Developing business can be a time consuming process and the selling cycle can be longer and less productive if the conditions aren’t favourable.
There are only four positions a prospect can be in:
- They have PAIN and want to fix the problem.
- They have PAIN but won’t admit its there.
- They have PAIN but don’t have or won’t put the resources into fixing them.
- They don’t have PAIN.
Which of these do you want to spend your time on?
Salespeople can often spend their time working on the wrong prospect. You absolutely have to use your best questioning skills to unwrap the prospect’s issues but if the prospect is insistent they don’t want or can’t use your product or service is it in your best interest to continue the conversation now? It may not be ‘no’ forever, but if the answer is ‘no’ now do you really want to continue trying to push that rock uphill? Are there more productive things you could be doing with your time?
Persistence is an admirable trait but we should all be able to evaluate when it’s applicable and when it’s being blindly stubborn. Ask prospects if they feel the issues you’ve mentioned may need greater attention in the future/when they would like to readdress them and what they would do at that time? You can pre-qualify their actions for the future.
Spending time trying to convince someone they’re wrong only wastes both your time and the prospects. You may burn the bridge for a return to the subject when they are more open to the admission they need your help. It also leaves the door open for you to look for those prospects who want your solutions now.
