Of course you are. You have an insatiable appetite for new business.
You know your products and services, features and benefits and unique selling propositions.
The meeting was pre-qualified, you know your competition’s weaknesses and you’ve done enough homework to know the prospect’s needs. You have Alec Baldwin’s “Always Be Closing” speech echoing in your ears. You know it all.
Put the coffee down. You don’t know nearly enough.
Satisfy your hunger this way and you’ll make more sales:
Go into every sales opportunity full of questions, not full of yourself.
You may have all the answers, but hold your powder. Lead your prospect to those answers with great questions first. Quit pitching and listen. Even if you have to count to three, let there occasionally be a few seconds of silence while you think (or at least appear to think) about their answers.
1…2…3 Go. Your response is now personalized and targeted. Your timing is perfect. Your customer is now really listening to you. And you, my friend, are about to close that sale.
Now this little lesson of mine is no Dale Carnegie course
This approach doesn’t come naturally for me. Ask any of my partners, staff or clients and they’ll tell you that I love to talk. Thankfully, I also love to ask questions. I ask a lot of questions. Some are spur-of-the-moment and others are premeditated.
One of the things I like to hear most in a meeting is “Good question.” I actually hear that a lot.
Good questions lead to great IDEAS. And I’ve learned to accept that all the great ideas don’t have to come from me (as much as I’d like them to).
When we’re meeting with a client or prospect, whether we ask the question or have the answer that leads to a great idea, the sale is often a done deal. Then we get busy making the idea work.
What’s your approach to selling? Go ahead, I’m listening.
About The B2Bblogger: Billy Mitchell is the president and creative director of Atlanta-based B2B marketing firm MLT Creative. Located on the east side of Atlanta, GA, with a Northeast office in Rhode Island, Mitchell co-founded MLT Creative in 1984 along with partners Craig Lindberg and Glenn Taylor.
Known as the Idea Launch PadTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative’s services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.
