Tag: Cold Calling Scripts

How to Overcome the, “My relative handles that for me” Objection

by mike

If you’re in B2C sales (business to consumer), then you’ve no doubt gotten the objection, “My relative handles that for me, and I wouldn’t be interested in changing.”

In B2B sales (business to business), this objection often manifests as, “We’ve been doing business with X for years and we get the best (rates, service, etc.) and we wouldn’t be interested in switching.”

Other variations include:

“We have a rep who visits us each week and we don’t want to do business over the phone,”

OR

“I’ve known my rep for years and we have a great relationship so I wouldn’t be interested,”

OR

“Our supplier is the boss’s son (or father, sister, pastor, etc.) and we only do business with people we know.”

The list can go on and on.

The tricky thing about this objection is that we can all relate to having a personal relationship with a family member or someone we really like and trust, so we feel awkward trying to overcome it.

Here’s the thing: sometimes this is a real objection, and sometimes it’s just a smokescreen that works on salespeople so the prospect keep using it. Either way, below are some ways to get around it, or, at least, set the prospect up so they’re thinking about you when that relationship changes:

Response One:

“I totally know how that is, and I’m not here to come between you and that relationship. But hey everything changes, as you know, and if something should change between how you’re doing things now, it’s always good to have done your research in advance so you’re not scrambling later.

Why don’t we at least get together briefly, and I’ll give you some solid options in case you ever need them…”

Response Two:

“I understand and you know _________, every now and then initiatives change. Sometimes you might need a lower price, or more variety of product, or who knows. The point is that it’s always good to know what’s out there.

How about this: it doesn’t cost anything to at least compare what’s really out there these days, and who knows, if things change with you, at least you’ll know who to call to ask questions. Let’s do this…”

Response Three:

“Glad your (brother in law, sister in law, etc.) is handling this for you, but heaven forbid anything ever happen, you know a divorce or a falling out, you’ll be happy you’ve got a good backup!

Let’s do this….(set an appointment)”

Response Four:

“Well _________, you know how life is – people can get sick, or change jobs, or whatever – the smart thing for you to do is to always have a ready back up, you know just in case…

Since it doesn’t cost anything to learn about our services and prices, why don’t I drop by…”

Response Five:

“Because things have changed a lot since you’ve been working with (him/her), I’d suggest you at least be prudent and learn about what the current market has to offer you. Who knows? You may find that there’s an even easier/less expensive option available to you and you can let them know about it!

Let’s do this…”

Response Six:

“I’m happy you’ve found someone you’ve been able to trust for all these years. Let me ask you this: If something changes with that relationship and you find that you need to look elsewhere, could I be the next in line person you speak to about getting this (product/service) from?”

[If Yes – get information and give yours, then]

“_________, just out of curiosity, what might have to happen for you to even begin looking?”

Now you have a variety of ways to handle what may have seemed like an almost impossible objection in the past. Will all these work? No. Will some of them work a lot better than what you’re probably saying now? Yes!

Qualifying for Budget

by mike

Nowadays, there seems to be a raging debate about when – and even whether or not – to qualify for budget. The new thinking seems be driven by the fear that “until we give the value of what we’re offering (meaning the demo), it’s too soon to talk money. Prospects will just say they can’t afford it.”

Given this thinking, companies are stressing just setting an appointment with anyone who will listen, and then relying on the presentation being so strong that anyone with half a brain would jump all over it and buy.

Well, if you’ve ever tried setting demos and appointments that way and then calling these “prospects” back to close them, then you know how that goes….

Not properly qualifying – up front – on the six basic qualifiers (buying motive, potential objections, decision makers, timeframe/decision process, competition, and budget) means that you’re just hoping and praying when it comes to the closing presentation.

And I can tell you from personal experience, that’s an exhausting and highly ineffective way of running your sales career or company.

So here are some scripted ways you can qualify for budget up front – without the fear of having your prospect turn you down before you get to tell them how great your product or service is:

On the prospecting call:

Option One:

“_________, I’ve got you down for a brief demo of this on (confirm day and time). Now, as you can imagine, if you like this there are various ways you can engage with us – and at different price points.

