On This First Day of School the Sales Coach Asks: Why in the World Would You Educate Your Prospect to Buy From Your Competitor?
You do it! It’s true and you know it! Be honest – it happens all the time. When was the last time you gave your prospect (or current client) all the information they needed to buy from your competitor? Last month? Last week? Yesterday? Hurts, doesn’t it? Do you do it on purpose? No way! But it does happen.
When was the last time you got paid to be the BEST TEACHER at your company?
Looks like this: Prospect is “interested” in something you offer. You meet with them, get the specifics and get to work. Here’s what you offer:
- Proposals
- Quotes
- Case Studies
- Engineering solutions
- Creative Ideas
- Pricing
- Proprietary (yeah right) Information
- Trials
- Demos
- Samples
So far your prospect has a lot – take a look at that list! What do you have? You have nothing!
Prospects want it this way – it keeps them in control. They will need you in 6-10 months to play this silly same game again so they can’t tell you NO – they just won’t return your call – or they’ll say, “we’re still considering it…” But that does nothing for you salespeople. When you lose control you can kiss everything good-bye.
What to do… what to do… what to do…? You know what to do – take control of the sale. Set expectations (crystal clear expectations), ask the qualifying questions (even the tough questions), make sure you are telling your story to the appropriate decision maker(s) and that you have uncovered a budget or target for the project. This is nothing new – it’s professional selling and has been that way since selling was invented.
Or you can always go back to school and get your teaching certificate…
