When it is time to talk to a prospect, most salespeople are prepared for an in depth description of what their product or service can do for the prospect. Sales people show up well armed with use cases, demos, sell sheets and often times references. But none of those things will help them make a sale if they can not get answers to three simple questions.
The first question is simple, “do you want to make a change in the result you are currently getting?” Too often sales people barge into a selling situation with a firm conviction that they have a better solution. In fact, salespeople and their marketing teams can often tell a great story about why there is no doubt that their company can provide a different result than the buyer is currently getting. But no story will sell if the buyer is content with what they are currently experiencing.
The second question is also fairly simple, “are you open to doing something different than you have been previously doing?” No matter the change you propose, the buyer is going to have to make some changes some changes are small, like learning how to use a new phone system. Some changes are bigger, such as learning to use a new CRM or Marketing Automation system. But no matter what the change is, once a buyer says they are unwilling to consider any change the sales process has ended.
The third and final question can be a bit of a challenge, “is it important to make a change now?” sometimes buyers are not happy with their current result, they might be open to doing things differently, but they are unwilling to make a change now. If a prospect says “we are unwilling to make any changes until 2023.” There is a very good chance that the person you are talking to has neither the gain nor the authority to change the situation. And no use case, demo, sell sheet or reference will change the situation.
I believe — and my experience coaching hundreds of sales people and sales teams in a wide variety of industries— that nobody can sell anything until the prospect commits to these three answers. In order to confirm the sales opportunity exists— and in order to have a relevant fulfillment step— you need to ask these three questions and make sure the answers are Yes, Yes and Yes.
