Then and there, you know you’ve been transported to the Land of Mixed Signals. Verbals and body language sending not a unified communication, but different ones. It’s like a game of Now You See It, Now You Don’t. And that’s not good.Think about this: You’ve sold your prospect. He or she has verbally agreed to move ahead with you, and is ready to proceed. But the facial gestures you see—the wrinkled nose, the raised eye brow, the tilted head, and the eyes looking above and beyond you—tell a different story. Your gut tightens; you sense the prospect is undecided and may back out of the deal.
We’ve all been there. You were so sure you had the sale’s wrapped up. But now it’s back to square one. Prospect reactions like this can abruptly halt a sales transaction on the spot. And then comes your confusion and feeling of powerlessness.
Well, take heart. Here’s a five-step back-out prevention technique that will keep you in control and close the sale:
- Confirm that you and the prospect will do business. But make sure to confirm this in the client’s own words. If the prospect has said, “I’m ready to start. Let’s get going,” you confirm with, “I hear you. You’re ready to start and to get going.”
- Then validate what the prospect says in your words. For example: “You’re taking a good step. Moving forward is in your best interests.”
- Reconfirm the decision to proceed, again in your own words. For example, “I’m happy that we’ll be working together. Let’s get started.”
- Verbally lay out and rehearse with the prospect the specifics of the getting-started process. This includessigning the contract, agreeing on the date and time for your next meeting, the prospect’s expectations and yours, the actual first steps, your responsibilities and the prospect’s responsibilities, etc. This procedure works because it fosters the prospect’s buy in and involves the prospect as an integral participant in the start-up process.
- Make explicit your biggest fear and prompt the prospect on how to handle it. Your overriding fear is that something may arise after you leave that may alter today’s decision to work with you, when you won’t be there with the prospect. For example:
“My biggest fear,” you say, “is that that your current supplier will come back strongly with a host of reasons why your decision today isn’t good for you, and you’d be better off not changing. How will you handle this?
Then, elicit from the prospect what he or she will do to avoid back peddling away from today’s agreement with you.
There you have it. Use this technique confidently and you’ll maintain your control in the situation, keep prospects on track with a sale, and prevent them from backing out after you leave.
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