This Prospect Will Make Or Break Your Sales Career

 
Your effort will make or break your sales career. So will your knowledge and skill and ability to add value to your prospects' lives. So will your ability to create trusting and genuine short-term and long-term relationships with prospects, customers, managers, and suppliers.

But, perhaps more than any of the factors above, this prospect type will have more to do with your career success than any other:

The "on the fence" prospect.

This is the prospect that could fairly easily either become a customer or a no-sale. They have an interest in your product, and your company, but they also have an interest in perhaps buying from another company or buying another product, or an interest in not buying anybody's product and keeping their money instead. They are hesitant, or cautions, or not completely convinced. They've given you time to present your product and its features and benefits, they've communicated forthrightly about their needs and maybe even asked good questions. They've expressed interest and perhaps excitement about your product and about owning it, or using your service.

Yet, there they are: on top of the fence, swaying first to the "no sale" side of the fence just a bit, then over to the "customer" side a bit, and then back again, but they remain squarely on the fence.

Ultimately, though, a prospect cannot stay on the fence forever. The default decision for fence-sitters is to remain a non-customer, since buying a product requires that the fence-sitter tip to the "buy" side and off the fence. Make no mistake about it: fence-sitters are non-buyers until they get off the fence and into your customer (meaning "people who have bought from us") list.

I see many salespeople who spend tremendous amounts of time working with prospects who are simply not going to buy. Persuasion is a good thing in selling. But just as Glenn Beck is simply not going to persuade supporters of Dennis Kucinich that Beck has the "correct" political viewpoint, and Rachel Maddow is not going to persuade Texas Governor Rick Perry that she has the correct political views, a salesperson is simply not going to persuade a prospect who is dead-set against buying to buy.

I also see a lot of time and energy wasted by salespeople on prospects who are definitely going to buy. In the areas where my client companies work (one-call close, B2C selling, retail), salespeople need to do their best work with people on the fence, let those who are definitely going to buy buy, and let those who definitely not going to buy not buy.

So here's my sales training tip for the day: The prospects whom you deal with in the next year who are on the fence will make or break your sales career in the next year.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment.Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies that sell to consumers in all B2C sectors to increase sales by realizing the buying potential of every prospect.

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Comments

[Chuck Overbeck]

Skip,

Very good information; I agree. One of the biggest wastes in selling is not properly qualifying an opportunity. I have spent a lot of time helping clients with this. Without a doubt, identify and using qualification criteria is one of the best places to start when it comes to growing sales.

Thanks for the blog.

Chuck

[Chuck Overbeck]

Skip,

A very good blog. I agree with you and have witnessed what you write about many times. My experience show that one of the biggest wastes in selling is poor qualification of prospects. It is a waste that impacts the top and bottom line.

Thanks for the blog.

Regards,

Chuck

[mark pretto]

Great Post Skip
I am a sales manager for a B2C telesales company and we go for a one call,one close.We have found that call backs very seldom result in a sale. I may be wrong and it may sound a bit harsh but I would prefer to get a no on the call than a maybe.

Positive Regards

[Skip]

Chuck and Mark, thank you for the kind words.

Mark, I've often said that one of the most important jobs - and perhaps THE most important job of the salesperson is to get a decision one way or another.

[Chuck Klosterman]

100% agree with you guys. Getting a decision is the most important, and in my opinion the toughest. I am in advertising and marketing and we stick to that same philosophy. Get an answer one way or another.