“So, what is going on with this account?”

“Oh, I am waiting for them to call me back. They are interested, but want to talk things over.”

Sound familiar? Well, I hear it all the time, and it is one of the most challenging things to coach out of a sales person’s rhetoric. What most sales people seem to forget is that the primary objective for every communication with a prospect is to progress your sale a little closer to bringing in some revenue. This cannot be done without gaining commitment at every stage and IN EVERY COMMUNICATION!

Here are some basic ways to gain commitment:

1. Ask for it! In “High Probability Selling” by Jacques Werth lays this out really well. Whenever a point is made by either party, you ensure that it is relevent and if terms are met then it moves you forward.

2. Demand it! Make sure that your conditions for commitment are being met. If a prospect does not show you the same respect you are showing them, sell to someone else.

3. Use integrity as your calling card. Too many reps will over promise or not make clear points in fear of losing a sale. These errors early on waste time and cost sales. If you are afraid of sharing something, it is time to lay it out there. If it costs you the sale, you never had it in the first place.

4. Track it! When you get commitment, log it! You can use these points in future connections and if there are discrepancies, see points 2 and 3.

5. Plan for it! Know what commitments you can make and need to move a sale along. These details will speed up your process and weed out the non-opportunities.

This series will have several posts and the next will relate to good questions for the commitment objective.

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 7:09 pm and is filed under Pipeline, Sales Process, Sales Training. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.