If you have been in this sales any amount of time, you know this scenario: You finally land that initial sales meeting. You meet with the prospect and everything clicks. The business owner loves you, you find all kinds of pain, he expresses interest in the solutions you discussed, and everyone agrees the next step is to get a proposal. So you gather the data you can directly from him while you are there but there are a few things that he’s going to have to get back to you on. (in this scenario he wants to be the one to provide you with the data.) You shake hands and leave the meeting feeling on top of the world. “This one’s in the bag!”
Days pass and the data he was going to send you never comes. You call and he says, “oh right, I’ll work on that later this week.” Another week rolls by and nothing. Pretty soon he stops returning your phone calls and now he’s just another lost prospect. Unfortunately this happens far too often. Owners, decision makers, CEO’s all tend to be really bad at providing follow up data. And if enough time passes, they will forget why they liked your offering so much and disappear.
While there is no magic bullet to totally prevent this scenario, there is a basic tactic you can use to significantly improve your outcomes. “Set the next step.” No matter what stage of the process you are in, whether meeting on the phone or in person, you must set a concrete next step to let the prospect know this process is moving forward.
In the discovery meeting scenario mentioned above, when that meeting ends and you have gathered everything you can, take out your planner, smartphone or “prospect calendar” and right in front of them, with them watching you, ask them “so how much time do you need to get everything else to me?” If they say, “next week some time”, you need to respond with a specific date. “Ok great, would by next Thursday work?” He responds; “Sure I can have it to you by then.” So while he is looking at you enter into your planner, smartphone or prospect calendar that by next Thursday you’ll be receiving the final data needed for the submission. By doing this in front of your prospect, you are communicating that this is a mutually agreed upon expectation. It’s a strong message. So once you have entered that date in front of your prospect, follow up with: “great, I’ll be looking for this info by Thursday”. THEN you say, “If I have not heard from you by then, may I give you a call just to check in?” Another powerful little tactic. So now he knows that not only is everyone agreeing on next Thursday as a deadline, but also that you will be calling him if he does not come through.
Now, if there is a “magic bullet” to data gathering, here it is!
When the meeting is wrapping up and there is agreement to move to proposal, first agree on a proposal date and enter it into your tool of choice right then and there. Next, tell your decision maker that you’ll need to gather some data first and then ask him if there is anyone that he can assign to help you get what you need. If he says, “sure Sally can help get you everything.” That’s a VERY good thing! Ask him to introduce you to Sally, IN PERSON. When introduced, tell Sally that you are preparing a proposal for Mr. Prospect and he said she would be the best person to help. Turn to Mr. Prospect and thank him for his time and tell him you look forward to seeing him on the proposal date, and wish him a great day. Now working with Sally, gather everything possible while you are there. If there is anything she doesn’t have and must send you, use the same tactic as above. Get Sally to confirm a specific date by which she will be getting you what you need and tell her you will call to check in if you have not heard from her by that date. Thank Sally PROFUSELY for her help and wish her a great day. (It doesn’t hurt to later email your decision maker to inform him the date Sally promised everything by.)
The reason this is so much better is that “the boss” has assigned this task to Sally, so she is very likely to follow through. And unlike “decision maker” types, Sally is probably going to be very thorough AND timely getting you what you need.
In closing, remember to always try to work with a “Sally” to gather data. But either way, remember to PROPERLY set the next step. Remember also that setting the next step is not just for data gathering. It’s for any time you are breaking off the dialog but a next step remains. Even if you are phone prospecting and the prospect says, “I’m interested but I need to call you back.” You need to say, “great, if I have not heard back from you by tomorrow, may I give you a call just to check in?” Set a concrete next step EVERY step of the way. Not doing so leaves a nebulous, empty feeling with the prospect that is too often a set up for a deal that just fades away. Doing things the “right” way is just too easy not to do. Control the process and close the deal!
O&U!
BH