“Crystel, these people just don’t get back to me. They were ready to buy. I gave them the form to fill out and return to me to sign up and then they disappeared.”
“Gave them the form to sign up? You mean they were right in front of you, ready to buy, and you sent them home to fill out a form? “
I’ve had conversations like this one far too many times. Business owners had the opportunity to close the sale and yet they let the potential customer walk away.
In every case, the scenario was the same. They didn’t position the potential customer to buy.
Positioning is all about setting the expectation that if you and the client agree they will buy and you will deliver.
Too often we rely on the ole’ handle the objections at the close sales process. In today’s fast paced, high-demand, ever competitive world, we must do something different. If we expect to convert prospects into clients and get off the hamster wheel of chasing prospects who said yes and then disappear.
If your business requires documentation or an agreement to be signed you must have the prospect sign while they are with you or your salesperson.
But Crystel, they had to check with their spouse. They needed approval from the other business owners. They needed to check their finances. We ran out of time. They didn’t have their credit card with them. It wasn’t in their budget.
Trust me. I’ve heard them all.
Positioning isn’t about handling objections or getting a yes and waiting for them to get the documentation to you. It IS about setting the expectation, removing the objections before your meeting, and being prepared with the documentation to close.
Think about the objections that your potential clients may have. Write them down. You will use them to ensure they aren’t a challenge during the close. Stay with me. This isn’t the traditional handle the objections at the close process.
If finances may be a challenge for your prospects. Share the fee upfront. If the prospect doesn’t have the financial ability to buy your product or services, don’t waste your time or theirs. And save yourself the countless hours of chasing them down!
Make sure the decision makers are there. The last thing you want to hear is I have to check with my spouse or other business partners. This just provides for a very ugly game of telephone. Remember, no one can share your message and value like you. Don’t leave it up to the prospect to tell their spouse or partners how great you are and what your product or service can do for them.
If walking through your sales process takes two hours schedule 3 hours. Remember, it’s all about setting expectations. If you wrap up an hour early you’ve exceeded their expectations. Not scheduling enough time is a recipe for disaster. You’ll look unprepared. You probably won’t close the sale because there isn’t time or you’re so rushed to get them closed you appear unprofessional or even desperate.
Finally, set the expectation that they will buy today. Again, stay with me. I’ve practiced this method with hundreds of businesses and get proven results each time.
Now that you have your prospect and the decision makers in front of you, your first must is to position them.
It may sound something like this:
“May I take a few moments to share with you how we will spend our time today?”
“Sure.”
“Great. Thank you. I’m going to ask you a lot of questions about your business. Based on your answers I will probably have more questions. We’ll discuss what you’re great at and what we can help you with. I’ll share some solutions and make a recommendation based on those solutions. If you and I agree that we’d be a good fit I’ll show you how to get started and we’ll get started today. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds great. “
You’ve just positioned your clients that if you provide solutions they will buy from you today. And they’ve agreed.
There is no handling the objection or waiting for them to get others opinion. There is only the opportunity for you to share solutions and give them the opportunity to buy today.
Now for the close. (I’ll dig deeper into the close in another post. But couldn’t resist giving you a little in this post.)
“Based on your challenges this is the solution I recommend. We can immediately reduce the downtime and frustration with your team and customers…..(fill in your benefits to the customer here) “
“Okay, I promised you I would show you how to get started and that we’d get started today. Here’s our agreement to you. (Review agreement with them) I just need you to okay the agreement here (Signature) and we’ll get started today.”
Viola! No more chasing prospects. No more sending them back to the office or home and waiting for your agreement.
Now it’s time for you to eliminate obstacles your potential clients may have, build them into your positioning and create a positioning statement that sets clear expectations, and closes the sale.
Position Your Clients to Buy:
- Save time on chasing non buyers
- Eliminate the embarrassing I can’t afford it moment
- Increase your Conversion Rate
- Improve your sales process