What to do When the Decision Maker Downshifts You on a Prospecting Call – Sandler Training

 

 

Written by Hamish Knox; President of Sandler in Calgary, Canada

Creating accountable, sales focused organizations in Calgary

 

You’re probably calling on the right people, those that can say “no” and “yes,” and skilled at getting past gatekeepers, but no matter how skilled you are at making prospecting calls you will speak with a decision maker who says, “yeah, you need to call Fill in Title of Their Direct Report.”

When this happens your first instinct may be to say “kthnxbai” and move on to the direct report. That instinct is normal, but will create friction in your sales cycle.

Instead, hang in with the decision maker for a few moments and cover the following questions, which won’t guarantee that you’ll get the sale, but will help you qualify faster.

Let’s look at how that might look in practice for a salesperson selling manufacturing equipment calling on the COO at a prospect company. We join the call after the salesperson delivers their 30 second commercial.

• Prospect – sounds like something we might be interested in, but you need to talk to the Director of Operations.
• Salesperson – happy to. May I ask you a few questions first?
• Prospect – sure.
• Salesperson – what’s their first name?
• Prospect – Diane Jones (asking for first name usually gets a full name)
• Salesperson – thank you. When, Diane and I connect what would you suggest I share with her to make the call a good use of her time? (helps you tailor your 30 second commercial if necessary and gives your prospect a big stroke, which creates rapport)
• Prospect – everything you said to me at the start of our call will be relevant to her. Diane’s been tasked with making our production line more efficient without losing quality or increasing defects.
• Salesperson – thank you. In my experience even if Diane likes what she hears from me and believes that working with us will support your operations she’ll need to come back to you for final sign off. Is that the case here? (this is a gentle way of discovering your prospect’s decision making process)
• Prospect – yes. Diane has authority to approve projects to a certain level, but I have to sign off on any type of equipment change. (could be an opportunity to sell a small project to, Diane. After all your some of your best prospects are current clients.)
• Salesperson – thank you. Are you okay if I circle back to you after, Diane and I connect? I find that there’re usually two or three questions that you have that we didn’t think to talk about. I’m happy to answer those and circle back to, Diane so we’re all on the same page. (you must attempt to keep the door open to the decision maker. A client lost a big contract because they didn’t have that door open. They’re competitor opened it up and took the business)
• Prospect – you’re welcome to leave a message, but I’ll give any additional questions I have to, Diane to bring to you. (circling back on speaking with the decision maker after they rebuff you does nothing but kill rapport)
• Salesperson – that’s fair. Curious, is Diane in the office today?
• Prospect – yes, let me transfer you….

There are two big mental roadblocks to overcome to execute that line of questioning effectively.

First, maintaining Equal Business Stature with the decision maker even when they’re downshifts you.

They have every right to downshift you because that’s what they do to every salesperson who calls on them. By resisting the “kthnxbai” impulse and asserting your right to have a conversation with the decision maker you begin differentiating yourself by how you sell instead of what you sell, which is a commodity to your prospect.

Second, letting go of the “big” sale (in the scene above, selling a fully equipment replacement) to the decision maker to focus on the “small” sale to the person to which you’re downshifted. Many of our clients started long term, highly lucrative relationships with clients by getting a “small” sale (e.g. servicing one building for a property management firm or doing a consulting study on the inefficiencies in a manufacturing process) that led to much larger sales.

By asking a few questions more than feels comfortable you’ll learn whether you’re being downshifted to a real prospect or being politely told “no.”

Until next time… go sell something.

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An interactive sales workshop designed to produce results, learn effective cold calling techniques, and overcome call reluctance.

Thursday March 1, 2018 from 8.30AM-3.00PM

Click to register online or register by phone on 403-457-1507.

Most sales people hate making cold calls for one of two reasons: They don’t have a system, or the system they have doesn’t work. If this sounds like you or your team, this boot camp may be for you.

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• Make a no-pressure prospecting call
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• Know when and how to leave voice mails
• Understand how to eliminate stalls and objections

Click to register online or call (403) 457-1507 to register by phone.

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