The ONLY thing that enables you to gain and keep momentum on a sale

Having spent years consulting, training and coaching sales teams on how to sell less and win more, there is a fundamental law that governs momentum on any given pursuit. On countless occasions I have asked teams about what they do to prepare for meetings. I hear all of the usual things from preparing an agenda, researching people and companies, preparing the deck, making a list of things I want to find out, and many more.

I then draw a horizontal line on a flipchart to represent the journey from the first meeting to signing a contract, complete with vertical lines to depict multiple interactions.

I then reiterate our desire to progress from one step to the next incrementally, usually pointing out that every prospect or client interaction can have one of three potential outcomes:

1. We advance
2. We go back a step (sometimes in order to go forward)
3. We ‘stay where we are in the process’ i.e., no advance, no regression.

My next question usually proves challenging.

“If our objective is to progress from one meeting/step in the process to the next, what is the only thing that enables us to do just that, and nothing else?”

Woefully, I often hear experienced salespeople lament that it’s about asking good questions, making promises, doing demos, talking features and functionality, client fear of missing out, threatening to withdraw, or even agreeing next steps.

The last point is closest. Here’s my typical response to my own question…

“The only single thing that advances us to the next meeting/step is when the client or prospect makes a decision.”

Before we can hope to agree next steps, we need to get a decision from the client or prospect to move forward with us, to continue discussions, or whatever next step is appropriate.

Enlightened Sellers understand this and prepare each client or prospect meeting as a ‘decision increment’. They build all of their preparation around the next logical decision the client or prospect needs to make in their own best interests and help them achieve that decision thoughtfully and comfortably.

If you’d like to understand more about this, or any aspect of Enlightened Selling, I’d be glad to discuss it further.

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