So let me ask you: If, after we go through everything, you think this can seriously help you (or drive customers/revenue to your business), would you be in a position to make a monthly investment in your business of between $200 to $400 – again, if you believed it would help you?”

Option Two:

“Well _________ obviously, there are several ways for you to participate in this if you like it, so let me ask you: if, after our presentation next week, you really like what you see and think it can drive the revenue you’re looking for – would you be able to allocate $X amount towards it?”

Option Three:

“And ________ I know you haven’t seen this yet, but if after you do you think this can be a benefit for you, could you make the budget available to get involved for just $X?”

Option Four:

“________, most of our new clients who decide to put this to work for them usually start with an initial investment of between ($X and $Y). Again, if you think this solution would work for you, where would you be along those lines?”

Option Five:

“And _________, after we go through the demo on this and you decide it’s something you’d like to take advantage of, we have three packages: Our Starter Kit for $X; our Professional Package for $Y; and our Elite Deluxe Package for $Z. Where would you see yourself, again, providing you like what you see?”

As you can tell, there are various ways of qualifying for budget, but they all have one thing in common: They qualify your prospect for budget! And you should, too. Don’t fall into the trap of “spraying and praying” as one of my companies put it.

Make it a point of thoroughly qualifying your prospects and only spending time with buyers who are able – and likely – to make the decision to do business with you…

Ask for the Sale Five Times – At Least!

by mike

How many times have you seen a commercial (either a TV ad, a public billboard, ad in a magazine, etc.) for Coca Cola? Perhaps I should say how many times a DAY do you see one?

Now you’d think that people already know about Coca Cola, but did you know that Coke still spends billions of dollars a year on advertisements?

Why do you think that is?

It’s the same reason that infomercials run over and over and over again. After you’ve seen the same infomercial 50 times, you begin to consider it. After another 50 times you think you might actually use it. Another 50 and some of you decide that you’ve got to have it – I mean, heck, they’ve run this commercial at least a thousand times, there must be some value to this, right?

I remember my first sales manager used to say to us that we weren’t even in the closing arena until we had asked for the sale at least five times (and gotten a “no” five times, by the way). After that, he’d say, you’re finally closing…

How many times do you ask for the sale? Do you ask for it in a round-about, soft way and then give up if your prospect says no? Or do you even ask for it at all?

On the other hand, how much more successful would you be if you asked for the order five times and had a prepared response to each objection and, after answering it, asked for the sale again?

Now I know there is a fine line between being obnoxious and being persistent, but the more you’re able to be persuasive and persistent, the more deals you’re going to close.

It’s like Coca Cola. If they had run one ad and quit, we’d all be drinking Pepsi today…

So, how do you ask for the order over and over again? You have options: you can use trial closes, assumptive closes or flat out closes. Here are some scripts to get you started:

Close One:

“Have I given you enough to say yes yet, or do you need to hear more?” (Soft trial close)

Close Two:

“Do you have any more questions or have you decided to put us to work for you?” (Soft trial close)

Close Three:

“Most people choose the starter pack and that works out great. Would you like that, or do you think the professional package is better for you?” (Alternative close)

Close Four:

“Our system can be set up in a matter of a week – and the sooner you give us the O.K., the sooner it’ll be working for you. Would you like to get started with this today?” (Close)

Close Five:

“….And that’s how my other client got over that hurtle. I’d recommend you do the same; you’ll always be glad you did. Let’s go ahead and get you signed up for this – which credit card would you like to use today?” (Close after overcoming an objection)

Close Six:

“Since your (partner, spouse, etc.) goes with whatever you think is best, they’ll probably go with this as well. In the meantime, let’s go ahead and get the paperwork done and a delivery date set. If they change your mind, you can simply call back in, but in the meantime, you’ll have all this completed. Now how would you like to pay for this?” (Overcoming the partner objection close)

Close Seven:

“Now ________, we can go back and forth on this and I’m sure you can come up with many more reasons not to do this – but let’s face it: you know you need it, and I know you want it! So let’s go ahead and move forward. What’s your preferred payment method today?” (Flat out close)

Close Eight:

“It sounds like you understand this now, so let’s get you started. What address do you want this delivered to?” (Assumptive close)

Close Nine:

“Did I answer that for you? Do you have any more questions? No? O.K., great – then welcome aboard! I know you’re going to enjoy this as much as my other clients do. How would you like to pay for this today?” (Close)

Close Ten:

“As my dad used to say, “There’s nothing to it but to do it!” So let’s do this today. Where did you want us to send this to today?”

