stay off the solution incomplete inquiry

There is remarkable worth in the presence of victory when defeat is still a threat. At that moment when just prior to triumph we are overcome with a sense of superiority; a euphoric emotional authority. The interesting thing about this instance is that our ambition can function as an advantage or a detriment. Depending on how we respond to the pressure, we either elevate or descend. The more we familiarize ourselves with this moment, the better we perform in its presence. In sales, this condition shows its face as an opportunity. It is our responsibility to control the impulse of pouncing at the first sight of success and abuse its attendance.Imagine cold calling a prospect after pre-callplanning to find that your presumed problem is actually accurate and interest in your solution is expressed at the beginning of the interview. Now isolate that feeling, are you spontaneously going in for the close? Are you mathematically concluding the call? Have you calculated how this account contributes to your quota? All of these thoughts indicate that you have deprived your prospect of an effective needs analysis. Instead, you should be clover leafing that solution; looking for adjacent obstacles that your client may be experiencing. Too often we get so excited about a sale that we close the window of potential. Concerned sales people capitalize on more opportunities to do what is best for the client by 'Staying Off The Solution'; Strategically inquiring for additional problems that could possibly be addressed.It was a mid-sized mortgage processing company that I was calling on, whom I presumed needed sales training. Fortunately, I was able to secure a meeting with a Sr. Vice President who was the decision maker regarding sales training and professional development. During the interview he immediately bit on the need to provide his team with objective sales strategies if for no other reason than intellectual exposure. I was so thrilled to have acquire a new client that I went for the close, co-developed training criteria, and set a date for instruction. If I had been more concerned about my prospect's needs, I would have probed a little more to find out that they not only were in need of training. They were looking to restructure their entire training department, including CRM processes and management team as well. Although this eventually became a mutually prosperous relationship, we could have gotten to the good part much sooner if I had gained a better understanding up front.I say all of this to say, 'Stay Off The Solution' until you are sure that you have uncovered all of your prospects problems that you are able to confidently confront. Great Selling!

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