When sales people are asked to identify their top ten prospects, many simply list businesses with which they’ve had one pleasant conversation. The prospect was nice on the initial call. The sales rep misreads kindness as opportunity.
Inevitably, the leasing rep makes a follow-up call and the formerly nice prospect is now ice cold. Mistake number one, don’t delude yourself with thinking that common courtesy is opportunity. Number two, a qualifying call is not the same as identifying true need.
Countless times the follow-up call placed after the qualifying call ends up in voice mail and the call is never returned, or the rep gets through to the prospect and their response is “I have your information on file, I’ll call you if I need you.” Now the prospect is in LIMBO. Don’t get stuck in follow-up call limbo! The path out of this state of oblivion is to uncover the prospect’s sweet-spot early in the sales cycle, then taylor each follow-up call to address the ares that are important to that client.
Before you can identify a prospect as a good bet for future business you need to know:
What leasing company are they currently using?
What is most important to them in a leasing company?
What benefits quantified in percentages or dollars will help the prospect?
After you have the answer to these questions the relationship can move forward.
However, sometimes you may have a prospect who gives knee jerk responses to the above questions. They may say “rates” are most important to them in a leasing company because they think that SHOULD be most important. In reality what may be most important to them is dealing with one point of contact who can answer questions and solve problems in a timely manner.
The prospect is reluctant to answer basic questions truthfully because he doesn't want to be vulnerable and doesn't want to make a mistake. If the prospect is a vendor, he may be afraid that an unknown leasing company could botch his equipment sale. If the prospect is a lessee he may have had a negative financing experience and he’s very skeptical of leasing companies.
The antidote to this lack of trust is to establish reliability and solidity. It could take nine or ten calls on a prospect before this foundation is set. Each and every call needs to add value to the prospects business. It’s providing an article, a web site, a book that helps the prospect. It’s providing testimonials that show you are trustworthy as a leasing advisor. It’s NOT calling the prospect to “check-in”. When you place those kind of calls you diminish the worth of your services.
Build credibility by uncovering the customer’s needs and providing a solution. For example ask questions like “Mr. Lessee, what strategies are you using to increase cash flow?” “How are your customers being affected by the changes in the economy?”
Once the prospect starts to talk, be silent. Engage in active listening so that they continue to talk. Listen to understand their true needs and once you really understand then and only then, provide a solution.
Even if the prospect brushes you off by saying “I already use a leasing company and I’m happy with them.” You still probe by replying “That’s great. Many of my best customers told me the same thing the first time I talked to them. Who are you using? What strategies have you implemented to get the majority of your customers approved?”
Don’t be afraid to probe. Your probing skills and listening skills pave the path to a productive follow-up call and a wonderful new relationship. With positive persistence and good questioning skills you can make every follow-up call a productive call. This will in-turn move the sales cycle forward. Remember this formula
A x F = $. Action multiplied by frequency equals volume!