What would you do?

Note this is a series of stories taken from actual sales experiences that request your input.

This is one of my favorite “war stories” as it describes an early challenge I faced, and how I successfully handled it. I had just completed my training “Selling a Software Solution” to the legal market and secured a meeting with the executive director of a top law firm. I was prepared with my research and questions to identify the needs we address. Well let’s just say that my prospect didn’t follow the script, as all my inquiries were met with a firm “we have no needs” response. Feeling completely flustered but not wanting to leave empty-handed, I simply stared at the pen in my hand and offered it to my prospect with a simple request, “let’s just assume this pen is actually a magic wand, and if so, what would you change?”. Now understand the most important thing to do next is to completely shut-up, and just let the prospect speak. To my surprise the woman I was meeting with then discussed her vision, which then allowed me to gently ask some probing questions like, “could you elaborate further?”. She described what she needed to address, and I was able to get her to see firsthand how I can help her get there. She eventually became one of my best clients. 

We often face difficult and perhaps similar circumstances on a sales call and now I’d like to hear what you would do. If you found this article to be helpful please check back for more in this series or register below for content to be delivered directly to your mail box.