blossoming to maturity

A Poppin' Fresh roll sits in the refrigerated section of the food store, waiting for you. It blossoms to maturity in about 8 minutes once it is in the oven. If you use the same oven temperature, Poppin' Fresh rolls always take about the same amount of time to cook. For those who like consistency, that is a big relief.What does a Poppin' Fresh roll have to do with sales? More than you'd think!We use sales systems to create consistent results. We tend to use the same pain darts with the same decision makers. We use the same sales call note sheets to ensure we gather the information we need. We ask the same qualifying questions to qualify the sale, the process, and the decision maker.Using sstems reduces errors and improves performance. Even ineffective use of a selling system will most likely produce better results than not using a system at all.So, why doesn't it always work? The answer to that question isn't found with the system. The answer is found in the prospect.Prospects are people. People are like paper towels in that they have different "absorption" rates. People absorb and process new ideas at different rates. Some people process quickly. Some take time.Ever have a "no-brainer" sale not come to fruition because the prospect didn't "get it"? Ever sit and scratch your head after a sales call wondering why all of a sudden the prospect is now hot after an idea he shot down twice before? It boils down to processing time. Not your processing time, the prospects processing time. Some people do it faster than others.Size of the idea doesn't matter. Some people will jump on big, expensive ideas quickly and sometimes little ones take a ton of time and thought. So, it isn't idea size that is the culprit.
It is simply how quickly the prospect deals with change.Asking the right questions helps. And it may speed up the process by several weeks. But you may still get frustrated waiting for the light bulb to shine over the prospect's head, especially if the idea is truly a "no brainer."So how do you deal with this issue? Here are 6 things that can help.
1. Use the same pain points (or pain darts) several times over a couple of contacts.
2. Add some different pain points to your mix if the others aren't getting attention.
3. Remain focused on identifying problems, not creating solutions until the prospect states they have a problem worth solving.
4. Quit without quitting. You can appear to the prospect that you've quit, but you can simply take another path to the same place.
5. Change media. If you have been talking, put your pain points in writing and send along an article that illustrates the topic.
6. Don't give up. Keep pinging them with information they can use. If you add value first, and then worry about the sale, the sales process will be shorter for those prospects when it is there time to buy.Remember, a Poppin' Fresh dinner roll blossoms to maturity in 8 minutes in the toaster oven. A nine pound prime rib roast takes longer. Keep your sales cooking. Don't give up too quickly. Just change the recipe.

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