February 22, 2011

Sales consultant Bob Croston provided an interesting piece to RAB about how your reps should deal with inexperienced buyers. Share this with your team....

When dealing with inexperienced buyers, there's great uncertainty and indecision, creating stops and starts in the sales process. You can help accelerate the deal by guiding the prospect through the buying process. Be prescriptive and follow this three step approach:

1. Map out the process.
   With the prospect, create a step-by-step timeline for the buying process and a plan for what implementation or delivery might look like. Share the plan with your prospect so you're both on the same page. Take time to walk them through the plan in detail, solicit feedback, refine and gain a shared commitment to following this process. Working with the prospect like this to spell out who does what, and when it all happens, raises the comfort level of an inexperienced buyer.

2. Leave every meeting with a specific and scheduled next step.
   Having a timeline is a great first step, but you have to execute and keep the deal moving. Take the lead, plan, and know where you want to take each interaction. Before every meeting have a specific next step in mind. As the meeting comes to an end, schedule a time for that next step on the spot. Only the unprepared waste valuable time chasing prospects by e-mail and phone.

3. Be patient and persistent.
   Uncertainty festers if you press too hard or attempt to close too soon. It's a delicate balance between keeping things moving forward and moving too fast. In situations like this, realize that the deal is never going to move as fast as you want it to move, so don't force things. The goal is steady and consistent progress.