David Sandler, the founder of our business once said, “Imagine a millionaire, making your sales call. Would there be any delay in getting to the point of money? Not likely. So why not adopt the same habit for yourself?”
We feel that the most important step of the selling process is to uncover the customer’s budget. Sales reps are so uncomfortable talking about money that they will prolong their sales cycle, blow the sale by not addressing the money side early or waste their time. After all, if the customer doesn’t have the budget, why would you still be in the sales call?
There is a simple reason for why buyers and sellers are uncomfortable talking about money. It is because most of us were taught that talking about money is rude. Parents admonished us for asking how much someone makes or how much something costs. We have carried those “tapes” around our entire lives and don’t want to appear offensive, so we don’t dare bring money into the conversation.
If you were to find yourself in a group of millionaires, you would quickly discover that there is not a lot of hesitancy in talking about money. When you are independently wealthy and can walk away from a piece of business, there is no pressure to address money. Imagine Richard Branson making your next sales call. Would there be any delay in getting to the point of addressing the customer’s budget? Not likely, so why not get into the habit yourself?
Our most successful clients have a healthy pipeline and feel empowered to stay firm on their price. They feel comfortable walking away from business that needs to be deeply discounted in order to close it. They know that if they can quickly disqualify the noise, they can move on to the real business.
Haven’t you noticed that nothing is too expensive when you really need it or want it? We spend a lot of time in our coaching sessions discussing the steps around finding pain. Since customers are just as hesitant to talk about money, Sandler trained sales professionals learn how to uncover pain or to find the customer’s true motivation without coming across as pushy, off-putting or rude. They learn a way of making the customer feel comfortable discussing their issues in a conversation of equal business stature.
The quickest way to get to equal business stature and an honest discussion with the customer is to keep them comfortable during the selling process. The buyer-seller dance is all based on the traditional sales process where the buyer leads the entire time. This results in frustration, lost sales, discounting and a lot of wasted time.
Learning the correct questioning strategies with the right softening statements will assure the customer that you have THEIR best interest in mind and will help you both decide if this buyer-seller relationship is a good fit. Ultimately, when the customer finds value in what you offer, they will pay you to the moon and back.
If you would like to have a conversation about getting your sales team comfortable early on in addressing the customer’s budget, give us a call or contact us here. You will be speaking to a sales coach and not a pushy sales person. It will be the best opportunity for you to see if the Sandler selling process is the right fit for your team.
