(cid:46)(cid:73)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:0)(cid:49)(cid:85)(cid:66)(cid:69)(cid:73)(cid:78) (cid:24) (cid:55)(cid:33)(cid:57)(cid:51)(cid:0)(cid:52)(cid:47)(cid:0) (cid:48)(cid:41)(cid:46)(cid:0)(cid:36)(cid:47)(cid:55)(cid:46)(cid:0) (cid:37)(cid:54)(cid:33)(cid:51)(cid:41)(cid:54)(cid:37)(cid:0) (cid:35)(cid:44)(cid:41)(cid:37)(cid:46)(cid:52)(cid:51) (cid:49)(cid:13)(cid:34)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:69)(cid:70)(cid:83) TM (cid:37)(cid:13)(cid:50)(cid:69)(cid:80)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:84)(cid:83)(cid:0)(cid:70)(cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:0)(cid:51)(cid:85)(cid:67)(cid:67)(cid:69)(cid:83)(cid:83)(cid:70)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:0)(cid:37)(cid:88)(cid:69)(cid:67)(cid:85)(cid:84)(cid:73)(cid:86)(cid:69)(cid:83) (cid:52)(cid:72)(cid:69)(cid:0)(cid:49)(cid:85)(cid:73)(cid:78)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:83)(cid:83)(cid:69)(cid:78)(cid:84)(cid:73)(cid:65)(cid:76)(cid:0)(cid:38)(cid:65)(cid:67)(cid:84)(cid:83)(cid:0) C (cid:73)(cid:78)(cid:0)(cid:65)(cid:0)(cid:49)(cid:85)(cid:73)(cid:67)(cid:75)(cid:0)(cid:21)(cid:13)(cid:45)(cid:73)(cid:78)(cid:85)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:0)(cid:50)(cid:69)(cid:65)(cid:68)(cid:1) Copyright © 2006, Nido Qubein www.nidoqubein.com Q-Briefs: TM n ei b u Q o E-Reports for Successful Execut1ives 83Nid 6, 0 0 2 © ht g yri p o C Q Ways to Pin Down Evasive Clients Nido Qubein (336) 889-3010 • www.nidoqubein.com Copyright 2006, Nido Qubein All rights reserved. ISBN-13: 978-1-933631-89-9 No part of this eReport may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transcribed in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other means with out prior permission of Nido Qubein at Creative Services, Inc. i www.nidoqubein.com Introduction ein b u Q o d Ni 6, 0 0 2 © ht One of the most frustrating things that can happen in sales is to run g yri into a person you simply cannot get to make a decision and sign an op C agreement. Q If you’ve been selling your expertise long enough, you know how it goes. The person says: “I like what you can do for me.” “I need to do exactly what you have proposed.” “And, I want to go ahead with it.” “But…” “I’ll get back with you next week…” “I’ll have to get an okay from someone else…” “I’m a little short on cash flow right now…” On and on and on… The fact is that many professionals work a lot harder than they need to, because they accept those answers at face value and back off. Some even count those promises as sales, and start planning all the ways they’re going to spend the money they’re going to make— once the deal comes through. But, more often than not, they’re in for a rude awakening. When a prospective clients balks at approving an agreement, it pos- es several big problems: • First, a reluctance to act immediately often means there is a hidden problem that has not been dealt with effectively. To simply delay a decision only makes the problem bigger. • Second, the longer a decision is postponed, the less likely you are to close the sale. • Third, having to meet with prospective clients several times eats up large amounts of valuable time and adds to your costs. Q-Briefs: E-Reports for Successful Executives from Nido Qubein ii www.nidoqubein.com • And, fourth, calling back repeatedly positions us as peddlers rather n ei b than busy professionals with important things to do. Qu o d Ni There are plenty of excellent reasons for any professional to be- 6, 0 0 2 come good at pinning down evasive clients. In this eReport, I want © ht to highlight some powerful tactics for turning those prospects who g yri balk into paying clients. op C Q Follow these eight steps to pin down those elusive sales: 1. Qualify, Qualify, Qualify 2. Build longevity into as many agreements as possible 3. Bring everything to closure as quickly as possible 4. Always keep the ball in your court 5. Clear away smokescreens 6. Learn to recognize and work with different personality types 7. Give the client a strong reason to act promptly 8. Get all agreements in writing, get them signed by all parties, and get some money in hand Click here to order 12 Tactics for Greater Marketing Power, the first eBook in Nido Qubein’s Q-Report series. Q-Briefs: E-Reports for Successful Executives from Nido Qubein iii www.nidoqubein.com Step 1: ein b u Q do Ni 6, 0 0 Qualify, Qualify, Qualify 2 © ht g yri p o C The most common reason aQ prospective client balks at the moment of truth is that the professional has been chasing a myth through the whole