Is Your Investigation Costing You Deals?
Contributed by Ryan Ross | ryan.ross@citylifestyle.com
A lack of clarity is one of the biggest deal-killers. You can’t build value if you don’t know what is most important to your prospect, and you can’t solve a problem that you don’t even know exists. And if it takes a battery of questions before you can uncover this information, you’ll run into another deal-killer: time. Simply put, if you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t close the deal. Keep reading for some tips that can help make your Investigation more effective and efficient.
Get Over the Target Immediately
The people you are meeting with have a reason they decided it was worth their time to meet with you, so find out what that reason is as soon as possible. Don’t just guess or assume you know - ask them!
“When you decided to meet with me, what were you hoping I’d be able to help your business with?”
Use this question right after the push-away to start your investigation. Their answer will give you clarity on the value or solution you’ll need to provide in order to close the deal. You’ll be more effective with the rest of your investigation by having this insight from the start, and you’ll stop wasting time with irrelevant questions.
Get Out in Front of Common Objections
Now that you know what you’ll need to close the deal, it’s important to try to figure out what might get in the way. Here are some questions that can pull out objections early, or give you ammo to handle them if they arise later.
Partner / Spouse / Other Decision Makers
Don’t get surprised at the end of the meeting by this one! It’s the easiest excuse for someone to use that just doesn’t want to tell you “no” to your face. If we can pull this out in the investigation, then we’ll take this excuse off the table.
“Other than yourself, who else is involved in making marketing decisions?”
If there are other players that aren’t at the table, dig in on that dynamic and process so you can maintain control of the situation.
Price
If we’re getting hit with a price objection, that means they don’t see the value, and the investment does not justify the potential return. It can help to know what their marketing budget is, but if they don’t see the value they’re not going to allocate any of that budget for us anyway. It’s important to know the value of a client so we can make the return a no-brainer.
“If I were to (buy X) what would something like that cost?”
Or
“It sounds like you have a number of options for your customers, but what does an average customer typically spend with you?”
Now if they tell us the price is too high, we can confirm that they do believe that this will work for them, and then show how easy it will be for them to see a return.
Recap to Wrap
The last step to make your investigation more efficient is to recap what you learned, and confirm that you’ve got the clarity you are looking for.
“It sounds like…(repeat back the most important items). Is there anything else that we haven’t discussed that you think would be important for me to know, or that you want to make sure the community knows about you?”
Bringing this step into your investigation allows you to move on once you’ve got the most important information, and ensures you didn’t miss anything that will be vital in closing the deal.
If you’re getting surprised by objections at the end of meetings, or if you find yourself running out of time to be able to handle objections and find the right solution, your investigation is probably the culprit. Record your meetings and listen back to evaluate your investigation and find opportunities to include these strategies. If you want a second opinion on your recordings, don’t hesitate to reach out!