Tweet

Get Prospects to Make Decisions

Written by: Dave Kurlan

Article Overview: What you can say to make decision making easier for your prospects.

Get Prospects to Make Decisions

Our five year-old son, often the subject of my Sales Management Blog, gave me some more material yesterday. He said, "Daddy, I need to ask you something and if you want to say no you can, I don't care, but I would really like you to help me."

I said, "Sure, what is it?"

"He said, "Would you please help me bring my robot (you know that big Sharper Image robot named Wally Robotics) downstairs?"

Not to long ago he would have demanded I bring it down for him. More recently he would have asked me to bring it down for him and I would have told him to get it himself. But when he asked so sweetly and gave me permission to say 'no' I just couldn't resist. It was absolutely, without exception, the first time I wanted to say 'yes' to something I would normally say 'no' to.

Do you give your prospects permission to say 'no'? You should. It makes it so much easier to close them. If you do give them this leeway, how and when you do so is crucial. For instance, if you call a prospect by phone and they sound rushed, it's helpful if you simply ask, "Is this a bad time?" You'll be amazed at how much more effective it is than pushing through the call with a resistant prospect. If they say they need to go into a meeting and you simply ask, "Would you like me to call back?" you'll discover the same kind of response.

But that's on the phone, trying to get to first base. What about when you're trying to score? Assuming that you're using my Inoffensive Close, if a prospect isn't able to say 'yes' simply tell them that "It's OK if you want to say 'no'..." Most prospects can't.

Related Articles
  Pharaohs and Vikings
  Autocratic Decisions
  Costly Distractions
  Closing Sales - Get the Freaking Proposal Right
  You Cant Serve Everybody so Disqualify Most

Article Tags: bad time, blog, downstairs, leeway, prospects, robot, robotics, sales management, sharper image, wally



Related Forum Posts
Re: Quote of the Day - "The only people witho - Thanks for sharing this Evan, there are some very powerful quotes in there, I particularly like this one:- You are now at a crossroads. This is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget your past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don't think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully. regards, Mal.
Re: Books for the Entrepreneur - I like "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink, and "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions" by Dan Ariely.
Re: Email Etiquette - [quote="jvprosperity":24jznj58] The P.S. suggestion is good but it depends on the type of communication (e.g. Autoresponder series verses one off emails to Clients or Prospects)[/quote:24jznj58] Andy, You are right. I was mainly referring to Auto Responder emails. To end a normal email, I attach signatures. Takuya
List of a few legitimate online business - Well My main methods to make money so far are adsense,affiliate marketing and freelancing and I think these are some more sites that can help me to make some more money.Your reviews are welcome: ::linkworth dot com>This site is awesome and offer lots of ways to make money. ::mturk dot com>complete simple mini task and get paid ::microworkers dot com>complete simple mini task and get paid ::shorttask dot com>complete simple mini task and get paid ::istockphoto dot com>sell stock photos ::eHow dot com>Make money writing ::Bukisa>Make money writing ::Associate Content>Make money writing ::Triond>Make money writing ::fiverr dot com>$5 freelancing job ::cpalead dot com>make money by completing offer ::peerfly>make money by completing offer
Simple way to avoid Cold Calling - Gary, A chiropractor I work with hates cold calling (me too!) and he uses a technique to warm people up to using his services - it's so simple! In Sales your dealing with 3 pools of people: 1. Strangers 2. Prospects 3. Returning Customers You need to move people from one pool to the next. We'll concentrate on #1 and #2 as it's most relevant to your question. My Clients does the following (you just have to tailor it to your situation - be creative). My Client (we'll call him Bob) Bob leverages his time and resources to only get people that need his offer (pain relief) to put their hand up. Dealing with Strangers can get expensive and they don't like to be told what to do as they have no trust or relationship built with him. So to get Strangers to put their hands up he writes up an offer with a free report on a particular pain relief - let's say lower back pain (note: he can simply just change lower back pain to neck pain and have a new report). and uses multiple marketing vehicles to promote the Free report - magazines, newspaper, forums, postcards, private clinics etc. The only people picking up this information are the very people Bob would like as customers as they have Lower back pain. Bob's Free report ends with him stating his services and includes a Free in-house Consultation with no obligation. You'd be surprised at how easily Bob converts Strangers into Prospects. Note: They become prospects when they ask for the Free Guide and in exchange provide their contact details. This gives Bob unlimited opportunity to contact them for the Free in-house consultation with no obligation to continue using him. At this stage Bob's ability to close the sale lies in his office providing good customer service, Bob's ability to help the prospect and provide value at the free in-house consultation. Notice, he hasn't had to pick up the phone to COLD-CALL his Stranger pool or his Prospect pool. Hope that example helps to increase your prospecting!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Mistakes Made by New or Inexperienced Sales Staff

The Digital Diet by Daniel Sieberg

Fear Factors in Small Business: Sales & Marketing

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.