Business people presenting their services or products say one of the hardest things is how to close the sale.
Sometimes wording can made the difference. Try not to ask Yes or No questions. MOST people will say No – at least at first. But if you give them a choice that does NOT include NO, your odds of closing a sale, or at least getting enough info to close the sale greatly increase.
Asking their opinion is a good way to establish rapport, yes or no can be perceived as confrontational and pushy, and, of course, a NO ends the connection. Sometimes trying to close a sale too quickly makes the potential buyer leery that they are missing some info and making too hasty a decision – or worse, making the wrong decision.
Take the “mom & cookies” scenario. kids ask – Mom can I have a cookie – without even processing the question – Moms say NO immediately, most of the time. No question as to whether it is too close to a meal, or any reason why the child shouldn’t have the cookie. Kids ask over and over, and always ask Why can’t I have a cookie? – til Mom reacts 1 of 2 ways… Because I said NO! or sometimes, for the lucky kids, an exasperated YES, OK all ready! Either way Mom is a little annoyed. And she probably had no reason or them NOT to have the cookie in the first place. Same with business owners. Yes or No sort of takes the person who has to answer out of the decision – a CHOICE makes them part of the discussion, and they feel they had the proper information to make decisions. A YES is too scary, leaving them questioning the decision. A NO seems to feel like you are not making a bad decision too fast, and without enough information. But you could be passing up something good. Options are just that – options, and give you more time to think about a decision.
Does it work – what do you think?! YES or NO
(bet you aren’t sure how to answer, so most will say probably NO!)
But if the question was – do you think doing A or B would be better for you? You get info, the business owner gets to weigh 2 different options. They see you have solutions for them. And it is not as confrontational a meeting or phone call. And with an option answer, they usually do not just say NO.
When trying to set up a meeting by phone, if you ask can we meet – odds are, you’ll get a NO. But, if you ask, what is better for you, next Mon at 10am, or Wed at 2pm? you stand a better chance of getting the appointment, if not at one of those times, possibly an answer would be – actually, Tues at 11am is better for me.
Try it – it can’t hurt. Which would you prefer – a NO or an informational answer leaving the conversation open for more opportunities?
It has gotten a lot harder to look for work or clients with the trend towards remote interviews, and outside HR departments. Job posting sites are a help and a hindrance. Companies get hundreds of resumes for each job they post, and a lot of them do not even fit the description of the job listed. Yours can easily get lost in the myriad of applicants. Interviews are rarely in person, and even though you see each other on a Zoom call, it is not the same as person to person.
How can one person stand out? It may be time to do some of the old fashioned #it’swhoyouknow type of prospecting for work or clients. Talk to people you know – talk to the businesses you patronize. They, or someone they know may need some help – and if they already know you, that’s half the battle.
Years ago, a friends daughter was in college and I was on the board of a charity – organizing a golf tournament. As with most charities, we could use all the volunteer help we could find. My friends brought their daughter, and she was such a great help that the non-profit wound up hiring her! She went on from there to do extremely well in her chosen field of social work.
Right now it’s hard to volunteer, most of the in-person events are on hold…but…you can still “talk” to people you know. Emails keeping in touch, maybe a phone call to some, or on social media. Mention to contacts what you are looking for, what type of job, or client, or even a service you need. Keeping you in their mind and working through referrals is still a great way to prospect and network.
Things have changed, and probably after the Covid lock downs are lifted life won’t go back to pre-covid norms, but we all have to adapt. Doing nothing will get the only guaranteed result- NOTHING!
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