In my continuing series on the Sandler Rules, let’s talk about Sandler rule number 39, “When all else fails, become a consultant.”
There are instances when you reach the end of a conversation with a sales prospect and neither of you know what to do moving forward.
While I hope my other blogs have made it easier to avoid these types of situations, it would be foolish to pretend that they don’t exist.
In those instances, it’s best to remove yourself from the position of salesperson and move into a consultant role.
Before starting this strategy, I first recommend asking the prospect for their permission – you can’t switch roles without first getting their approval to do so. Typically, I ask “Can I take my sales hat off and put my consultant hat on?”
When asking that question, there are only two possible answers: yes and no.
If the prospect says yes, here’s what you do: You start to give them advice on what would work and softly ask hard-hitting questions in order to get them to the truth. Here’s an example scenario.
Salesperson as consultant: “What’s holding you back from buying this product/service?”
Prospect: “Well, I want to make sure I’m making the right decision.”
Salesperson as consultant: “I understand, but there’s a reason you’re holding back from taking action. What is it that you need to hear, see, or feel in order for us to take the next step?”
Oftentimes, the reason the prospect is holding back is that they don’t know how to buy your product or service. For example, a person buys a new roof once every twenty years, but the roofers sell new roofs every day. They know how to sell to prospects, but they also need to let the prospect know that it’s a good idea to buy a roof.
In many cases, if the prospect bought your product or service, you would move into a consultant position anyway – offering consultant advice before the sale is complete will help the prospect make their decision and teach them to be comfortable with the salesperson as an advisor.
On the other hand, the prospect could say “no,” that they don’t want you to be a consultant. If that happens, I usually say something along the lines of “Sounds like you are leaning towards telling me ‘no’. What would you like to do now?”
This gives the prospect the decision on where to go. That could lead to the end of the sales talk or it might sway them into making a decision on whether or not they want to hire you. (And isn’t finding the truth your goal all along?)
If you learn anything through this post, I hope it’s this: Start thinking of yourself as a consultant. Not only will it help your sales process, it’ll help you form better relationships with your clients.
