Is It Ever Okay to Completely Abandon Your Sales Presentation? Absolutely!
Here’s the scenario, a true story from my own past. I was selling homes and working with a couple that wanted to move. I followed my sales presentation and everything was going smoothly.
Then the conversation took a sharp turn in the form of a bombshell from the buyers. The couple announced that they were not purchasing a home, but that they would instead be purchasing two homes on the same street.
The reason? They were in the process of a divorce and they wanted the children to walk between mom’s house and dad’s house.
Imagine my shock upon learning this rather interesting information. I confess I was immediately stumped. Somehow, this scenario did not come up in my training classes!
I found myself fairly perplexed on how to proceed. I was at the point in my sales presentation where it was time to take them out and show them some homes, but that just didn’t seem like the right thing to do in the moment.
Let me clear on this – I believe every salesperson should follow a strategic sales presentation. I think sales professionals should have those presentations committed to memory and practiced until they are deeply engrained into their brains.
Without a solid sales path we are in “make it up” mode 100% of the time. The sales path is essential!
Except for when it’s not.
There are times in the sales conversation where you need to wander away from the presentation and sit down in the shade for a while. It’s okay to do so, because that is precisely what your customer needs from you.
Let’s look at a case study.
A single female walks onto a car lot and starts looking around. A salesperson approaches her and begins to ask the questions on his sales path. The car shopper is immediately resistant, even to the point of borderline rudeness.
The salesperson tries to outlast the customer and to “kill her with kindness,” but he is clearly not making headway. In fact, he begins to feel that the sales process is unraveling before him.
His options:
A. Keep plugging away. Stay on the path and hope for the best.
B. Walk away and give her some space. See if she calms down with a little bit of alone time.
C. Turn her over to a different salesperson.
D. Confront her about her attitude.
I vote “D.” In the most helpful, caring, sensitive, and service-focused manner I would attempt to get inside her brain.
“It’s clear that you are not particularly enjoying this process and I want to apologize if I have made it difficult for you in any way. I want you to feel good when you leave today, and if that means you end up not purchasing from us, that’s fine. There is absolutely no pressure. I’m wondering if you’ve had a bad experience in the past, or if there is some other reason why you don’t particularly enjoy this process.”
Remember that this is a move I would only make when I felt that the sale was coming apart and that I was in jeopardy of having the customer walk away. At this point I have nothing to lose.
The key is to understand that you will not find the statement above anywhere in the typical sales presentation!
I contend that there are times when you must set the presentation aside in order to connect with the customer at a deeper level to better serve her/his needs.
So, how do you know when to abandon the planned presentation? Simply ask yourself whether the next step in the path will help or hinder the customer’s search. If it makes more sense to detour, do it.
But then….get back on the path! The path is still there and it is still necessary. Get back on it!
Incidentally, I took some time to let my divorcing customers share their journey and even their fears in designing this new and unconventional version of life.
They did purchase two homes on the same street and I was able to help them through that difficult process.
Treat every customer uniquely and do what is right for each one. That is when you can change their world!
