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I was running a sales meeting for one of my favorite clients this week that sells on line advertising. During every meeting I run I always want to go over highs and lows. What was the best part of your week and what was the worst part? This week in the sales meeting there was a sales rep that was all fired up. He was completely frustrated with one prospect that he had last week.
It took him several days of going to see the client to get the appointment because, as a good sale rep should, he was waiting for a time when both decision makers would meet with him. The first decision maker was more laid back and willing to look at his product. The second decision maker who had made the original appointment was always busy and this meeting was no different. Just as the meeting started the busy decision maker had to go take care of a problem. Then when he came back he kept pushing the sales rep to move on to the next point. The meeting just did not go well.

I asked the rep why he was so frustrated with the prospect. An obvious question, right? The rep had clearly laid out that he would need 20 minutes to review the product. The prospect wasn’t respecting the reps time and that frustrated him.

This is where poker comes in. I am a big poker fan. I love the game because my ability to read and understand people gives me a huge advantage and a lot of poker games. The ability to read people can also give you a huge advantage over your completion in the poker game that is sales.

In this case the rep was frustrated even though the prospect was telling the rep how to sell him. If you looked for the sign you would have seen this huge glowing flashing neon sign above his head that said, “sell me on how this product will save me time. Close me quick!” This was a busy guy and all the rep had to do was tell him how he could save him time or make him more money so that he could hire more help. Then close him. Because he’s in a rush doesn’t mean he won’t buy, it means he wants to buy or not buy but do it quick.

The reason this sale didn’t go well is because the rep didn’t recognize what I call the “mile markers” of the sales call. Every sale has a cycle and there’s steps to that cycle. Any of you who have been through a sales training know what I am talking about. The sales cycle is usually 4 to 6 steps that include rapport building, surveying, presenting options, and closing. Right now I am not concerned with that though. I am concerned with knowing when to move from one step to the next.

In this case the prospected wanted to move right into the presenting options and the close. He didn’t give a rip about the rapport building or the survey. Don’t ask this guy questions. Just get to the point. The fact that the rep didn’t do this even though the prospect was giving him the que to move on, or as I call them the mile markers, he didn’t. This upset the prospect because it violated the sales cycle. It created a cycle violation. If you violate the sales cycle by ignoring the mile markers the prospect give you then you are more than likely going to lose the sale. If you try to close right away and the prospects wants more of a survey you have violated the sales cycle. If you try to close and you haven’t done a good job presenting options you’ve violated the cycle. If the prospect wants to build a relationship with some rapport and you start up with the questions for the survey you’ve violated the cycle.

So how do you tell what the mile markers are? That’s a whole class in itself but the first thing you do is start watching and listening to you prospect. If they are laid back and asking you a lot of personal questions then stick with them on the personal stuff for awhile. If they are asking questions about specific product features then get ready to present options. If they are asking about things like money, product details, referrals, specific features then they are telling you to focus on selling those things to this prospect.

Sales gets a whole lot easier when you start to play poker with your clients.

And here’s a bonus tip. What did I tell the rep that was frustrated to do next time? This week that whole sales force is prioritizing the most important things that clients have to know about their product. If you only get to tell your prospect two or three or five things what are you going to tell them? If a prospect wants you to get going then shut the presentation book or the laptop and just give them the information they are looking for.