If you’ve done your job and properly qualified your prospect, then chances are they actually want to buy from you. So make it easy on them by asking for the sales at least five times. Remember, the magic happens around the seventh close.

How to Handle the Wife Stall

by mike

If you sell B2C (or even B2B) and you get the “I have to convince my wife,” stall, how do you handle it?

If you’re like many of the sales reps I’ve been listening to lately, the answer is: Not very well.

So let’s start at the beginning. The first thing you need to do with this stall/objection is to isolate it. You begin by qualifying that the prospect you are speaking to is sold on your solution regardless of that the wife would say. You use:

“I understand completely – let me ask you: if your wife says she is fine with whatever it is that you want to do, would you move forward on this right now?”

If you get buy in with a “Yes I would!” then you have several courses of action to take. I like to then qualify what it would take to sell her (in other words, find out in advance of speaking to her what her concern is), so I would then ask:

“O.K., and what do you think it will take to convince her?”

OR

“All right, and what do you think is holding her back?”

OR

“What are some of the concerns she has?”

OR

“And what do you think she would need to hear to say yes to this?”

OR

“And how can I help you convince her on this?”

After you’ve gotten some input on what the potential objections of the wife are, and/or gained insight on what her possible buying motives are, then you can set up a time to speak with her (with the husband on the phone, of course) and move to close the sale. You can say either of these:

“Is she available now?”

OR

“Why don’t you go get her on the other phone now?”

If she is not available, then you need to set up an appointment to speak with her at the soonest possible time:

“How about first thing evening, what time would be good?”

To reiterate the steps above:

1) Make sure the husband (or whatever spouse or decision maker you’re speaking to) is on board.
2) Find out what the concerns or buying motives of the wife are.
3) Move to speak with her right then or at the soonest opportunity.

When you then get the spouse on the phone, you can open the call in many different ways. Here are a few:

First, use the information you received from questioning the husband:

“Hi _________, your husband has been telling me that he likes the XYZ and that you like it, too, but you just need a little more information on (whatever the concern is). Can you tell me what you’d like to know?”

OR

“Hi __________, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve been talking to (her husband’s name) and he’s quite interested in moving ahead with XYZ. What might it take to get you onboard as well?”

OR

“Hi _______, this is ______ _______, and your husband wanted me to reach out to you about the XYZ he’s been looking at. I’d like to answer any questions you have so you can feel as confident about it as he is. What would you like to ask me today?”

OR, if you know what the concern is and have a good response to it, open with:

“Hi ________, this is ______ _______, and I’ve been talking to your husband about XYZ. He tells me that you’re concerned with (go over reason), is that right?”

Now Listen….then,

“I’m glad you brought that up – you’re not the first person to have that concern. But the good news is that …” (overcome objection, then ask): “Do you see how that works? Does that make you feel better?”

If and when you get buy in, you simply close the sale with:
“Well, I guess you can see why your husband likes this. Here’s what I recommend we do…”

And ask for the deal. If she is not ready to move, repeat the above steps all the while ending with asking for the order.

Adjust any of these scripts as necessary, but then commit to using them – they’ll work for you as long as you’re willing to use them!

Ten New Ways to Handle, “We’re all set”

by mike

I receive emails from my readers all the time asking me how to handle various objections and resistance statements. A common request I get is how to handle the initial resistance statement “We are all set.” A variation of this is anything along the lines of:

“We are O.K. with our present system”

OR

“We’ve already got a company that handles that”

OR

“We’re fine for right now”

As you can see, these are all basically the same, and, more importantly, they aren’t objections – rather they are initial resistance statements or blow offs. Essentially they are saying something along the lines of: “I’m not interested in being pitched right now, please go away.”

Now here’s the thing: Because this is simply resistance and not an objection (it’s not an objection because you haven’t pitched your product or service yet. It’s like when you walk into a department store and the sales rep asks if they can help you and you blow them off with, “I’m just looking.”) Again, “We’re all set” is not an objection, just sales resistance.

