People drawn to sales often exhibit personality qualities such as energetic, outgoing, and enthusiastic. These traits can lure salespeople into a sense of false confidence about what looks like an “easy” sale – a supposedly eager-to-buy customer.
Unfortunately, not all easy sales are as easy as they appear. Beware of the three sales scenarios below that you may encounter. Protect your valuable time from being wasted on easy sales that actually aren’t all that easy.
Inaccurate Presentation by the Client of Their Eagerness to Buy
Accept the possibilities that the prospect is mistaken or is misleading you about their stated timeframe to make a purchase.
There are a myriad of internal and external factors that impact the customer in deciding when to pull the trigger on a new purchase. A well-meaning prospect could be called off the hunt by someone higher up the food chain at the prospect’s company, or maybe the prospect is just digging around for the best deal and will say anything to get your lowest bid.
The Prospect has Announced Their Intent to Buy to the Whole Industry
The more a prospect boasts of their decision to invest in a new product, the more likely it is they are talking to several of your competitors.
This increase in competition decreases the likelihood that this will result in an easy sale. You could become mired in a three-way bidding war to the bottom that would drag on for months and not result in one dollar of sales revenue. Look to develop other sales leads rather than chase this prospect.
Listen to Your Gut When it Tells You a Sale is Too Good to be True
The experience of the customer starts with the sale. Will this new prospect be a handful to manage? Are they onboard for the long haul and committed to your product and service? Do they have realistic expectations about how long it will take to implement your solution after purchase?
A customer that is not fully aware of what they are getting themselves into may be a drain on company resources to keep the customer after you finish the sale. Target buyers with whom you can build trust, who know your product, believe in your solution and understand the value you bring to the marketplace.
Beware of sales that appear too easy to pass up. They may lead to more pains than gains. So, where should sales people invest their energies from all the time they’ve saved ignoring easy sales prospects?
Continue the steady, effective sales lead generation process. Keep researching companies to find out if they are a good fit for what you sell, networking your way into the new prospect’s organization, talking to current customers about their problems, staying on top of the latest developments in your field, and building relationships with decision makers at various levels.
This answer isn’t flashy, high-tech, or a quick fix. It is the fundamental art of sales – and it may sound mundane or like “more of the same” to some salespeople.
Successful careers in sales are rarely made but often lost to the lure of the easy sale. Dig in, face the hard truth, and prospect your way to solid sales leads.
Lollipop Photo via Shutterstock
Aira Bongco
People are already sick of tired of snakeoil salesmen who are only after their money. So when it is too good to be true, they stay away from it. They somehow trained their minds to do that after some bad experiences in the past.