Premature Articulation. It’s a condition that affects nearly every sales professional, everywhere. So, what exactly is it? It’s when you prematurely go into “sell mode” right after the prospect or client makes a statement that you perceive to be a question… and you automatically start selling. You simply start talking too much and way too early. Let’s look at an example:
Prospect: “It looks like your prices are pretty high…”
SalesPro: “Well, let’s talk about that…If you’re planning to buy in bulk, I’m sure we can arrange a discount…”
Prospect: “I’m not sure your product can keep up…”
SalesPro: “Yes, it can and more! Let me tell you all about it...”
Prospect: “I’m concerned about your warranty…”
SalesPro: “Well, obviously ours is better, here are some reasons why you should choose us…”
In each case above, the sale professional is suffering from P.A.
Why is that? The responses seem reasonable. Well, there are a couple reasons. The first one is that the comments are just that… comments!
Sales professionals often mistake comments made by prospects/clients as questions. When that happens, they feel the need to defend/justify/explain in response. They go in to “sales mode.” This is classic P.A.!
Even if they were questions, would they be the “real” question? That is the second point here…the question that prospects/clients ask initially is rarely ever the real question. We often get “smokescreens” early, therefore, we have an obligation to clarify what is truly being asked. Let’s re-look at the first example above…
Prospect: “It looks like your prices are pretty high…”
SalesPro: “…and?”
Prospect: “I’m just noticing that they are high compared to company x.”
SalesPro: “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind…”
Prospect: “I wouldn’t say that yet…”
Sales Pro: “Ok, what would you say?”
Prospect: “I’d say that we’re going to have to see what you bring to the table.”
SalesPro: “Ok. In regard to?”
Prospect: “I need to understand that I won’t have quality control issues with your product that leads to shutting down our production.”
SalesPro: “That sounds important to you. What else?”
Instead of blathering on and on about how buying in bulk will lead to a discount, or how spending more money with you will save the prospect down the road, the above re-look shows how a conversation with a prospect could unfold and how you could uncover what is actually important to them.
By not answering the unasked question (P.A.), you create a potentially better opportunity to make the sale.
Are you good at sales but looking for the fine differences that could make you great? Give us a call, we know a thing or two about slight edge.
