As salespeople, it's not always obvious whether a qualified prospect is genuinely interested in doing business with us. After sales meetings, a lot of salespeople end up chasing potential clients by email, phone or any other means possible.
One way to find out if a client is interested is to ask for the order. In longer B2B sales cycles, one of the best ways to determine your prospect's interest is to suggest a next step while you're still in the meeting. Many of us have chased opportunities over and over with no result. Sometimes all you really want to know is: do they want to play ball?
It sounds simple, but it's very telling. In my experience working with salespeople, 50 to 100% of opportunities don't have a next phone call or face to face meeting confirmed.
Which leads us to this question: what does that do to the sales forecast?
The forecast is a mess
I've delivered Prospect Management workshops in over 20 countries, and there has always been a common theme. Most sales opportunities simply don't have a next step confirmed with the prospect.
So I ask the question again: what does that do to the forecast? The forecast is a mess. That's what happens.
The truth is that many salespeople are optimistic and don't want to lose an opportunity by getting the "no." They'd much rather live in a world of "maybe" and eventually try to win the business. It also proves they are working really hard. Right? Don't get me wrong. I have been there too.
Unfortunately, "maybe" doesn't pay the bills and can be a massive time waster. Give me a yes or a no and I'll deal with it. "Maybe" skews the entire forecast, and we can't properly manage from the forecast if the picture is rosier than it really is. It makes it hard to see what activity levels are needed, and hard for managers to understand what is real in the team's pipeline. It doesn't mean opportunities without a confirmed meeting have no potential. It's just not clear, and we can waste a lot of valuable time and effort.
Our job as salespeople is to be of service, deliver value, work hard, be passionate and make our number. Living in a world of "maybe" just gives us a false illusion of how healthy our pipeline really is. It also doesn't make our boss's or CEO's job any easier.
Five tips
- During a meeting with a qualified prospect, always confirm the next step with a date and time to speak or meet again.
- The next step must be in both calendars: your prospect's and yours, with a date and a time. If there is no exact date and time, it doesn't count.
- Handle the brush-off gracefully. If they say "I'm going on vacation" or "I'm on a business trip," you can say: "I understand you're going away. How about we put something in the calendar for a couple of days after you return? How is December 14th at 10 am?" If they give you the meeting, they're interested. If their answer sounds like a nice "no," you probably need to generate more interest while you are there with them. "I need to speak with my boss" or "I'll get back to you" can all be dealt with the same way.
- Book the next step while you're in the meeting. Avoid chasing them by email and phone afterwards at all costs. Once you leave without a next step, your prospect goes back to what they're busy with, and it becomes much harder to reconnect. Practise this with your colleagues. It's free, and over time you'll become more comfortable. Consciously choosing to do it every time has a powerful impact on performance.
- Remember: if they won't give you the next meeting, they are telling you something.
Originally published on LinkedIn on December 4, 2016.