In Part 1 of this two-part series, we introduced the topic of reversing. We emphasized that reversing -- answering a prospect’s question with a question-- helps you move beyond talking about pain indicators to discussing pain.
Let’s now consider other key factors related to reversing:
Remember the Sandler Rule. By reversing, you encourage a prospect to tell you more. And getting a prospect to relate more to you is critical to finding out more about the situation, like where he or she is in the buying cycle.
Prepare a list of questions a prospect may ask and how you might reverse them. If you don’t, you’ll likely wing it during your conversation. And winging it is never an option. Make developing this list part of your call preparation.
Reversing makes sure you answer the right question. Let’s say a prospect asks you how big your company is. If you don’t reverse, you might say that your company has six locations across the United States backed by a wonderful distribution system. Suppose, instead that you had reversed the question by saying, “That’s a good question. Could you please tell me more about how my company’s size could help you?” Then, you might have understood that the prospect was wondering if you had enough employees to assure continuity of service. Your answer without reversing would have been off point. Your answer after reversing would have been spot on.
Use appropriate body language to complement your reversing. Body language and voice tonality comprise 93 percent of what a prospect perceives when you communicate. That’s why it’s important to unobtrusively mirror a prospect’s body language. If a prospect is leaning forward at his or her desk, make sure to lean in also when you reverse. If you reverse while leaning back in your chair, you’ll give mixed signals instead of sure ones.
Reverse, reverse, reverse, and then reverse some more. Your primary job is to ask prospects questions by reversing. The sooner and more frequently you reverse, the closer you’ll get to qualifying a prospect and make a sale or learn that you’ll not get to a sale. Either way, you’ll save yourself prospecting time.
Have a goal in mind when reversing. Your goalmay be todetermine the cause(s) of a prospect’s pain, to assess the impact of the pain, or to find out how committed a prospect is to fixing the pain. Nothing helps you reach your goals better than to reverse.
Practice, practice, practice. Reversing is an artful behavior. It may not come easy or as fluidly as you like right away. But practice will make it so. Practice reversing during telephone conversations, at meetings, or by yourself.
Above all, reversing is like a surgical probe. It’s not a blunt instrument. When used properly to deftly--emphasis on deftly-- probe for the truth of a prospect’s situation, you stand a better chance to close more sales while keeping a prospect involved in the process.
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