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Don't begin a sales interview with your presentation.
"We have a special today on heart surgery," the doctor says.
"But I don't have heart trouble," the perplexed patient responds.
"Then how about gall bladder surgery – two for the price of one this week." Absurd? Of course. But it's equally absurd for you to propose a solution before diagnosing the need.
Forget what you've been told. Forget what you've been doing. Don't begin a sales interview with your presentation. Why not? Because that would be comparable to a doctor recommending a cure before they have diagnosed the ailment.
When calling on a prospect, think of yourself as a sales doctor. Remember that people don't buy to get features or benefits. The real reason they buy is to ease or avoid pain. As soon as a prospect realizes that you have the cure for his pain, he'll close himself.
Instead of making a presentation, ask questions, following a very specific sequence.
You want to:
- Find the pain (the prospect's problems)
- Qualify the patient (the prospect)
- Propose the cure (make the presentation)
And remember, never make the presentation until you've gone through steps one and two. Done too soon, the patient may not die, but the sale will.
Find the Pain
Think of yourself as the sales doctor from the very beginning of the sales call. Start with the kind of conversation that puts the prospect at ease and establishes rapport. Then question the prospect just as a doctor would question a patient, to uncover and diagnose the symptoms. Ask an open-ended question like, "How is your present system (or service)?" Move from there to specifics. You could ask, "What don't you like about it?"; "What problems have you had?" ; "If you could change one thing, what would it be?"
As the prospect answers these questions, listen to the answers. One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is talking too much. If you're talking, you're out of control. Worse than that, you're not selling.
As the prospect answers your questions, they'll begin to reveal their pain. But don't be too quick to propose a treatment or cure. You still don't have enough information to work with; you need to dig and probe with even more questions. Just as the surgeon's tool is their scalpel, the salesperson's tools are their questions. Ask, "Is there anything else you need to tell me?" ; Continue with, "You mentioned your concern about . . . Can you tell me a little more about that? What happens then?" Keep digging, keep probing.
Once the prospect reveals their pain, you know that a need exists. But you still don't know if there's any point in making a presentation. So, move on to step 2.
Qualify The Patient
This is the point at which you find out about the prospect's "health insurance" – whether or not they have the budget to pay for the treatment – and whether they can make the decision themselves right now, or if they need a "second opinion" – perhaps another bid, or the approval of another person.
Review the problems the prospect has just revealed and ask more questions, "What kind of budget do you have for solving these problems?" Or you might be a little more specific as you test the waters, "In another office much like yours, it costs about $1,000 a month to deal with similar problems." Either of those questions will get the prospect's cards on the table and tell you whether or not you should continue.
If the prospect answers your first question with, "We really don't have a budget right now," try to get them to tell you when they will. If that approach doesn't elicit a timetable that you consider reasonable, it may be time to "go for NO" – that is, end the sales call.
Never be afraid to go for no. If you aren't going to be able to put together a package that pleases both sides, you're better off finding that out in 10 minutes than after you've wasted three hours.
In fact, no is the second-best answer you can get. The best, of course, is yes. But the answer you don't want, the one that is totally unacceptable, is, "I'll think it over." That leaves both of you in limbo. Insist – demand – that the prospect choose between yes and no.
If you come up against a problem when trying to force a decision, don't back away in order to avoid rejection. Face it head-on. Go ahead and state, "We have a problem here." Let the prospect say, "What is it?" and let them try to suggest a solution. If they can't, it's time to say, "Well, then, it sounds as if our conversation is over." If they say, "Maybe it's not over," obviously their pain is intense, they need your cure, and whatever has been the sticking point between the two of you will not – cannot – be a problem again.
If they answer your exploratory statement about cost with, "That's a lot of money!" you can respond with "Relative to what?" Ask them to suggest a number that they consider more appropriate. But beware, this shouldn't happen if you've asked the kinds of questions that reveal pain. When you go to a doctor for a routine checkup and find out that in fact your life is in danger, you'll pay anything to be cured. Nevertheless, if the prospect's answer reveals that you are too far apart to reach agreement, this too could signal that it's time to go for no.
If the situation clearly is hopeless, you can still ask, as you start to leave, "What's the real reason you aren't going to be able to use our product (or service)?" Listen to the answer, you may learn something you can use next time. Or, you may finally get the real reason – and then you can continue to resell.
If you don't encounter any problems at this stage, if the budget is adequate, then you can proceed. But you still aren't quite ready to present the cure. First, you need to determine what the timetable is and whether the prospect has the necessary decision-making authority. So, more questions.
"If we can solve that problem and stay within your budget, when can you make the decision? That question will give you both of the answers that you need and tell you whether or not you can make a statement like, "Then am I correct in thinking that after you hear what I'm going to propose, you can make the decision immediately?" When a question like that elicits a yes, your prospect has finally met the three tests for qualification: pain, money to cure the pain, and the authority to approve the cure. You are finally ready to make your presentation.
Propose the Cure
Summarize the prospect's problems just to be sure you're both on the same wavelength: "Then, as I understand it, these are the problems you're hoping I can solve..."
Present your cures for the first two or three problems. Then pause to "Take their temperature," to determine how well they are reacting to your suggested treatment. Ask brief summary questions like, "Do you see how that solves the problem? (Warning: Do not say "Isn't that right?" or "Don't you agree?" Such questions are manipulative and will make the prospect uncomfortable if they should have to disagree with you.)
As long as they don't disagree with you, however, you're well on your way to making the sale. And when you think it's just about time to close... no, you don't ask for the order. You ask a question along the lines of, "What should we do next?" or "What do you want to happen next?" When the prospect answers that kind of question, they have, in fact, closed the sale themselves
Another advantage to this approach is that it shifts the pressure from one side of the desk to the other. In the traditional sales presentation, the pressure is on the salesperson right from the beginning to prove what they and their product or service can do. The prospect can lean back in their chair, cross their arms across their chest, and wait to be impressed. But ask them what their problems are, and you've put the pressure on them – they have to think about their problems, reveal them to you, and wait for you to come to their aid and cure their pain.
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