Getting To “Yes” | The Motivation 101 Blog

4 Steps To Everyone’s Favorite Answer in Sales: C is not for Closing (and Neither is Coffee!)

March 5, 2010 on 8:00 am | In Getting to "Yes" | 1 Comment

Welcome to the 4th and final step in the Getting to “Yes” series! By now, all your preparation is done and you’re ready to commence with the presentation of your perfect solution and the conversion of this prospect into a client.

I know you’re probably used to referring to this part as “closing” the deal, but I’m really going to encourage you to change that to “convert” in your mind. ”Closing” conjures up images of hard-selling and manipulation, and you’ve invested far too much time and effort into this process to revert to those tired old methods now. The second a prospect feels like they are being “closed”, your chances of getting a “Yes” are seriously diminished; it’s normally at that point that the prospect drops back into “Maybe” mode, and we don’t want to drive them there.

“Closing” also has a note of finality that shouldn’t exist in a selling situation. In very few instances will this be the only time a prospect has a need for your product or service. If you “close the deal” and quickly move on to your next kill, you may miss out on those future opportunities; take the time to form a relationship by converting them into a client, though, and you’ll be the one they call next time.

When presenting your solution, you need to make the atmosphere comfortable for your prospect. Remember: uncomfortable prospects don’t buy. The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed your prospect will be. And you should be relaxed; you’ve got all the information you need and you’ve created a perfect solution, right? There’s nothing to be nervous about!

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4 Steps To Everyone’s Favorite Answer in Sales: S is For Solutions

March 4, 2010 on 8:00 am | In American Idol, Getting to "Yes" | 1 Comment

Alright: it’s time to get creative! So far in the NEADS analysis, you’ve been gatering information: asking questions about the prospect’s current solution and observing their behavior to get a feel for their decision-making modality. With all this information at your disposal (hopefully you’ve taken a lot of notes!), it’s time to enter the final phase of the NEADS process: the S, which stands for Solution.

WARNING: this does not mean it’s now time to pitch your pre-packaged, canned, one-size-fits-all, “pretty-good” solution. No, my friend; remember, you’re trying to get a “Yes”, and one sure-fire way to miss that mark is to hit your prospect with a canned pitch!

I’m constantly amazed at the salespeople I encounter who don’t get this. They listen politely while you talk about what you’re looking for, nodding their heads as if they understand and agree, then tell you why what you’re looking for isn’t really what you want, but they’d like to show you their featured product which is so much better for your situation. No thanks. When I encounter a salesperson like that, I say “Good day to you!” and go in search of a HERO instead.

What causes a salesperson to behave like this? Mental laziness! They’ve taken the time to learn just enough about their product to be able to regurgitate the company’s sales brochure. They aren’t really listening when they’re nodding their pointy-little heads, either; they’re thinking of what they’re going to say to “overcome your objections” and waiting for an opportunity to butt-in and start pitching you. It’s maddening!

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4 Steps To Everyone’s Favorite Answer in Sales: D Is For Decision Making

March 3, 2010 on 8:00 am | In Getting to "Yes", sales process | 3 Comments

Each day that passes, we’re getting closer to “Yes”. Are you excited? Great! Let’s move on to Step 2 in the Getting to “Yes” series: understanding how your prospects make decisions.

Yesterday we discussed the first three questions of the NEADS analysis: what does the prospect do Now, what do they Enjoy about what they do now, and What would they like to Alter or change about what they do now? That brings us to the D in NEADS, and the spot where I modify this Tom Hopkins piece a bit.

Tom suggests that the D stands for Decision maker, as in make sure at this point that you’re talking to a person who can actually sign on the dotted line when the time for conversion comes. I disagree for two reasons: first, this is a little late in the process to be finding out if you’re talking to the right person; you really should be trying to take care of that while you’re in Getting to “No” mode.

The second, more important reason is simply my belief that the only way you’re ever going to know whether the person you’re talking to is the decision maker is to ask them to make a decision. It’s true: we’ve all had the experience of asking the right question (“So if we’re fortunate enough today to find a solution that fits your needs, who else will be involved in making the final decision?”), getting the right answer (“Oh, no one else will be involved…this is my decision to make!”) and still hearing at the conclusion of the meeting, “Everything looks great! I just need to get my supervisor’s approval so we can move forward.”

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4 Steps to Get To Your Favorite Answer: The NEADS Analysis

March 2, 2010 on 8:00 am | In Getting to "Yes" | 2 Comments

So enough about “No” already; it’s time we take a look at the 4 steps you can follow to get you to “Yes” with those prospects who you’ve effectively qualified as good candidates for partnership. If you’ve effectively avoided any treacherous “Maybe”s along the way, your shot at getting a “Yes” is starting from a much higher place already; now comes the fun part!

Any attempt at getting to “Yes” with your prospects should start with a complete NEADS analysis (yes, I know: it’s spelled wrong again…I’m getting there). NEADS is an acronym I borrowed (and modified slightly; sorry Tom) from sales trainer extraordinaire Tom Hopkins. Hopkins talks about the sales process as a series of questions leading to a logical conclusion, the proverbial “close” (or, as I like to think of it, conversion). This post will discuss the first three letters of the acronym: N, E and A.

The N stands for Now, as in “How are you dealing with [insert specific challenge uncovered during discovery] now?” The point of this question is to set a baseline for the rest of the discussion, the foundation on which your presentation will be built. If you don’t know where you’re starting from , you’ll never know when you’ve arrived at your destination, or if you even needed to leave in the first place.

Finding out how the prospect is currently handling the problem you’d like to help them solve will also help you establish the thought process behind how they make decisions. In fact, you might ask something like “Out of curiosity, how did you come to the decision to use that solution?” This information will be critical later on, when building your solution.

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