationships that make sense and walking away from the ones that don’t really exist.

When we talk about questions to ask we should include those questions that are not specific to the product or service. Questions like:
What is your budget for this?
What is your timeline – sense of urgency?
What is the process you use to make decisions about this?

See what I mean? These are questions that get to the heart of how they do business, how they make decisions, and what needs to happen moving forward.

Ending the conversation with next steps – most importantly a next meeting – is also critical to making the sale. You can maintain control of the situation when you suggest a next meeting. If you discover that your contact is going to discuss the opportunity with other people in their company, suggest that you participate in that conversation. It goes something like this:

‘Why don’t we schedule a meeting with ‘john.’ This way I can be available to answer any questions he may have without you feeling like you need to have all the answers. I’d hate for you to be in a position where ‘john’ asks you something you don’t know the answer to; something we didn’t discuss that is important to him.’

See what I mean? You want to be a part of the process because you really are the only person who can answer all the questions. They should want you to help them share the value with other stakeholders in their company. And if they don’t, that’s a clue about their interest.

No matter what, you should end the meeting with another one scheduled so you don’t have to try to get that appointment through the phone or email. Moving the process forward is much easier to do while you have the prospect in front of you.

You can make a good meeting even better by controlling it with deeper questions and action steps. Create your list of questions and type them up. Carry them with you to every sales call so you don’t have to try to remember what to ask. Listen well and schedule that next meeting while you are in the room. You’ll find those ‘great’ meetings turn into business. For those that don’t, you’ll know to move on instead of continuing to pursue what isn’t really there.