Many participants in my programs ask how to deal with people who
appear to be seeking information and nothing more. In many
environments these individual’s are called time wasters. Time
wasters come in every shape and form but they usually possess a
few consistent characteristics – they ask a continuing stream of
questions, take up loads of our time, and seldom end up buying
anything. What is particularly interesting about these
situations is that many time wasters don’t set out to be that
way. It is usually our fault that this happens because we don’t
control the sales process. And in many cases, we become the time
waster. Most sales professionals know they are supposed to ask
questions to learn about their customer’s needs but I have
learned that the majority of sales people tend to be more
comfortable responding to questions rather than asking them.
Here is a simple fact…the person who asks the questions is the
one in control of the sales process. I have conducted hundreds
of sales training workshops in the last ten years and I
consistently have people tell me they know the importance of
asking questions. As the discussion continues I usually discover
that they do in fact ask questions – after they encounter
objections or resistance from the buyer or customer. But that
means it’s too late. Now it will appear that you are trying to
justify your product, service, price, etc. Sales people hear
this, but it seldom sinks in. Here is a personal example. After
reading one of my weekly sales tips a sales person emailed me
(for the second or third time) and said he had been focusing on
his needs rather than mine in his previous correspondence. He
presented a couple of good points so I agreed to a telephone
conversation. When we connected he immediately launched into a
ten-minute monologue about his company and its services. At this
point it still wasn’t clear what he wanted from me so I asked.
He went on to say that he wanted me to endorse his product to my
clients and newsletter subscribers. I then stated that my target
market is mostly specialty retailers and asked how his product
would help them. His reply, “Oh, it won’t.” He had now just
wasted almost 15 minutes of my time – valuable time that could
have been used to work on one of the many projects on my desk.
As a sales person, he had just become a time waster. If he had
asked one simple question in his email he could have saved us
both time because he would have learned that our companies were
not compatible. In another situation, I listened to a sales
person pitch his product by reading PowerPoint slides. His
slides discussed his company, their financial backing, their
products, their clients, blah, blah, blah. Not once did he ask
me what I wanted in a solution. Instead, he kept his attention
focused on his agenda, once again, wasting my time by talking
about something that had no relevance to my situation or
business. Professional selling means helping someone make an
educated buying decision. That means you need to determine how
your product or service fits into their situation. I was once
asked by an advertising sales rep what to do if the prospect’s
publication targeted a different demographic that the
advertisers. My answer was simple, “Move on.” In some cases,
your product or service may not be needed by your prospect or
may not fit into their plans. This means you move on to the next
prospect. Don’t waste their time and yours trying to reconfigure
everything hoping something will work out. Virtually everyone I
know is pressed for time. Respect that fact. Save your customers
time by asking a few well-thought out questions BEFORE you
suggest a product or service. That way you won’t become a time
waster. But, how do you control a customer who is a time waster?
There are a couple of ways… First, ask a few high-quality
questions early in the sales process to determine exactly what
your customer is looking for and what their buying criteria are.
One of these questions should be something that identifies the
time-frame that your customer is working with. The second thing
you can do, particularly if the other person has indicated that
they aren’t making a buying decision in the near future, is to
direct them to your website or offer other printed materials for
them to review. Third, ask them to make a buying decision. This
approach is effective because the time waster will become
uncomfortable and will often end the sales discussion himself.
The fourth strategy is to drop them like a hot potato. Don’t
waste your time trying to close them. Be pleasant, firm and
direct. Tell them that you must take care of other customers and
move on. You only have a certain number of hours of prime
selling time in any given day. Don’t waste your time selling to
people who have no intention of ever buying. And, avoid wasting
the time of your customers. © 2005 Kelley Robertson, All rights
reserved Contact him at 905-633-7750 or
Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com
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