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Education

asking them their sales practices. Af- successful sales without realizing you are doing so. No matter how you buy,
ter hearing the process from the first recognize the potential impact your habits can have on your sales approach.
person interviewed, she realized she Then go back to the beginning, and focus on what results from a sales call are
had asked the wrong question. He acceptable.
was explaining the company's re-
quired approach, but halfheartedly There are three acceptable results for any sales effort: yes, no or a firm next
with no commitment. step. A sale is not over until you receive one of these responses. Yes and no
are easy to understand; a firm next step is very specific, and doesn't entail
She then asked, "What was the last letting a prospect think over the offer. It's also not leaving information behind
major purchase you made, and how for the prospect to review. A firm next step is, for example, learning the
did you go about making that pur- prospects partner needs to be involved and will return in an hour, and making
chase?" The response told her every- an appointment to return at that time. It's specific with a specific, scheduled
thing she needed to know about his purpose.
effectiveness, or lack thereof. His last
purchase was an engagement ring. Never accept a "leave behind" request unless you probe deeper. One effective
He listed each store that sold the ring response is to say, "You must be a very nice person." Pause for a reaction; then
his girlfriend wanted, searched the say, "I say this because when I hear that request it's normally because I haven't
internet for additional options, and given you reason to continue the conversation. If that's the case, it's okay to tell
visited all the stores to determine me. Otherwise, I'll be coming back and wasting both your time and mine." No
their support level and confirm the matter what you do, don't allow your way of buying to become your way of
correct ring was there. At that point, selling.
he went home, evaluated all the in-
formation he'd obtained and spent Jeff Fortney is senior vice president of business development and partnerships for TouchSuite LLC,
additional time considering the op-
tions. Finally, he made the purchase. a fintech company providing POS systems, payment processing, SEO solutions, working capital
Total time: two months. and marketing services to small and midsize businesses. A long-time payments industry profes-
sional and mentor, Jeff focuses on strengthening and developing corporate partnerships and eval-
When he finished, she felt she'd clear- uating new business to drive strategic growth. He can be reached at jfortney@touchsuite.com.
ly identified the problem. She then
asked, "When a customer wants to
think about your offer, what do you
do?" He responded, "I tell him I un-
derstand and will come back later."
His failure at selling corresponded to
the way he would buy.
She began each subsequent conver-
sation with the "last major purchase
question" and discovered a disturb-
ing trend. Interviewees were allow-
ing their way of buying to direct
their sales efforts. Since they would
want to consider any purchase, it
seemed logical that a prospective
buyer would want to as well. They
knew how to overcome objections,
but because they could relate to the
attitude of their prospects, they will-
ingly walked away.
The company subsequently incorpo-
rated the sales consultant's question
into its interview process, and sales
results improved because they found
people who were a better fit.
Three acceptable results

If you see yourself in this story,
you may be sabotaging potentially

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