Knowing
When to Let Go
Value
the time you have
By
Jeffrey Hansler, CSP
Knowing
when to let go is just as important in selling as it is in
relationships. Letting go is never easy, but it clears
up the pain and wasted time associated with the inability to
make a decision.
A
salesperson's most important commodity is time. Time
can not be saved for the future - it can only be used well.
For the salesperson, time can be used in finding prospects,
turning prospects into customers, and servicing those
customers.
Unfortunately,
the majority of the average salesperson's time is spent
finding prospects and turning those prospects into
customers, because they ignore the information that is
telling them to "let go". They deal with the
trauma of not making the sale by postponing the decision
that a prospect will never become a customer.
Because
the average salesperson is often operating in a survival
mode (a fear of not getting the next sale or of being
replaced), they hold on to each prospect long after the
information has been gathered that the prospect is not a
prospect and will not likely ever be a customer.
This
problem is compounded by the sheer number of prospects that
a salesperson must generate - the majority of which will
never become customers. The success of greater sales
is given away because of the time wasted on prospects who
will never become customers.
By
creating a model of information to gather through a series
of questions and making a firm decision to stop working with
those that will not likely become customers, a salesperson
will be able to "let go". Although it is not
easy, it will ultimately benefit the salesperson (and the
prospect).
Questions
should be designed to gain knowledge in the five key areas
necessary for the salesperson to gauge the amount of
additional time that should be invested in a prospect. These
five areas are: the ability to gather information, a level
of interest achieving an objective, their role and the
process for decision-making, a knowledge of what they will
invest to achieve their objective, and any concerns
regarding the achievement of the objective. The less
knowledge attainable in these areas through this contact,
the less time should be spent with this prospect, for they
are a “poor prospect”.
Once
a salesperson has begun the process of letting go of poor
prospects, this enormous amount of time can be spent
servicing current customers to increase their satisfaction
and referral business. The salesperson might even find
they still have time remaining to do more prospecting to
increase sales further.
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Jeffrey
Hansler is a professional speaker, author, and consultant.
He is a frequent speaker at association events and is the
author of Sell Little Red Hen! Sell! He can be reached at jhansler@oxfordco.com.
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©
2004 Jeffrey Hansler All rights reserved
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