By Kathy Sisk
If your prospect interrupts your presentation before you get to the purpose of your call, here’s what might be occurring:
- Your prospect is busy, and it’s easier to say, “I’m not interested.”
- The prospects says “no” to everything.
- The prospect does not want to be sold anything due to negative experiences.
When faced with this, the “easy close” offers an ideal response to identify what type of prospect you have and gives you an opportunity to regain control.
First, say these three important words: “I respect that.” This diffuses the situation. Often your prospect’s guard comes down. Now you can proceed.
“I would like to provide you with information about [describe what you can offer, using an approach-and-hook statement to arouse interest]. Would that be all right with you?”
Do not elevate your tone of voice at the end of this sentence. That makes it a question and reinforces that your prospect is in control of the conversation, and you will get more negative responses. Instead, drop your tone of voice on the last word to make it an assumptive statement.
When your prospect agrees, qualify whether he or she has an interest in the information or is trying to exit the conversation. Say one of the following:
“Once you’ve had the opportunity to review the information, I would like to gain your feedback. Does that sound fair?” Again, end this “question” as an assumptive statement. This allows you to send information and make a follow-up call. Set a day and time to follow up so it becomes a stronger callback.
However, if you do not want to send information, you can continue by saying, “To ensure the information I have will benefit you, I need to ask you a couple of quick questions if you don’t mind.”
Proceed to your probing step: Qualify your prospect, establish his or her wants, and create the need for what you offer. This scenario puts you back in control of your presentation. Keep in mind that using an easy close will not work all the time, but it will get you further into your presentation than not using it.
Kathy Sisk Enterprises Inc. has forty years of experience providing call center set up, reengineering, assessments, training, script development, and project management services to centers globally.