7 Ways Sales People Cool The Deal

At Natural Training we believe that customers are hot for a sale for a short time, and then they can go cold again. It works in waves, like that game we used to play as kids. “Hotter, colder, freezing, warmer now…”

We call it The Law of Sales Heat. Your job is to keep the heat in the sale. However many salespeople are guilty of self-sabotage – taking the heat of the sale on their own accord.

Why does the heat go out of a sale, leading to you losing it?

All the warmth and emotion in a sale is generated from one human to another, so it makes sense that when it goes, it’s your fault. You must take responsibility for this. It’s a bit like The Cooler.

The Cooler was a 2003 movie starring William H Macy as Bernie Lootz, a perennial loser hired by a casino to “cool” tables full of lucky gamblers by taking a seat among the rowdy throng and injecting his bad luck and dour mood like a virus. Just as heat spreads like wildfire, tipping cold water sobers and destroys spirit.

At Natural Training we personally witness many sales people cooling down a sale, just like Bernie Lootz. When the client should be at fever pitch, some sales people simply take the heat out of the deal. They don’t realise they are doing it, because if they did they wouldn’t do it. But they do.

7 Ways Sales People Cool The Deal:

1) By taking too long to get back to clients. Time is usually a big killer of heat. That’s where colleagues and other influencers can move your prospect away from you and into the arms of competitors. Get back to clients in record time and keep the flame burning!

2) By making the client fit in with your way of selling rather than the other way around. For example, the client might be ready to buy and simply want a price, but the sales process (that’s you) insists on getting a fully written proposal back to them.

3) By making clients nervous or annoyed: For example trying to sell too much at once, rather than being happy with a reasonable level of commitment. Or not providing client references. Or misquoting. You get the idea.

4) By being long winded and tiring when speaking: What a heat killer!

5) Bland follow-ups: “Have you read the proposal yet?” isn’t a question to keep momentum. It’s bland, and boring. If they were that interested you’d know already! So try the heat approach: “John I saw an article today that I thought might be of interest – I’m going to shoot it over. It’s about…” Your follow-ups should be creative, helpful and full of good intent. You can pay a monkey to pick up a phone and say “What about it?” You’re better than that – be refreshingly different! See our blog “The 5 Olympic Games of Sales Proposals” for more information.

6) Deals are regularly cooled when sales people introduce objections: Yes, far too often the seller, not the buyer, brings up the objection. Bizarre, but true. For example, in the heat of the sale, customers don’t need to hear “Most customers sign our terms and conditions straight away.” (Most? What about the ones that don’t?).

7) Not thinking like the customer: 5 minutes with your eyes closed and actually imagining being the customer is essential. What will they need to make a decision? This will help you plan, and come up with your commitment map.

This is a small section from our New E-book, Heat: Why Customers Buy from You – And Why They Don’t. To download your free copy click here.

In our sales training we will help you to keep the heat in the sale for all of your clients with our natural philosophies and strategies. Give us a call on 0207 043 1582 to find out more.