When a sales rep gets to the end of the call and asks for the sale, one of three things will typically happen: we get a ‘yes’, we get a ‘no’ or more often than not, we get something that sounds like ‘Can you send me some info and I will get back to you?’

What do you do with that? We want to make sure that if there is a chance to close later, we don’t lose it, but at the same time, we don’t want to waste time chasing something that may never happen.

Too often, I see sales reps blindly agree to send out the info, taking precious time to put together a detailed email outlining the key discussion points, along with a clear call to action meant to incite the customer to call back and hopefully buy.

The challenge is that most of the time, these ‘can I get back to you’ responses are really ‘no’ disguised as a ‘maybe’. As human beings, we have a tendency to not want to disappoint other human beings – so rather than saying a flat out ‘no’, customers often just pretend that they need more time when they really have already decided that they are not buying.

I think it’s really important that every call end with some sort of a commitment from your customer, particularly if you find yourself committing to something for them. Ideally, we want the customer’s commitment to buy – but realistically, we know that we won’t close all of our customers. So, when faced with the ‘can you send me some info’ response, before you commit to anything, think about what commitment you want to get from them. For example, you might get them to commit to a specific follow up date and time. I would be happy to put together an email for you outlining what we have talked about here. Can we meet again on Thursday at 1:00pm to review your position?

Getting a commitment like this from your customer not only gives you permission to follow up at the designated time, it also gives you a read on where your customer’s head really is at. If they are hesitant to commit to another time to meet with you, then that could be a good indication that their response really is ‘no’ disguised as a ‘maybe’.

As a rep, time is precious – and you don’t want to waste it chasing customers that have no intention of buying from you. Better to know upfront and prioritize accordingly. Happy selling!

#sales #commitment #timemanagement