For me it’s always disappointing to have a door closed either on or by a prospect.
In all my years in sales, I think there have only been a handful of folks who have behaved poorly and with whom I was quite happy to never have to deal again! On the whole, however, most people have been really decent, and I hated the fact that an opportunity seemed lost forever — especially when I had already done a lot of work in advance.
Finding a way of keeping the door open became a project for me, and I found a solution.
Unfortunately, it’s not a 100 percent fix. You’ll never be in a place where you're closing everything and retaining everybody, but over the years the percentage of my clients who remain open to another chat or meeting has risen dramatically.
My strategy is based on the theory that just because someone didn’t buy today, that doesn’t necessarily mean they never will. So, what do I want in this situation? I’d love to have another opportunity to re-engage with my client, possibly revisit the situation and give us both another chance to re-evaluate our previous decision.
So watch out, time for the mantra.
ASK!
Let’s assume you made a presentation and, for whatever reason, the client decided not to go ahead with your recommendation. What do you say next?
"Not a problem, Mr./Mrs. Prospect, I respect your decision. Would you be open to me popping you a call in a month or two to see how things have turned out?"
We can apply this call to action, which I think is soft and non-confrontational, to many of our communications in order to leave the door open for further engagement.
In the cover email for a quote, it might look like this: "If I’ve not heard back from you, may I pop you a call on Friday morning to see if there are any questions or comments?"
Folks, I’m fairly sure there’s no 100-percent-closing guru out there, but keeping the door open is going to give you way more opportunities to help and assist your clients (and make some cash!) than if you don’t keep the door open.
What's holding your business back?
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About the Author
OneAccord Principal Brad Thomson is a sales leader and pastor with a passion for seeing people live up to their fullest potential. As an experienced salesman, Brad has sold goods ranging from the unseen (e.g., insurance) to the misunderstood (i.e., IT). His passion to see people develop their potential led him to study human resources, then open and run his own recruitment consultancy. As a consultant, he helped people and businesses thrive by finding the right fit for their unique situation. Click here to learn more about Brad.
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