How to Guide Enterprise Prospects to a Decision

There's an arc to the Enterprise sale. A beginning, middle and end.

Here are some of the things you learn during the beginning and middle of a sale:

• Non-business things (about their kids, hobbies, if they like bacon, etc.)
• The circumstances and events causing your prospect to chat with you
• Where your prospect is today
• What a 'better' tomorrow looks like
• What the value of a 'better' tomorrow is
• Obstacles they've bumped into
• Budget
• Scope
• Who the decision maker is

Take another spin through the list above. Notice anything missing? It's a biggie.

Timing

Once you understand timing you can help guide your prospect to the 'end' or a decision. Sometimes the end is a win for you. Other times it's a win for your competitor. And statistically speaking, half the time the end means your prospect sticks with the devil they know.

Either way, if you understand timing you can avoid being stuck in no-decision land by using a questioning framework called CLWPC.

CLWPC

Change: "Is this something you're looking to change now?"

Such a simple, yet powerful question that can save you months of chasing. Ask it early.

Live: "When would you like to go live (or start realizing the benefits)? August? November?"

This question helps you create a scheduled that "backs into" the steps needed to hit your prospect's go-live date.

Why: "Why not just wait, what happens if you don't hit this date?"

This question helps you get a sense of the "energy" or urgency behind your prospect's appetite for change. Does your prospect respond by saying "yeah, we could wait?" Or do they light up and tell you all the reasons why they can't wait.

People change for their reasons, not yours due to something called the confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. So if your prospect rattles off all the reasons they can't wait, they will be more likely to stay consistent with their beliefs and switch. But the words need to come from them, not you.

Project Plan: Your prospects are crazy busy. They may not know all the steps required to go live or long the process is. You can help guide them by creating a mini project plan since you've been to this rodeo before. The steps of your project plan and dates are reverse engineered based on your prospects go-live date.

Here's an example:

1. Get buy-in from key stakeholders on the project plan - March 5
2. Run proposal by CMO (decision maker) - March 15
3. Decision date - March 30
4. Meeting with IT to discuss technical requirements - April 5
5. Legal review - April 15
6. Procurement - May 5
7. Contact Sign Off - June 1
8. Kickoff - June 10
9. Implementation - June 20
10. Launch - July 1

Commitment: "Would it make sense to tentatively carve out time on April 1 so we can chat about what your folks decided? And no worries if you decide you don't want to move forward with us. We will totally get over you."

One two things can happen when you ask this question: (1) your prospect agrees and you have a 'decision-making date" on the calendar or (2) they don't which might be a sign that you missed something beginning of middle.

One last thing . . .

If you enjoyed this article, you will love 5 Things Worth Sharing This Week. It's my FREE weekly newsletter where you'll learn things like ‘How a 3-minute conversation turned into $45,000’ and ’How to get referrals without feeling icky’.

Subscribe to the FREE 5 Things Worth Sharing This Week newsletter here.

Here's what you missed last week.