They're On Board...Now What?

When we get a commitment from a prospect that he's "on board", it means our work has only just begun.

One of the biggest differences between sales superstars and your average-producing sales person is determined at this ever-critical point in the sales process. You've gone through the prospecting phase, qualified the prospect, developed a solution and presented it, gotten feedback that he'd like to begin working with you. You've got him sold!....Right? Not necessarily.

The great salesman understands that this is the point where he has to really bring it, and demonstrate through action that the prospect/customer has made the right choice in working with him. Up to this point, he's heard what he needed to hear, in terms of the message you have communicated. The prospect feels you could help him with whatever challenge he's experiencing. But, again, he's only "heard" what you can do. Now, it's time to show him.

So, how do we do that? How do we show him we're the man for the job? Much of this is going to depend on what business you're in. But, I'll explain what I do in my field, and hopefully you'll be able to see where I'm going and adapt the concepts for your situation. I'll focus on my window manufacturing endeavor, in which I sell windows to large-volume window contractors, who, in turn, sell our products installed to homeowners. Our customers, by and large, all have the same challenge in that they struggle to find leads--opportunities to sell jobs. Doesn't matter which dealer you call on, or what market he's in presently, they all say the same thing..."I just need more leads". The second biggest challenge is they need to close a higher percentage of the leads they do generate.

We'll use these two examples for our discussion in how to separate you from the others. Knowing he's struggling to generate leads, I'll go out digging with every single customer I have on best practices for generating leads. I'll talk to as many good, profitable guys we have buying from us and find out what they're doing. I've done this for years, because I know if I can help in this aspect of a prospect's business, he'll buy from me for a long time and I'll be difficult to replace. Once I'm armed with a few ideas for him in terms of lead generation, I'll reach out to him. If I get his voicemail, I'll leave something like this on the vm..."Hey Tom, this is Greg with WW, hey I was doing a little digging with some of my other good guys and I have a couple of ideas for you in terms of picking up a few extra leads, give me a jingle when you get a minute". Guess what? He calls back...quickly.

After years of paying attention to what works in generating leads, I know that canvassing programs are the best system. So, I've actually gone out canvassing to see what it's all about. I'll canvass for a couple of reasons...one, I've actually done it; two, I can actually generate metrics associated with a good canvasser and what it means to my dealer; three, I'll speak with confidence, knowing I'm not just spewing somebody else's ideas.

What's given me the best results, is to actually canvass in this guy's market, and walk into his office with a handful of leads. Completely blown away. He now knows I'm for real. I'm concerned about his well-being, I'm not just another peddler of a product at a price.

To address the second issue he's having...needs to close more deals(higher close ratio). My next step is to get in front of his sales guys. I'm going to blow these guys away with best practices relating to product pitches in the home. I'm a student of it, I ride with top producing sales guys from my other customers, I've got a killer demo. So, I use it. I get in front of the sales group and bring it! I also present the metrics associated with each guy either canvassing himself or hiring a canvasser. My presentation outlines the number of leads they can expect to generate per hour, and the costs associated with that effort. I break down the cost per lead and then show them the amount of deals they'll close as a result. Next is the amount of extra money they'll earn for the year.

This is the kind of high-level stuff I'm talking about folks. Imagine, you're doing this stuff for your dealers, riding with sales guys, helping them build canvassing teams, bringing in leads from canvassing yourself...and some rumdum shows up with a competitive window, kicking the tires, trying to tell the owner that he can "save them money"...or whatever. This guy's got no chance. He's a joker in the customer's eyes, because he's comparing him to you...and you're the best rep he's ever seen in this business, because you work on high-level aspects of the business and generate real value to his organization.

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