May 13, 2016 by Eric Thompson in Sales Process
Did you ever have a conversation with a prospect who suddenly, and for no apparent reason, became unreceptive to perfectly good advice?
It happens to many salespeople. Shortly after we offer advice or insights rooted from deep personal and organizational experience, to be technically correct, we find ourselves in a conversation that loses momentum … or stops altogether. In some cases, the prospect even stops returning phone calls or e-mail messages.
What happened in these exchanges?
Typically, the “good advice” we offer in such situations sounds something like this: “The problem is, Jim, you aren’t conducting assessment surveys on your new hires. You should incorporate a simple online questionnaire into your hiring process. Then I bet your turnover numbers would start to go down.”
Jim may not respond well to a message like that. Why not? Because we’re telling Jim what he “should” do – and that message is not likely to be a welcome one, no matter how much experience we have that backs it up. We’re telling Jim that what he’s doing right now isn’t what he “should” be doing. Even though our advice is sound and well-intentioned, it’s likely Jim will interpret what we’ve put forward as an unwelcome message of judgment. That’s one of the big reasons why prospects shut down and decide to keep salespeople at arm’s length … or even further away!
|
Did you find this topic useful? Sandler Training now offers public and private talks on this subject and many others. To schedule a talk or to learn more, contact Sandler Training in Wisconsin at 920-819-4186, or email ethompson@sandler.com today.
Share this article: