Are you having a great meeting? ...

Or, Are You Selling?

Joe Marr, Sandler Training Center - Ann Arbor

www.sandlerannarbor.com

734-821-4830

Sometimes when I debrief a sales call with a client, the conversation begins with the client telling me that they had a "really good meeting" or even "a great meeting" with a prospective customer, but what is a good meeting? A "good meeting" is one where one of two things took place.  Either you "qualified" the prospect and established exactly what would happen next, or, you "disqualified" the prospect, perhaps got a referral, and then moved on.  Disqualifying a prospect means you've determined that they failed to measure up to buying criteria.

Not Just What, But Why

Now, when I ask the client that had the "great" meeting: "What's the prospect's reason to buy your stuff?"  I often hear something like: "They're a real progressive company and are always looking for new and better ways to do things, and said that they are beginning to think we can do it better."  On the surface, this sounds positive, but in reality my client doesn't have much of a "read" on this prospect.  A better "read" requires that we find out why doing "better" is important, what pain they will avoid or will go away if they fix it, and what's going to happen if they don't. If they have no real pains, or the pains that could be resolved aren't bigger than the investment in resources and money they would have to make, and/or your company doesn't fit their decision making process, they're disqualified.

With No Commitment, You've Got Hope and Prayer

These clients of mine then say something like: "Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to tell them all about my products unless I figure out that they are a fit, but they were nodding and cheering me on, they seemed to really be into my presentation. You know, come to think of it, I think they actually gave me a "standing O" at the end."  I ask: "That's great!  They didn't happen to give you a P-O at the end, too, did they?"  "No, but they told me they liked the presentation so much that they want me to go back and give the same presentation to the Executive Committee in July."  And I ask: "So when you give the presentation to the Executive Committee in July, they'll give you a PO if it's well received?"  "I don't know I hope so."

In this situation, my client really has little more than they had before the great meeting, and because they have already presented all the features and benefits of their company, they may have even given the prospective account more reasons not to do business with them.  Worse yet, they don't have a clear picture of what could happen even if they do everything right at the Executive Committee presentation.  More time, effort, energy, hope and prayer will be invested in this account before my client even knows whether this "prospect" is really in any position to do business with them at all.

Use a System

This is why diligently using a systematic approach to qualifying creates greater sales efficiency. Systematically questioning the prospect helps them discover the depth of their internal motivation for fixing the existing condition or avoiding the future problem. Talking about what they want, or their needs, is only a starting point.  Helping the prospect discover why they want it is your real goal if you want them to be emotionally invested in the process.  Because people make buying decisions emotionally and then seek to justify their decisions intellectually, helping them understand their "gut" helps keep them motivated to follow through with the buying process.

Go / No Go Are the "Good Meeting" Outcomes

So the next time you have a "great meeting," ask yourself, "What was so great about it?"  Did you get to the real pain, the underlying causes for the intellectual needs?  Did the prospect recognize and acknowledge the pain, or did they try to explain it away?  Is the prospect ready to do something now to address the pain or are they hoping it will take care of itself over time?  Is the prospect asking you "Can you help and how soon?" or are they just asking you (and 10 others) to submit your proposal?  Remember, a "good meeting" has been held when one of two things took place.  Either you "qualified" the prospect and established exactly what would happen next, or, you "disqualified" the prospect, perhaps got a referral, and then moved on.

Joe Marr is a public speaker, sales and management consultant and trainer, and runs the Sandler Training Center – Ann Arbor.  To reach him call: (734) 821-4830 or visit his website at: www.sandlerannarbor.com

© 2010 Marr Professional Development Corporation