When "Good" Isn't Good Enough

Here's a sales scenario:

1. You've presented your solution to your prospect.

2. You ask, "Do you like what I've designed for you?"

3. The prospect says, "It looks good."

How should you respond? Consider this approach:

"How could we make it even better?"

Give the prospect one final opportunity to opt in ("I can't think of any way to make it better") or identify unmet needs and desires ("I wish it was blue instead of green") before you close. It's those unmet needs that will creep up on you and ruin your closing, so address them before you ask your prospect for the sale.

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Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter.

Comments

[Craig Elias]

Skip has the right perspective.

My only additional point is I don't want to make it better, I want to make it perfect.

My version of Skip's question is "On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how would you rate what we have designed for you?".

If they give you annyting below a 9 ask them "What would it take to make it a 10?"

I hope that helps.

Craig

[Skip Anderson]

Thanks for your comment Craig.

I love the use of "one-to-ten" scale in selling. I use it all the time, and I think most salespeople don't use it nearly enough.

Here's a thought about perfection: When coaching salespeople and consulting with clients, I consciously try to guide others to "excellence" and not "perfection." In my view, perfection is often not attainable, so resources are sometimes wasted on trying to attain the unattainable. Excellence usually does the job quite nicely in most endeavors.

[Ian Brodie]

Oooh - I like that question. I think I'm going to start using it mysef.

Sometimes it might be tough to ask if you fear a "negative" response. But a negative response now gives you a chance to turn it around to a positive. Not hearing it leaves you in trouble.

Ian

[Karl Goldfield]

Skip,

What you are sharing here is a clear entry to the conditions of a sale. Someone liking a proposal does not mean the same thing as someone being ready to buy. By asking a question that investigates possible issues with your "good" proposal you open the door to what conditions are needed to get a purchase.

One other recommendation:

Before you present your proposal, confirm the conditions you already know. Discuss what has been met as you present it, and confirm this in agreement when you are done.

My favorite questions at the end of the cycle always begin with, "Is there anything else..."

I ask it until the answer is "No, let me go get a pen."