And the key to handling resistance is NOT to try to overcome it (remember it’s not an objection) but rather you simply want to bypass it and get into your pitch.

So, with that in mind, here’s how you handle the “We’re all set” blow off or/and any of its variations:

“We’re all set”

Response One:

“That’s great, and I’d just like to see if we could get on your vendor list for the next time you’re in the market. Let me ask you…”

Now get into your qualifying questions…

Response Two:

“Most companies I speak with are ‘all set’ and that’s why I’m reaching out to you now – I want to give you an option for the next time you’re in need of this. Let me ask you…”

Back to qualifying…

Response Three:

“No problem. Let me ask you: the next time you’re in need of this, what’s number one on your wish list?”

Response Four:

“I understand – I didn’t expect to catch you in the market right now. Instead, let me get an idea of your perfect profile, and then I’ll send you some information you can keep on file next time you need this…”

Now re-engage by asking a qualifying question.

Response Five:

“Got it. Let me ask you: the next time you are in need of this, are you the right person to speak to about it?”

If yes, then qualify them for that next time – especially asking about timeframe, budget, etc.

Response Six:

“Understand, and let me ask you: When is your next buying season for this?”

Then keep the conversation going by asking additional qualifying questions…

Response Seven:

“That’s fine; I totally understand. And let me ask you – the next time you’re in the market for this, how many companies are you going to reach out to?”

And then ask how you can become one of them, what their budget is, who the decision makers are, etc.

Response Eight:

“No problem. What you might find helpful is to know about our special pricing and the additional services we provide. Did you know that….”

Then pitch one or two things you do that others don’t – and use a tie down!

Response Nine:

“I’m glad you said that. What I’ve found is that those companies who are already using a vendor for this are surprised to learn that….”

Give them a shocking statement about how you’ve just been rated number one, or that you give free delivery, etc. Something that will peak their interest…

Response Ten:

“No problem. Could I be the next in line company you call the next time you’re in the market for this?”

If yes,

“Great, let me get your email and send you my info…”

Then:

“And just out of curiosity, what would have to change for you to even begin looking at someone else?”

Look for an in here…

So there you have it – ten new ways of handling this age old blow off. Just remember, your goal isn’t to try to overcome this – rather, it’s to sidestep this resistance statement and get information you can use to create value and continue the conversation.

Two Great New Year’s Questions for Your Clients

by mike

Welcome back to the office, how do you feel? Overwhelmed? Under pressure already?

If so, then you’re not alone. Most company’s management and sales teams are under immediate pressure already to begin accomplishing their new goals and sales targets. In fact, this pressure is also felt in the accounting department, the marketing department, and everywhere else. You can probably feel it in your company, too.

As you speak with your clients and prospects this week, realize that they are all feeling this pressure as well. While this may seem like a bad thing, it can actually present a great opportunity for you. Here’s how I handle the companies and contacts I speak with this month:

After talking briefly about the holidays and New Year’s celebration, I always start with question number one:

“So ________, what are the top 3 initiatives for your department has this year?”

Then I hit mute and take notes.

If they need a little help here, I use layering questions like:

“What was your revenue like last year?” Or,

“What percentage increase are you asked to produce this year?” Or,

“What are you doing differently to accomplish this?”

“What do you think is most needed for you to succeed at that?”

After I’ve listened and asked layering questions and taken notes on the three initiatives, I ask question number two:

“And how can I help you accomplish that?”

Once again, I hit the mute button and take notes.

If I get an, “Ah, I don’t know,” then I once again use layering questions like:

“Have you heard of my new automated Core Inside Selling Skills Webinar Program?”

Or I ask a good assumptive question like:

“How much of a budget do you have per quarter for sales training?” Or,

“How big of a role do you think increased sales training is going to play?” Or,

“If you could wave a magic wand and get three resources to help you accomplish your goals, what would they be?”

Now I’m sure you can come up with a few of your own questions here, but you get the idea. The point is to ask questions and LISTEN to your prospect’s response. If you respect the pressure they are feeling and truly offer a way to help them, then they will engage with you – and many will even put you to work for them…

Softening Statements to Get Prospects Talking

by mike

One of the objections I always get from sales people who don’t want to use scripts is that they sound so, well, like scripts. I tell them that if they sound like they are reading them, sure, but if they internalize them and then deliver them naturally, then they don’t sound like scripts at all.

The other objection I get about using scripts is that many scripts sound very salesy. They sound too direct and pushy. Again, it’s all about how you deliver them. For example, are you matching the pacing of the person you’re speaking with? Are you using timing properly? Are you hesitating and adding the right inflection at the right time?

You see, the great thing about scripts is that they afford you greater flexibility in not only what you’re going to say, but, more importantly, how you say it. And let’s face it: inflection, pacing and tone are everything when you’re selling over the phone.

The other great thing about a carefully crafted and delivered script is that you can use softening statements if you sense your prospect is getting irritated or short or is in a hurry. If you have to ask for some sensitive information – like who your competition is, or what their budget is, or how they figure into the decision making process – you can preface your question with a softening statement to help bring the defenses of a prospect down, and to make yourself sound more natural, more real.

Here are a variety of softening statements you can weave into your opening and closing scripts to help you connect with your prospect and to get them talking:

For opening scripts:

“If you don’t mind me asking, can you tell me what you paid for that previously?”

AND

“And _________, obviously you’re going to run this by others there – do you mind me asking how you figure into the final decision process?”

AND

“ _________, don’t take this the wrong way – and I’m only wanting to know for comparison purposes – but when you got (X product or service) last time, what did you end up paying for that?”

AND

“ _________, the only reason I’m asking is that if you purchase (more than the normal amount or add on to the order) then I may be able to offer you a discount. Hey, we all like to save money, right?”

AND

“ __________, I don’t want to go above your head, but I also don’t think it’s fair for you to do my job for me – so do you mind if I ask if it’s O.K. to speak with (the boss) briefly and answer any questions he has?”

AND

“ _________, do you mind if I ask you just a couple of quick questions to see whether or not this might be a fit for you?”

AND

“I promise I won’t take a lot of your time – I know you’re busy. Can I ask how long you’ve….”

AND

“I don’t know about you – but I usually hate talking to sales people I don’t know…..Just so I can be respectful of your time, do you mind if I ask you….”

AND

“ __________, you and I haven’t spoken yet, and I hate to barge into your day, so do you mind if I take just 2 minutes to see if this is something you’d like to learn more about?”

For Closing Calls:

“Before I show you all the in’s and out’s of this, do you mind if I ask you again: what specifically are you hoping to learn today?”

AND

“Our price for this is $_____ — do you mind if I ask how that compares with what you’re spending now for all this?”

AND

“ __________, I know you want to think about this and that makes perfect sense. Do you mind if I just get an idea of what part of this is not resonating with you right now?”

AND

“ __________, please don’t think I’m being too forward here – but after we’re done and you’ve learned everything about this, is it fair that I ask you for a simple yes or no?”

AND

“ _________, would you mind if I asked you: ‘If the price on this was closer to what you felt comfortable spending, would this be the solution you’d want to go with?’”

AND

“I totally understand, believe me I do. In addition to that, though, what else might be standing in the way of you saying yes to this?”

AND

“Hey I get it – you have options and you want to talk to others. But let me ask you: from what we’ve just gone over and from what you understand about this – are we even in the ballpark for earning some of your business?”

AND

“ __________ if at any time this isn’t sounding like it’s for you – would you be willing to let me know?”

AND

“ __________ what I don’t want to do is talk your ear off. So do me a favor – if you’ve heard enough and it sounds like it’s for you – would you let me know?”

AND

“ __________ do you mind me asking why you’re still considering other companies for this?”

AND

“ ___________ I know you have a lot of options out there – would it be O.K. for me to ask you what the deciding factors will be for you?”

AND

“ __________ you know we’re not for everyone, and if we’re not for you that’s O.K., Obviously, I’d like your business, but I’d rather do what you think is right for you. Do you mind telling me what you’re really thinking about right now?”

AND

“Is there anything I can say or do to get you to reconsider?”

AND

“ _________ I know we’re not the cheapest option out there – and there are reasons for that – but is it just the price on this or are there others things keeping you from saying yes to this?”

AND

“I know I’ve given you a lot of information on this – could you give me an indication of where you’re leaning?”

As you can see, many of these responses are down to earth and real world responses – something you might say to a friend or family member. The more real you are, the more your prospects will feel it – and the more they’ll be honest with you and reveal what it might take for them to move forward with you.

The Proper Way to Handle a Call in Lead

by mike

Call in leads can be tricky. Because reps often equate the implied interest of a call in to being “qualified,” they often skip some important steps. This can happen to all sales reps and even happened to me recently…

A CEO called me the other day and wanted to know more about the kind of training I offered. Before I gave him my menu of services, I did what I teach and asked him how he found me, what motivated him to reach out to me, what he was looking for, etc.

I listened carefully as he revealed, in a candid way, what was happening with his inside sales team and what he as hoping to accomplish.

After he was done, I went over how I could help him and carefully matched up my customized solutions to each of the points he brought up. After a pause, he told me he would think about it and reach back out to me.

Now, this is usually the time that I would qualify and close, but I was on vacation when this call took place and was more interested in getting back to the museum tour I was on than I was on closing the deal (I know, shame on me). But…

When I was back in the office the following Monday, I reached out to this prospect and picked right up where I left off.

Here are two ways of handling a call in lead (the first being what I should have done on the first call, and the second what I did on the next call the following Monday):

The proper way to handle the first call:

After first hearing your prospect out and then matching up your product or services to them, you should then begin qualifying and even closing using the following questions and statements:

“What is your timeline for getting this process started?”

[If “As soon as possible”]

“O.K. – Let me check my schedule: (or your delivery/install schedule, etc.), I see that I could have you on the calendar this coming Wednesday – does that work for you?”

AND

“How does what I’ve described sound to you?”

[If “Sounds good”]

“Great – are you ready to put me to work for you today?”

AND

“Who else have you looked at for this so far?”

[If “You’re the first” or “A couple of people”]

“How does our solution sound to you?”

[If “Sounds good”]

“Great – then let’s look at our calendars and pick a date to get started…”

AND

“If this sounds good to you, are you in a position to get started today?”

[If “I’ll have to run this by (whomever)”]

“I understand. Does what we’ve just gone over sound good to you so far?”

[If “Yes”]

“O.K. Then let’s go ahead and schedule a time to speak with (whomever they mentioned) and that way I’ll be able to answer their questions as well…”

Do you see how I’m moving the call to either a close or setting up the next step? At each phase I’m taking their pulse and directing and keeping control of the call.

If you missed asking these questions on the first call, then here’s how you handle the call back:

“Hi this is ________ and I just wanted to get back with you regarding our last call. Now I know you were interested in (your service or product), and I don’t know if you’ve spoken to other companies or where you are in the process….”

[Now hit mute and listen…]

AND

“Hi this is ________ and I wanted to get back with you regarding our last call. Now I know you were interested in (your service or product), and I wanted to know what your timeline for getting started with this is…”

[Now hit mute and listen…]
And

“Hi this is ________ and I wanted to get back with you regarding our last call. Now I know you were interested in (your service or product), and I wanted to know what other questions you might have are…”

[Now hit mute and listen…]

Based on what their answers are to the above questions, you can pick up where you left off last time and resume asking the questions from the first set listed above (direct and control the call towards the close).

Either way, just remember that when you receive a call in lead, you need to still qualify and close. And if you forget or get rushed off the phone, the key is to call back within a day or two. And when you do, take the call as far as you can using the scripts above.

Boost Your Sales by Using This One Word

by mike

Catchy title, huh? “Boost your sales using just this ONE word.” Wouldn’t it be nice if there was just one magic word that could really increase your sales?

There is…

Before I tell you what it is, though, let me give you a brief background on how I discovered it. Years ago as I was struggling to make sales, I found a bad pattern had developed in terms of how my sales attempts were ending up. After pitching and pitching, most of my sales were being stalled with some variation of:

“Let me think about it,”

OR

“I’ll have to discuss this with my partner…”

OR

“O.K., why don’t you get back with me in a few weeks…”

Sound familiar? It should. Most sales presentations end this way. After racking my brain for the reason, I finally began listening to how the top closers in my company were closing their sales. And how they were opening and qualifying their prospects as well.

Turns out they all were using one magic word. And the word was….

