Are you and your prospect equals?

In conversation with many salespeople, whether they are junior BDRs, experienced AEs or senior leaders, I often come across the sense that sellers consider themselves to be supplicants, begging for time and support from the people they are selling to. They feel they have to be incredibly careful about asking too much, pushing too hard, or expecting too much. At one level that's obviously right – selling to someone is like any other human relationship, there is give-and-take. You cannot demand so much from your prospect that you aggravate them. Just as you shouldn't aggravate your colleagues, your family or your friends.

But… It's crucial for salespeople to recognise that they are not less-than, less important, less worthy of attention. If you are in a conversation with a prospect, then you should consider yourself their equal. Your time is as valuable as their time is. Anyone who is potentially buying from you will expect you to deliver on your commitments, to turn up to calls as expected, etc. But somehow, we don't hold our prospects to the same level. Therefore, I encourage all sellers to ensure that they are treated appropriately by their prospective buyers. Do not allow an asynchronous relationship to develop where you deliver and chase and they are slow and unengaged. If this happens, one of two things is going on. Either they are not that interested – in which case stop wasting your time – or they consider that you should do all the work – in which case you will struggle to get the deal done anyway.

How do you get out of this cycle? The first thing is to have a mentality that says I am just as important as the person I'm selling to, my time is just as valuable. This is true. There are then various mechanics you can apply.

* Firstly, simply raise it with them. The last several times I have attempted to contact you, you have not reacted. It appears this is not a priority for you. And see how they react. Or There have been a couple of actions with you for the last several weeks, which are not going anywhere. It seems that the value we bring does not justify the investment of your time right now. They may agree, in which case you don't have a deal, and you should stop wasting your time (or, if realistic, remind them of their problem that you solve such that they do indeed re-engage). Alternatively, they might acknowledge that they have been slack, but the product is important to them. You can then agree deadlines and communication processes and hold them to account.
* If you're in a serious discussion with a prospect, then I strongly recommend you look at Go-live plans. These are extension of the better-known Close-plans, or sometimes Mutual-Action-plans. Go-live plans are agreed set of actions with the prospect to get from where you are today to the point that the product is live in their environment. It is crucial to focus on that endpoint – the solution being live, which is of value to the buyer; not the contract closure, which is primarily of interest to the seller. You need this to be a shared document with mutual actions, and you regularly review it with your main contact (ideally the Champion in MEDDICC-speak). If they do not follow-up their actions, you can hold them to account. Make it clear that nothing will Go-live as planned without their engagement.

At the end of the day, you are just as important as they are and your time is crucial. If they are not giving you their time, then they are not interested. Move on!

Ben