If you didn’t ask for it, you should have
Too many people don’t ask the tough question because they don’t want to know the answer.
What’s the question? “Is there anything you see in ________ that would prevent you from ________ ?” Examples of this question would be:
- Is there anything in our demonstration that would prevent you from moving forward with a cost analysis?
- Is there anything in my background or experience that would prevent you from hiring me?
- Is there anything in this conversation that would prevent you from allowing us to do an in-depth time study?
- Is there anything you’ve seen in this plant tour that would prevent you from giving us a purchase order?
It is far better to know the hurdles up front. It will allow you to not only address the issue, but also allow you to properly forecast a sale, rather than just continuing to blindly hope you and your prospect are on the same page.
One Moore Thing: This is a difficult question to ask as you’re almost certainly asking for negative feedback, but that negative feedback is what prompts real change in our behavior and offerings.