Posted on: 20 August, 2007
Author: Ari Galper
Whats the most common reason prospects stop communicating with you? They think your going to pressure them. Theyre afraid that, even if its subtle, well apply pressure to close the sale. So how do we reassure them we arent going to pressure them? By staying focused on the truth of the situation rather than on getting the sale. And by using language that clearly reflects this. Here are 5 steps to take when your preparing to call prospects that have stopped communicating with you: 1. Get Clear. Review any notes on past calls and bring yourself up to date regarding the person and the situation 2. Let Go. You may find it useful to just sit silently for a few minutes with your eyes closed, breathing deeply and consciously, accepting that this sale is probably gone. Let it go, so that when you call, theres no part of you hoping or pushing for it. You need to decide that its really not about the sale its about learning for next time. And thats a big leap, isnt it? 3. Offer an apology An apology is a very good way to eliminate any appearance of sales pressure. Youre calling to apologize for something that went wrong along the way thats caused them to stop communicating with you. Basically, you cant do anything but start with yourself. Because if you go anywhere else, theyre going to think that youre focused on just getting the sale. 4. Decide what to say When you reach them (or if you have to use voicemail or email), you can say something like this: Hi, Jim, its Kristen. I just wanted, first of all, to call and apologize. Im not calling about the sale, or about the proposal or product. Im only calling to try to get some feedback as to where we went wrong along the way that might have caused some drop-off in communication. Hi Bob, Its Tom. Im calling, not to move the sale ahead, but to apologize that we ended up not being able to connect. Im assuming that youve probably moved forward with somebody else or decided not to move ahead with the project. And thats fine, but I wanted to see if you could just help me learn, for the future, how we could have approached this, or your problem, in a different manner. 5. Act as You Would in Your Personal Life Remember to use a very natural tone of voice that shows youre not hungry for the sale. Very simply, were talking about the kind of communication that most of us use in our personal life, and applying it to the people we deal with in our business life. If you approach them in a natural, human way, theyll probably explain the situation. Prospects will most likely respond with something like, Well, let me explain whats going on. When youre not pressuring them to move the sale forward, they feel comfortable revealing to you whats happening. You may want to spend a little extra time letting them know that you really are okay with whatever happens. You cant probe for the truth or force it to appear, any more than you can force a tree to grow faster. All you can do is create a safe space that allows trust and truth to emerge. These 5 steps remove the focus on getting the sale entirely. This lets you re-build a bridge of trust so that you can reconnect at the level of human beings not in the artificial roles of buyer and seller. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com