Put Your Focus Here and Close More

Focus on the close too soon, and you may never get to it.

There's a reason for this.

The reason is that it’s the prospects wants that drive the sale.

Not your wants.

You want to close the sale.

The prospect wants to solve his problem.

When you focus on closing, you are focusing on yourself, on your wants, and not on what the customer wants.

The prospect could care less about whether or not you make your quota, about whether or not you got enough money for your bills this month, about whether or not you get to keep your job.

The prospect only wants to talk to you to the extent he thinks that you can help him with his problem, his wants, his needs.

The most powerful place to put your focus is on your customer's wants.

This is why presenting and demonstrating are NOT the most important skills to have in selling. Presenting and demonstrating are the Peacock skills that many sales people think are critical to their success.

The most highly successful sales people will tell you otherwise though.

The real selling happens before you get the chance to present or demonstrate.

It happens at the beginning of the sale when you and your prospect first interact.

In those first few minutes of those first two or three sales calls, you determine what kind of relationship you have with your prospect.

Do you have one that is based on concern for solving his problem?

Or do you have one based on whether or not he can help you make your quota this month?

The prospect is more likely to be interested in YOU if you show interest and expertise in solving his problem.

Notice I didn't say to show a phony interest in him. You're not meeting or talking with your prospect to become best buddies. I don't teach people to get rapport around phony small talk.

You do want to build rapport around the prospect's business problems. And you do this through asking good probing questions. This shows both that you have expertise worthy of his time and that you are interested in solving his problem.

This is an ageless truth about selling that gets forgotten in the drive to close more business.

Focus on solving problems and you'll close more.

Sell with Pride,

Shameless Shamus

P.S. Learn my question-based formula for finding people's problems and getting them emotional enough so that they are eager to give their business to you here in the Persuasive Selling Skills Audio Program.