Hey guys, this is Steli Efti with Close.io.
What do you do when a sales call goes from good to bad?
When you’re on a call with a prospect, it’s the third call, you’ve supported them through
the trial, you’ve given them the demos, you’ve answered all their questions, you’re
certain today is going to be the day you seal the deal.
The conversation starts off nicely and then it takes the turn for the worse.
They come up with all these concerns you’ve never heard about, they come up with all these
reasons why they’re hesitating to make a decision you’ve never heard about, and there’s
this growing inner feeling of, “Holy shit, this is not going to happen today.”
Here’s how most salespeople respond to that: One group, at certain times, you’ll respond
by just being defeated.
Just your body language will sink down and you’ll just think, “Oh, shit.
This sale is not going to happen, this sucks.”
You’re going to be defeated and your energy is going to drop significantly.
You’re going to still answer all their questions, but you kind of have given up on the deal
at that moment.
The other way to respond, or other people like to respond, in the exact opposite way.
When they hear that, they get angry.
They get outraged and they start to push the prospect.
They try to force the deal to happen, they’re like, “I had it!
I had enough!
I don’t want to answer any more questions, I’m going to force this person to buy right
now.”
They start selling but selling with a certain level of aggression and push.
What happens naturally in those situations is when you push, the natural laws of the
universe suggest that you’ll get a counter-reaction that’s usually opposed to your force, which
means they’re going to push back.
All of a sudden you’re strangled in this dynamic of actually convincing them more and
more that the reasons why they’re not sure about the deal are bigger reasons than they
even thought before you started pushing.
Obviously the way that I described these two reactions, both of those approaches are stupid
and are not going to get you any results.
Also, beyond just being stupid and ineffective, they will feel bad.
It’s going to feel shitty for you and your inner household.
What do you do instead?
Easy.
When you get surprised negatively by a prospect not being ready to buy, although you thought
that would be the call of the meeting, where the deal would be done, you have to take a
moment, take a deep breath, realize, “Okay, the circumstances have changed.”
Here’s the kicker, the next thing you do is you ask for help.
Just ask for help.
Just step back and go, “Listen, John, let’s step back for a second.
I want to be frank with you, I’m totally surprised that you guys are not ready to buy
today.
I expected with everything we discussed prior that today would be the day we would start
our relationship, deepen the relationship, become real partners, you guys become a customer
of ours and me being able to manage you and serve you and help you succeed.
I’m a little disappointed and I’m very surprised.
What did I do wrong?
What did I miss out on?
What did I miss?
Because being surprised by these issues that you brought up suggest that I didn’t ask
the right questions, I didn’t service you well, I didn’t serve you well, I wasn’t
paying attention enough.
Tell me, where did I mess up and what did I miss out?
What did I miss?”
It’s a very, very powerful question and you realize from a human interaction part
of you, instead of pushing, now you’re pulling.
It’s very disarming as well because you’re not telling them, “Well, blah, blah, blah,
we can do this, and this is not an issue, you should still buy blah, blah, blah, and
come on.”
Instead of that you tell them, you know what?
“Dude, I’m surprised, where did I mess up?
I thought today would be the day we’re ready to go, what did I do wrong?”
Here’s what happens most of the time: People, instead of getting their guard up, the guard
will fall down and they will try to actually tell you that it’s not your fault.
They’re going to go, “Well, no, no, no, it’s not you, it’s us.
You did a great job, you did everything right, it’s just that this and this issue is still
a problem for us.”
Don’t let them get away with it.
When they tell you that, you tell them, “No, I don’t accept that.
I realize that these are needs that you have, but it’s my job to answer all your questions,
fulfill all your needs and get you to a point where you know if you want to buy and you’re
able to actually with certainty make a decision.
By this time I should have done my job so well that you would be able to make a decision
to buy today or not.
So don’t take this away from me, this is my responsibility, it means I messed up.
I’m taking full responsibility for it and I’m not letting you get away with trying
to suggest that this was your fault in any way.”
See what I’m doing here?
Don’t let them feel bad about you, don’t let them apologize.
Own it and take responsibility of it, but at the same time, in the dynamic between the
two, ask for help.
Here’s what’s going to happen next: They’re going to tell you why they are where they
are and in most cases, they’ll bring up the real reason or they’ll highlight the
biggest reason out of everything they maybe have mentioned to you and they’ll give you
much more information than they usually would about the context of these uncertainties and
then you have an opportunity to address those and close the deal.
You’ll tell them, “Listen, we’ve been exploring this for the last two weeks,”
two months, whatever it is, six months, whatever your timeline is in the sales process, “I’m
not going to let another day go by without empowering you to make a decision.
Let’s be decisive together today.
Are you sure that what you told me is everything, because I think we can address that, solve
that, answer that, and make a decision right now, be decisive together and get this thing
done.”
Once you ask them where did you mess up, what did you do wrong and you allow them to elaborate
what happened in the past that you missed out on and why they are where they are and
what truly is the motivation behind them not feeling ready to buy, then you address that
point and you then, after you’ve pulled, you’ll push.
You’ll see that in the majority of the time, they’re going to give you the real gems,
the real reason in that kind of disarming interaction that you have with them and with
that information, you’re going to be able to close them.
So, next time somebody that was super hyped, somebody that got all the help, all the information
you are certain you would close today, if they turn their conversation around and you
realized, you have that moment of realization, “Shit, this deal is not going to happen
today.”
Take a deep breath and then ask for help.