In training literally thousands of Sales professionals, we developed a very powerful way to understand what is taking place in the Prospect’s mind during a sales presentation.
Every presentation or demonstration is designed to convince someone of something, or to move them in one believable direction or another. The key word here is believable because it has to make sense to the Prospect. That’s why companies will spend tens of thousands of dollars to create and prepare a presentation.
A presentation focuses on the benefits of a particular product or service. Created and shared properly, the presentation will ask and/or answer questions that benefit its recipient. It will walk them through a step-by-step process to direct them to consider the Presenter’s point of view, and have the Prospect moving in such as to begin thinking like the Presenter. With the proper questions and answers, you can move almost anyone to your way of thinking or at least have them consider your viewpoint. Let’s talk about how to climb “the Sales Ladder” with your Prospects.
Imagine entering into a new Prospect’s office. You have a great product or service that you sell and you want their business. (By the way, there’s something more important than their business, but that’s the topic of another article.) Now imagine that you have a ladder to climb to complete that transaction. Every rung of that ladder is a step closer to the top (where your Prospect agrees to become your Customer). Some Prospects require 10 rungs, others require 30. (That difference has to do with Decision-Making Styles, another critical topic every Sales Professional should understand.) Your goal is to always keep yourself and your Prospects moving upward and never down the rungs to where you are further away from the top.
Each and every positive or affirmative response by your Prospect is a rung up the ladder, and every negative concern or objection is a rung down the ladder. The easiest way to elicit positive responses is to ask questions that your Prospect will answer “yes,” affirming that he or she has just moved up another rung on the ladder with you. But many professional sales people do not ask positive leading questions! Their presentation leaves holes for the Prospect to voice negative objections or dwell on negative concerns. Some Prospects will never even let you know what those thoughts are. Even if your presentation is perfect, it can feel like a football play: It’s perfect on paper but sometimes your Prospect goes in another direction than you expected. So you have to be prepared to act. You must remain fluid and be able to adapt to any concern or situation, and that only comes with practice.
You may be 8 rungs up a 12-rung ladder when you move to the left and “out of nowhere,” your Prospect moves to the right by asking a negative question. First, you must realize that you both just took a step backwards down the ladder. Next, you have to answer the question with grace and confidence. Do it in an easygoing manner, and then at the end of your answer, ask a re-affirming leading question. (There really is an affirming or re-affirming question to every concern or objection. If there is not, you are not with a fully qualified prospect.) Your Prospect’s “yes” answer will let you know that their negative concern is gone and that he or she has just moved up with you to the next rung on the ladder.
Always be professional. Use the power of knowledge responsibly. And commit yourself to mastering the Art of Sales.
Author Resource:-
About the Author, Darren B. Oliver: Mr. Oliver has appeared on Bloomberg TV and Business Briefs with Walter Cronkite. His businesses have been written up in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Success, Entrepreneur, Money and other national publications. In 2002, Mr. Oliver received the honor of being named Colorado Business Man of the Year.
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