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Asking For the Money

Written by: Donald F. Pooley

Article Overview: Until you get the money you don't have a sale. Your prospect may agree with everything you say, but until he puts up the money to confirm his agreement, you don't have a sale.

Asking For the Money

Until you get the money you don't have a sale. Your prospect may agree with everything you say, but until he puts up the money to confirm his agreement, you don't have a sale.
I realised this again while talking to a young man who told me the reason he doesn't think he can sell is that he chokes up whenever he has to ask for the money to close the sale.
Early in my sales career I had this problem, and finally solved it by asking for something else. Instead of asking for money, I'd say, "Do you have your cheque-book handy?" This caused the prospect to either look for his cheque-book, or give me some excuse as to why he couldn't buy now.
The first important thing about this question is that it was very easy for me to ask, because it was a continuation of my question-based interview process. There was no sudden change of style from counselor to salesman.
The other important thing was that it told me if my prospect was willing to become a client. He or she might feel I was more interested in a nice chat than in finding out if they would willingly pay for my services. Their response to my question, "Do you have your cheque-book handy?" told me if they really intended to become my client.
You don't have a sale until the prospect pays you. And you don't have a client until the prospect pays you to be one.

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