Performance Max Sales and Sales Management Tip
Subject: Buyer Seduction Creates Shortcuts

Situation:

Frank was having a rough week. Frank was overwhelmed by follow-ups to prospects who would not take his call and behind in finishing several proposals. His sales leader Mary was pushing hard to close some business in a slowing economy. Then out of the blue Frank received a call from Bill. Bill introduced himself by saying,” I have heard great things about your accounting software package. I saw a demo about a year ago, and was not in the position to buy at that time, but since then it has become apparent that our company needs to integrate this into our system.”

Problem:

Frank was getting seduced by the prospect into thinking, “wow this will be easy, it is about time something went right this week.” Zig Ziglar calls this “stinking thinking.” About then Bill said, “I need to know about pricing and availability. Bill added the tech support is important too. Tell me how that works.”

Frank began his premature presentation by discussing tech support in detail. He then discussed availability and other options and explained the investment was $9, 000 with thirty day terms.

Bill’s response was swift and unexpected. Bill said that $9,000 was quite a hefty price tag and he needed a couple of days to consider the purchase more carefully, He would call Bill back next week.

Frank got lazy; he short-circuited the selling system. He assumed Bill was sold. Frank assumed all he had to do was answer Bill’s questions give him the information needed and write the order up. He got conned into providing free advice without getting Bill to discuss why he was so excited about the accounting software package. This entire conversation was conducted while the prospect was unemotional and interested as opposed to emotional and involved.

Solution:

Do not be seduced into taking shortcuts. Remember happy prospects do not always purchase. So make sure to never assume a prospects enthusiasm means a sure sale for you. Always follow the steps in the DNA Solution Sales pyramid and fully qualify your pipeline as you run to second base. For instance, if Frank had just asked the following questions he would have been much further along:

• Bill, before we discuss pricing, help me to understand why this software is so important. (Make sure you ask this question several times with regards to the individual, company, team, and organization)
• You said it has been a year since you first saw this software. What has happened this past year to make you consider looking more closely at this software?
• What exactly were you hoping this software could do that is not being done by the existing software?

You then must add some questions that quantify the cost of these issues. Then test his level of commitment to fix these issues provided you have a reasonable solution that fits his budget and returns a significant result.