We often get asked for the Holy Grail of selling, that one thing that would increase sales exponentially.
Without being patronising, we say there really isn’t just one-size- fits-all when it comes to sales.
But there are a series of components that, when applied together, help you achieve the sale more often than not.
To check if there is a chance for further engagement with a potential buyer, you can use objective criteria for assessing the sales opportunity.
These criteria can be measured, either in a monetary way or alternative options to check their viability.
Take a look at these six components and see how they fit in with your industry.
Power:
- Are you aware of the people within the company who are in charge of making decisions?
- Do you know the level of their influence and authority?
- Are you able to gain an appointment with them?
- Do you know what solutions they are currently using?
Pain:
- Do you know what buyer pains they are suffering?
- What critical business issues are they going through at present?
- What potential missed opportunities are they experiencing that you could help with?
Vision:
- What’s the company vision and how does this relate to your product?
- What unique differentials can you offer that relate to the vision?
- How does their vision help them to achieve increased market share?
Value:
- What quantifiable value can you offer to overcome their current challenges?
- How can you raise the value of the solution you can offer to the buyer?
- How can you get the buyer to buy-in to the value?
Collaboration:
- How can we collaborate with their business to help them improve their current status?
- What other firms are collaborating with them and how can we enhance their results without taking their business away from them?
- Can we reduce buyer’s risk in the ideas we have in mind?
Reason to Act:
- Is there something urgent the buyer has to achieve that your product or service can help them with?
- What would be the negative consequences of not making a decision?
- Are there other time factors that would influence the company decision-making process?
If the criteria used here are important to the company or the buyer, then the chances of making a positive decision in our favour are raised considerably.
Remember, the higher the number of positive criteria noted above, the better the chances of you achieving a favourable outcome.
Happy selling!
Sean
Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training | Image courtesy of Big Stock Photo
