The SalesBag, Volume 3: Ghosting, Giveaways, and...Gas Station Bathrooms

A prospect let me see his invoices from one of our competitors, and it was immediately clear that our normal prices would reduce his current spending by more than half. But I’m sure I could win the deal at a lower savings amount (5-10%) which would result in higher commission for me and more profit for my company if I want to. What should I do? --Scott, Wisconsin

Ah yes, the classic ‘angel on one shoulder, devil on the other’ sales scenario. It’s a real crossroads, but one in which I feel strongly there is a clear-cut right choice.

Let’s say that we sign the customer up at the slightly-less-than-extortionate rates that our competitors are offering. While we may get a pat on the back and a big commission check, all we’ve really done is made ourselves vulnerable long-term to losing this client. Because at some point, and it could be tomorrow or five years from now, someone is going to come along and treat that customer fairly. And guess who’s going to look predatory when happens? You and your company.

And further, salespeople should be careful about selling off of what the competition is doing to begin with. If we truly just look at a competitor’s invoice and base what we do off of what they’ve done, are we really selling? Why is the prospect allowing us time to begin with? Yes, they want to save money, but if that’s all we are is a price, then we are only as good as that price-and the price in this situation isn’t very good. We’re letting our competitors dictate what we do in this scenario, and the only value we are offering is being a discount version of them. A spreadsheetable commodity.

It’s always advisable to know what the marketplace holds from a pricing standpoint, but it’s bad to make your entire selling strategy a reaction to that, and base your entire proposition as a result of what your competitors are doing, because inevitably you’re unable to distinguish yourself from them in any other meaningful way but price. You're a coupon, basically.

Bottom line: sell YOUR value at YOUR price and do it with integrity, which assures a mutually beneficial outcome for your company, your customer, and you as a salesperson over the long term. That’s the path to sustainable success.

When I am unable to close a sale, but also don’t get a firm “no” from the customer, I feel like I’m in purgatory. What are some things I can do to bring a deal to ANY conclusion, good or bad? --Chris, Omaha

The reality is, the breakdown probably occurred several steps before the current situation because of inadequate trial closing and earning commitments along the way, what Sandler methodology refers to as “upfront contracts”. But that’s a topic for another time, and now we need to dig out.

It’s natural for sellers to react poorly to buyers engaging with them up until we’ve gotten to a certain point, and then ghosting us once we’ve jumped through all the hoops. After all, we’ve invested our valuable time and effort into a sales process that has now simply stopped in its tracks. Why wouldn’t we be offended by that? Sadly, our feelings don’t matter much in these situations.

Because when it happens, in my experience, the customer’s real answer is either “no” or “not right now”. If they wanted to buy, they would. Usually badgering them is only a way to get an answer, but if they really want to ignore you they will. It’s unfortunate, but prospects really don’t owe us anything, as much as it hurts.

And, the fact is they probably DO want to ignore you. Why? Because most of them, even if they have no interest in buying, also don’t want to have the unpleasant conversation with a salesperson-whom they may like personally and did nothing wrong-that they aren’t interested in moving forward. Right or wrong, they find it easier to just say nothing than have the tough dialogue.

So what can be done about this? Mostly nothing, other than finding new opportunities for your pipeline and not dwelling on ones that aren’t moving. If and when that prospect wants to reengage, believe me-they’ll know how to reply to those 7 emails you sent them on their own time.

You know what we need, Jeff? A website dedicated to gas stations with single bathrooms with locking doors for when we’re out on the road throughout the continental US. Every outside salesperson in the world would look at it. I'm a genius. --Adam, Los Angeles

I have no comment, but I’m posting it here in case someone else wants to make millions.

Where do you stand on giveaways, sampling and other promotions to get attention from a prospect? It’s so hard anymore to attract interest and get in front of someone, I almost feel like I’m having to spend company money to get any engagement in return. --Rick, Iowa

There’s no question it’s harder to prospect than ever before. Nearly every sales article or video I read is dealing with this exact topic. Every traditional method of prospecting I’m aware of has become less efficient when it comes to setting appointments, and getting in front of interested prospects is more difficult than ever. Because information is so readily available, it’s simply a fact that most potential customers are beginning their buyer’s journey without the services of a sales rep to guide them.

Back in the old days of the 2000s, a B2B rep could walk into a phone block, stare at the internet for an hour, hit the phones somewhat hard from about 9 to noon, set 6-8 appointments, go take an hour and a half lunch with the rest of the sales team, and come back in the afternoon and knock out 3 or 4 more and be at the bar by 4.30. 10-12 meetings in 4-5 hours of actual work. That is just an example I pulled out of thin air--and definitely not my actual lived experience for years--just so there isn’t any confusion around this topic. ???

Those days are not now, and I think any sales leader will tell you that activity is down across the board. 10-12 weekly first appointments is really more like 6-8 now in many cases. When that’s the case, I think there are two choices: A. Do more of what isn’t working well, or B. Get creative and try to make it count, with the right kinds of prospects.

This is a long way of saying, I think being strategic and creative-and yes, giving things away at times-with your true blue-chip, move-heaven-and-earth-to-acquire prospects is a valid use of company resources. So much of what sales and marketing is focused on these days is breaking through the clutter that prospects are inundated with, and incentivizing action is one way to do that.

My advice is to be tactical and calculated with engagements and sampling, I have personally had more luck seeding and incentivizing bigger but fewer prospects than trying to cast a wide net. Consider your targets purposefully, and make sure to include a call to action for them and have a plan for follow-up.

The reality is prospecting is evolving and I’m not sure anyone knows exactly the right way to do it in this moment. But all companies would be wise to consider how they can really distinguish themselves to get in front of and eventually acquire the customers they really want, and sometimes that will require some financial resources.