“Today.”

Or some variation of it when they were qualifying. And that’s when I started using it as well and it didn’t just boost my sales, it catapulted it! In fact, it had much more impact than that. It also greatly reduced the number of unqualified leads I sent out and spent hours of useless time with.

Here are some examples of how to use the word today in both your opening and closing statements.:

For qualifying you must qualify the prospect’s timeline and set the proper expectation for the close. At the end of your cold call and before you schedule your demo or send your information, you must ask something like this:

“So _________, I’ve got you on the calendar to do a walk-through of our solution next Wednesday, and if after we’re done you really like this, is it something that you can make a decision on at that time?”

OR

“So _________, I look forward to our demo next Wednesday, and if after we’re done you really like this, I’m going to ask you for a simple yes or no, is that fair?”

Now in some situations if you’re dealing with an influencer, your question will be about what the next steps are, what the decision maker’s time frame is like, how many other companies they’re looking at, etc..

But if you are dealing with the owner or decision maker, you must get a firm commitment as to timeframe, ideally confirming a decision right after your pitch.

For closing calls, you use the magic word:

At the beginning of your presentation, before you go into your slide show or however you do it, you requalify by asking:

“I’m excited to show you this, and at the end if you feel this is the right solution for you, this is something you can move on today, right?”

That’s it. No wishy washy way around it. You must set a clear expectation right from the beginning (and that means on the qualifying call) and then reconfirm it at the beginning of the close.

I know what you’re thinking: “What if they say no?” Then you adjust your presentation to target their buying motive and start overcoming what their objection is. I’ve written many of scripts to help you do that, so check out my blog if you need them: https://mrinsidesales.com/insidesalestrainingblog/

Bottom line: You will make more sales faster and with less struggle if you set the proper expectation on the front call and confirm it by opening your closing call using the magic word: today.

Try it today and see for yourself.

Too Many Options? Narrow It Down to Get the Sale Now

by mike

If you sell a product or service with many add-on’s and options or choices, then it’s easy for your prospect to get overwhelmed and want to “think about it.” Many sales reps actually make it for harder for buyers to decide because they keep pitching (instead of closing) and so complicate the sale even further.

If you find that you’ve “talked past the close” as I like to say, then it might be time to un-complicate the sale and make it easy for your prospect or customer to buy something now, rather than putting the decision off.

Here are some ways you can do that. As usual, take some time to customize these to fit your product or service:

Option 1:

“Now _________ I may have made this harder on you than I should have. Let’s look at the basic package again, the (restate the easiest offer), and let me ask you: will this do most of the things you’re looking at this to do for you?”

Option 2:

“It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the choices and combinations, so let me make this easy for you: most people in your position go for our X package because they find it does everything they need it to do. And, of course, you can always upgrade later should you have the need.

So let’s do this….”

Option 3:

“I’m getting the feeling we’ve gone over too many options, and it would probably be easier for you if we just took half of these away. Which features don’t you feel you need?”

Option 4:

“I know it’s easy to go back and forth on some of these combinations, so let me ask you: is this a toss-up decision, or are you leaning towards one more than the other – and if so, which one is it?”

Option 5:

“__________, let’s step back here for a moment. You don’t have to get the package that has all the bells and whistles – unless you really want to, of course…. – so tell me, which one of these are you leaning towards?”

Option 6:

“You know, going through all the possible options and combinations could take you hours and hours. You don’t have to do that now. Instead, let’s break this down to your absolute essentials: which features can’t you live without?”

Options 7:

“If you had to pick one package/combination over another, which would it be?”

Option 8:

“With all of these options you’re going to get our (warranty, performance, delivery, etc.), so any package you pick is going to be fine for you. Tell me, what are you leaning towards right now?”

Option 9:

“__________, let’s make this simple and get you started with the basic package for now. That way you can see how this works for you, we can get into a relationship, and later, down the road, if you want to expand your coverage, you can. At least in the meantime you’re not missing out on these results….”

Option 10:

“Let do this: let’s take the premium package so you won’t have to worry later that you’re missing out on something you wish you had gotten in the beginning. With this package, you’ll get everything you need….”

Having these closes handy when you feel your prospect slipping away or having a hard time making a decision could very well save the sale for you.