Checking the Pulse

You are ending a sales call and the buyer says: "well I need to think it over and compare with the other proposals I have, I will let you know."

What do you do?

Try some or all of these things:

Pulse Check: "Where do we stand at this point?" Be open to any answer and dig on those answers to understand your current position then deal with that with counterpoints.

No Commit: Set up a follow-up interaction and ask them not to commit to anyone until you two have spoken again. This is especially important if they still have some competitor meeting left. They are not committing to you because they want to see other options, thus you are asking them to not commit to the other options until you have gotten a chance to check back in.

Status Check Commitment: "As you look over your options, can I get your commitment to call me with any questions or concerns, including issues you believe are being won by our competition? I want to help you make the best decision possible and thus if I know where you stand I can see if I can provide a better solution. So can I have that commitment?" Don't just tell them to call you with questions and concerns, ask them to commit to contact. It won't guarantee that contact, but it will improve the chances.

There are three possible approaches (all can be used at once) to deal with "decision time" stalls. And lastly don't forget to sell the value and advantages of your solution and ask for the sale again. I would do that again before I start with these.

End of the Semester - New Start for BLOG

The Fall 2007 semester is almost complete. I have final role-plays ahead of me but otherwise not much left. I expect to see some great and some not so great final performances. As always I appreciate the general level of enthusiasm and dilligence with which the SBM'ers brought to the class. At times the whole experience burns us all out, but it is certainly a worthwhile ride.

In terms of the blog, my new plan is to have new posts each Thursday starting soon. I had a hard time fitting this into my week-to-week schedule, but I think I have a workable plan and should be MUCH more consistent with the posts. I hope you will join me regularly.