Look Both Ways

Remember that game we played as kids, Red Light, Green Light? The leader would yell Green Light and everyone would begin running as fast as they could towards the finish line. Then the leader would scream, Red Light and you'd have to stop dead in your tracks or be forced to start from the beginning!

Mahan Khalsa, author of the book Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play, suggests we should also watch and listen for the red lights and green lights when meeting with a prospective client.

A few weeks ago I had what at the time seemed like a good sales meeting. The client was giving me great information and I could quickly begin to understand where the issues were. When our time was up, we shook hands and agreed to get others involved and move forward through the process. Though I sensed a little hesitation in scheduling a follow up meeting, I let it go. I certainly didn't want to press the issue!

RED LIGHT!

I haven't had a conversation with him since that day. I've put in a couple of phone calls and an eMail, but no response. Maybe I was caught up in the ideas and the solutions, and wasn't paying attention to what he was really saying.

Next time your moving through the sales process with a client, pay attention to the red lights. If you're truly engaged and listening you should see them flashing!

Flickr photo courtesy of rrazor.

Comments

[Mike Wagner]

Good to see you've read "Lets Get Real".

Khalsa is both profound and simple. His sales wisdom has been invaluable to my work.

Keep creating...a brand worth raving about,
Mike

[Cory Garrison]

Mike,

Thanks again for the Mahan recommendation! Invaluable is right! And thanks for engaging in the conversation!

[Timothy Johnson]

What amazes me, Cory, are clients who never close the loop. They're either too cowardly or too lazy just to say, "Hey, not a good fit. Sorry it didn't work out." So they say nothing. And they go on my list of people I'd probably not enjoy working with anyway if they don't have the energy to honestly and tactfully turn me down.

Great post.

[Cory Garrison]

Tim,

I've always said "No" is better than "maybe". Perhaps they're afraid we will throw ourselves to the ground kicking and screaming like two year olds if we don't get our way.

Thanks for the conversation!

[Mark True]

Timothy echoed my thoughts exactly, Cory.

I think it's because we're "Iowa nice" and we're afraid to hurt any body's feelings. I'd much rather hear NO than MAYBE. If I can't wow a prospect pretty quickly, or at least get them to say TELL ME MORE, then I'd rather we just move on.

I guess our challenge, as you say in your post, is to look for the signs and know when to move on.

-Mark