Don't Edit Your Prospect's Picture

Salespeople who have been selling for several years have a unique problem that Rookie salespeople don't have. They tend to "edit their prospect's picture." By this I mean every prospect has a picture in mind of what she wants, or at least she believes she wants. When the salesperson does not deliver on that "picture" it is difficult to make a sale.

The problem experienced salespeople face is that they have seen so many prospects with the same problem that they start to offer solutions to problems that the prospect has yet to discover on their own. Remember, sales is a discovery process FOR THE PROSPECT! Just because you have seen this situation before and know exactly how to solve your customer's problem, doesn't mean the customer is on board. You've got to let the process play out, through good questioning, so that the prospect discovers what they want. The prospect is painting the picture in her head of what she wants and a well trained salesperson knows just how to do that.

In the Continental Sales Training system, we spend a lot of time working on the right questions to ask so that the prospect discovers that your product or service is the solution to the problem, rather than "telling" her what she should do with a typical Dog-and-Pony show.