sales cycle. We have believed through the whole process that we were talking with a prospective client who has the need, the money, and the authority to buy what we are proposing. And, when it comes time to finalize the sale, we discover that one or more of those three qualifications are missing. The reason it’s so crucial to begin by qualifying prospects, and to keep qualifying throughout the whole sales cycle, is that time is your most valuable resource. The more priceless time you waste present- ing your expertise to unqualified clients, the less money you can make. As we often say in our company, the bottom line is always the bot- tom line—and the quicker you can get to it with clients, the more profitable you will be. So, if you’ve been talking with a prospect for ten or fifteen minutes and suddenly discover there is a problem, don’t run from it. Attack it, right then. If you can solve the problem, you’ll avoid a delay later on. If you can’t solve the problem, you don’t have a sale, anyway. The most productive thing you can do is graciously bow out, and find yourself another prospect. Amateurs keep asking themselves, “How can I keep the person talk- ing to me?” But real pros keep asking, “Should I keep talking to this person?” They avoid costly and frustrating delays and stalls because they are constantly qualifying every prospective client. Let me make you a promise—based on years of experience in sell- ing professional services. If you will master the art of qualifying prospects, you can either cut your selling time by a third, or you can increase your sales by a third. You might even do both. So, if you have a problem with clients who can’t make up their minds, the most proactive thing you can do is use the first tactic— qualify, qualify, qualify! Q-Briefs: E-Reports for Successful Executives from Nido Qubein 1 www.nidoqubein.com Step 2: ein b u Q do Ni 6, 0 0 2 Build Longevity into as Many Agreements as © ht g Possible yri p o C Q It makes sense, doesn’t it…? The fewer decisions you ask clients to make, the less often you encounter delays. Let me explain what I mean. In many professions, it often takes very little extra time and effort to sell an agreement that lasts for a year, or two, or three, than it takes to sell a one-time service. Consequently, if you can sell your professional services for two or three years by devoting just a little more time than it takes to sell a single project, obviously the return on your marketing investment is greater. And, here’s another very practical idea: Get the next assignment before you finish the current one. One way to do this is to build in automatic renewal clauses into contracts whenever you can. Make it understood from the beginning that if phase one goes well, you and the client can automatically proceed to phases two and three. Another way to head off delays with steady clients is to start pushing for another agreement six months or a quarter before you finish your present assignment. This is especially helpful if you are dealing with a client who has difficulty making up his or her mind. By ensuring that longevity is structured into your relationships, you will keep your balky clients moving forward. Q-Briefs: E-Reports for Successful Executives from Nido Qubein 2 www.nidoqubein.com Step 3 ein b u Q o d Ni 6, 0 0 Bring Everything to Closure 2 © ht as Quickly as Possible yrig p o C Q Remember, the longer it takes to get a client’s agreement, the less likely you are to make the sale. For example, it might seem like a simple procedure to have a client send back an agreement letter so you can redo it, because there’s some provision he or she doesn’t like. But what if one of the follow- ing scenarios occurs? The client takes two or three days to put it in the mail, and a week goes by before you get the agreement back. It takes a couple of days for you to get it retyped and get it back in the mail. As a result, another week goes by before the client gets it back. The client is out of the office for several days of the next week. Now you’re looking at three weeks. And, what happens if the client finds another problem with the agreement? By the time you shuffle that agreement letter back and forth across the country for a month or six weeks, the client has lost interest and moved on to other priori- ties. Meanwhile, you’ve lost a deal that you already invested several hours of your time trying to complete. A simple tactic usually eliminates that kind of delay in our firm. When a client says, “I want to change a certain provision,” and we agree to the change, we will ask the client to just pencil in the change