Common sales hurdles and how to get over them

When you hit a sales hurdle, it’s important to know how to get back and get over it 

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on The Sales Ace

Picture the scene. After months of trying to get through to a potential customer you’ve finally reached the decision-maker. You take a deep breath and start the hard graft of building a relationship, fact-finding and pitching your service – and then it all goes quiet.
What to do? Here are five hurdles to closing – and how to get over them.

You didn’t spend enough time building trust – successful sales relationships are built on trust. Without it, you will always struggle to close the deal. To build the trust needed, follow these two simple rules:

• It works both ways – show them that you trust them too. Make it clear that you take them at their word and respect them; they’re likely to reciprocate.
• Be honest. Nothing erodes trust quite like hiding the truth from a prospect. Be honest about your goals and motives so they can help you achieve them.

You haven’t explained the value of your product well enough – there’s a key distinction between price and value and this is often overlooked; price is how much your product or service costs, and value is what it will add to your customer’s business – this can be a financial gain, but it can also be measured in time saved or stressors removed.

How you pitch value to your customer depends on your reading of the client and what matters to them. Some business owners will spend more money on a service that saves them time than they will on a service with a high financial return. To establish what matters to the customer you have to invest time in getting to know each one and their specific priorities.

You’re not listening hard enough to uncover the right problems – your sole job as a salesperson is to uncover the client’s issues and offer them a solution but they won’t always tell you the problem in simple terms – they may not even know what it is themselves. Your task is to listen to the silences, the bits they don’t say, the moments when frustration flashes across their faces mid-sentence; that’s where you target your solution.

You asked for the business too soon – read your prospect. Don’t ask for the business before they’re ready because this is a surefire way to close the door on your pitch.

You didn’t ask for the business when they were ready to buy – this may seem contradictory, but not asking for the business at the right time can be as detrimental as asking for it too soon. Have confidence in your convictions and your reading of the situation. If you think they’re ready to buy, if they’re showing all the signs of liking your offer, ask for the close. You may be surprised how easily they’ll say ‘Yes’.