Are you following a sales process? If not, you are not only wasting your time, but you are also losing sales because of it. You think you are in control but in reality you are out of control.
Have you ever been rejected? If your answer is yes, you have just proven that you are not in control of the sales process; however, the buyer is in control.
Isn't it your job and responsibility as a sales professional to qualify the prospects and to reject them if they are not qualified?
Who is really qualifying? Who is really in control? The buyer!
Do you want to know why and how the buyer is in control? The answer is simple; buyers follow a buyers' sales process, just like you do when meeting with a sales person. Sales people assume they are in control by answering all the questions, but in reality it is the buyer who is in control. They actually carry out the rejection, not you.
Allow me to share the buyer's sales process with you. As a buyer, let's pretend you know you want to buy a white shirt and your budget is $40.00. You walk into a retail outlet and the salesperson approaches you and says "Hello, can I help you?"
How do you usually respond? The common answer is "No thank you, I'm just looking". The standard Step 1 in the buyer's sales process is to mislead the salesperson. You essentially lie to them.
Why do you do that? Is it because they have not earned your trust yet, or because you know they will lie to you and you are just trying to stay one step ahead of them.
Step 2 in the buyer's sales process. You find what you are looking for and call over the sales person and begin to ask relative questions. The sales person falls into your trap and you receive free consulting because they are willing to share all they know. What do you say once you have gained all the necessary information?
Step 3 in the buyer's sales process. "Leave it with me to think it over and I will get back to you?" Standard buyer's line in the sales process is to lie to the sales person again. Most sales people fall into this trap every time. As a sales person, has this happened to you?
Step 4 in the buyer's sales process comes into play when the salesperson makes a follow up call and leaves a voice mail or sends an e-mail. After all, the prospect did say he would think it over and get back to them. Buyers never get back to a sales person, nor do they answer their calls or reply to voice or e-mail. Buyers simply hide.
Your job as a professional sales person is not to get trapped by the buyer's sales process, but to have a sales process which puts you in control. You want a sales process which will allow you to quickly build rapport and to gain necessary trust.
You must set parameters in order to eliminate surprises and to establish a clear and concise process which will allow you to move forward. At the same time, you must qualify the prospect with respect to buying motivators, financial ability and decision making.
When this process is complete and everything is summarized, you will be in a position to determine if the prospect is qualified or not to allow for your time, products or services. Then and only then, you can decide to proceed with a prescription or simply walk away from the sale.