and initial it. When the agreement comes in, we also initial it and send back a copy. You’d be amazed how much time a simple technique like that can save, and how many agreements it can keep from getting wiped out by unnecessary delays. It’s that kind of attention to detail, and focus on bringing everything to closure, which can often make the difference between success and failure in selling your expertise. What it boils down to is that you watch carefully for any micro detail which could cause delay, and take action quickly to eliminate it. What happens if the client stalls by saying something like, “I’ll get back to you”? That brings up the fourth step for closing evasive clients… Q-Briefs: E-Reports for Successful Executives from Nido Qubein 3 www.nidoqubein.com Step 4 ein b u Q o d Ni 6, 0 0 2 Always Keep the Ball in Your Court © ht g yri p o C Q When someone says, “I’ll get back to you,” your options are limited if you accept this statement without keeping your options open for the future. For example, you might ask the client to come up with a definite time to reopen the discussion: “So, you’ll be meeting with your ac- countant Monday morning—why don’t I give you a call Monday afternoon at about two o’clock?” If there is a valid reason for the delay, the client will usually be open to taking a prearranged call from you. Here’s another technique I use for keeping the ball in my court. Let’s say I’m at a meeting and someone wants one of my business cards. It might be a company executive who says, “I’d like some more information about this…Give me your card and I’ll call you next week.” Now, if I simply give him the card, the ball is in his court. So what I say is, “I’m out of the office a lot, and I want to make sure you get the information you need… So let me have one of your cards, I’ll write down specifically what information you need, and I’ll give you a call next Tuesday morning. Will you be in around 9:45?” If I’m dealing with a qualified prospect, we can set up a definite time for my call and the ball stays in my court. Remember, if you can call back on a definite appointment, you are positioned as a resourceful expert who is trying to be helpful. But, if you call back because you haven’t heard from the prospect, you are positioning yourself as a peddler; maybe even a pest. And there is a world of difference be- tween being a helpful expert and an annoying salesperson. If you discover that a prospective client is stalling because he or she is not quite sure whether or not to go ahead with your proposal, it is time to move to Step 5. Q-Briefs: E-Reports for Successful Executives from Nido Qubein 4 www.nidoqubein.com Step 5 ein b u Q o d Ni 6, 0 0 Clear away Smokescreens 2 © ht g yri p o C If you want to be successfuQl at selling your expertise, you have to learn how to detect what a subtle delaying of action really means. For instance, suppose a prospect says, “That’s a lot of money! I’ll have to check with my partner!” What does that really mean? Does it mean, a. “I’m not sure it’s worth that much to me!” b. “I can’t afford to spend that much money!” c. “I think I can get it cheaper!” d. “My partner controls the purse strings!” It could mean any one of those things—or a number of other things. Maybe the person just doesn’t like your looks, but doesn’t want to be rude. Until you know what a delaying tactic means, it’s like wan- dering around in a smokescreen. You don’t know what you’ll bump into next. How can you clear away the fog and find out what you are really dealing with? Here is a technique I’ve found to be very effective: Clarify and settle the key issue. A simple response like this of- ten helps. “I don’t understand! What do you mean, ‘That’s a lot of money’? Think of yourself as a logger, trying to clear away a log jam. If a whole bunch of logs get jammed together and clog up a river, an amateur starts at the back, and keeps pulling out one log at a time until the log jam is cleared away. But a skilled lumberjack looks for the key log—the one log that has caused the jam in the first place. Once he gets that one key log out of the way, all the other logs start moving right along. Keep asking yourself, Why would this person say that? Also, keep asking the prospect questions until you are sure you know what the key issue is. Once you know what the key issue is, stop everything until you clear it up. Remember that if there is a key issue to be settled in the prospect’s mind, all your efforts to close the sale will be stalled until you settle that issue. Q-Briefs: E-Reports for Successful Executives from Nido Qubein 5 www.nidoqubein.com