PATIENCE WILL SPEED UP A SALE

  

Old sales mantra: Always be closing. Get the sale now!
The reality: You can’t close a sale at every meeting – so don’t put the customer on the defensive. If you push too hard or try to rush through a sale, a customer will “just say NO!” That’s their defence mechanism. And it works. As much as you want, and perhaps need, to close a sale, it can only happen on the customer’s timetable.
The better strategy: Be patient and always be listening. It is the best way to move the sale forward.
Remember, selling isn’t about you – it’s about your customer and the challenge they face. Your solution may, in your eyes, be the ideal answer. Yet that may not be enough for the customer to make a decision today or anytime soon.
Ultimate success often involves taking a step back to consider the two processes happening in every transaction: Your selling process and your customer’s buying process. Are they aligned? Often salespeople think they are much further along in a sale than they actually are. They get excited, and think the time is right to push hard to close. Bad move.
The inside story: Customers may not share with you where they really are in their buying process. Buying is a complex endeavour involving numerous people and internal issues. Your prospect may seem enthusiastic, yet you likely won’t be privy to what’s going on behind the scenes that will determine when the sale will happen or who the winner will be.
To determine if you are on the same timeline as your customer, consider whether you know the answers to the following questions:

• Have funds been approved/allocated for this purchase?
• When will a decision be made?
• What internal turf wars or other personal or political conflicts may impact the decision?
• Have any of the key players changed recently?

These are just some of the factors determining where the customer is in their decision to buy a solution for their current problem. Truly listen to the customer to learn what they are thinking, what they are worried about and how you can help them (not just how you can sell to them).
Stepping into your customer’s shoes gives you a better understanding of where the deal really stands in both the selling and the buying process.