Bill James Give away Control and Make the Sale by Asking Permission.........
For decades, those in sales have been told to keep control and steer the client, yet in today’s business environment,
clients are savvy and resistant to ‘being sold’. In 2014, it’s time to break the mould.
Your sales process will have natural breaks, points where you pause before moving on to the next portion of the
conversation. At these break points, simply ask the client for permission to continue. Simple!
You will find that your clients will almost always hand control straight back to you. They either acknowledge
acceptance of what has been said or hand control back to you or they bring something up (an objection) that has
been missed.
Either way they feel involved, in control and we must find all the objections before we can move on. It is all in how you
communicate with your client. The simplest way to demonstrate this is to look at a few examples.
Simply use questions more: “Thanks for making the time to see me. Let me tell
you how we work.” could be “Thanks for making the time to see me. Would it
be okay if I tell you how we work?”
Or “That is very interesting. What I’d like to do now is ...” could become, “That
is very interesting. If it’s okay with you, what I would like to do now is ..."
You achieve a number of good outcomes with simple questions:
- No hard sell. Selling today is about leading clients to conclusions they feel
they have reached themselves with your guidance. The simple act of handing
control back to a client allows them to be an active partner in the sales process. They feel they lead the conversation
and are actively making the decisions. - Form relationships. By giving control back and involving your client, you actually deepen the relationship with
them significantly. - Reduce fears – yours! Many sales people fear saying the wrong thing. Asking permission gives you reinforcement
that you are on the right track. - Allow objections. Uncovering objections can be difficult, especially for those with less experience. Asking
permission periodically allows your client to interpret what they have just heard and voice their concerns or questions.
We all know we need to uncover and solve them. - Closing the sale. By asking permission and building the relationship the close is much more natural and assumptive.
It just flows. - Give Control — Gain the Sale. Therefore use asking permission as a way of rounding out that process, uncovering
the objections, cementing the relationship and making sure the client is completely happy with everything before
moving on. Tick the box for each step of your sales process until you reach the end.
You can be confident you have done a great job, uncovered and dealt with any concerns and developed a relationship,
all leading to far easier business completion and into the future.
So remember, give a little, get a lot.
Bill James CSP, helps you find the business, opens the door and makes the connection to the
sale. His ideas are easy to understand and implement. Bill is President of National Speakers
Association of New Zealand and voted Speaker of the Year 2012- 2013.
http://www.billjamesspeaker.com | email [email protected] or phone 0064 9 441 2164