Timing

When you go into sales, or if you're already in and you've got some gung-ho sales manager, you always hear, "Don't let the sales opportunity slip away." Far too often, this is misstated and/or misinterpreted as "Don't let the buyer walk away from you by any means necessary."

Before you ever get to that point of deciding what you have to do to keep the buyer in front of you is determine if the buyer is even ready. The signs range from the subtle to the obvious, and we'll explore how to recognize those signs at another time. However, in this brief entry, I want to touch on one of the most-often missed fundamentals in the sales process -- and this applies to all types of sales: timing. I'll illustrate this point with an example.

I came across a large opportunity last month, and I began to see dollar signs. As I began to speak with the decision maker, he was very clear that he and his company just signed a one-year agreement with one of my competitors. At that point, I could have thanked him for his time and called him back in a year. However, remembering the size of the opportunity, I decided to "turn off" my salesman sign and become an information gatherer.

Not feeling like he was going to be pressed with a sales pitch, my contact opened up and gave me more information than I had sought. I thanked him for the information and for the time he spared me and excused myself. An associate of mine who was indirectly connected to this project asked why I didn't push my product. I told him that my goal was to get the man comfortable with seeing me on a regular basis over the coming year. I'll pop in occasionally with a box of doughnuts, I'll shoot off an e-mail here and there asking to take him to lunch, etc. And as the one-year agreement comes to a close, I'll be standing right there when the time is right.

He has a need for what I sell, and that need is ever present. However, he set up the timing, and he made it very clear to me. If I were to give him a sales pitch now, he would turn me off and make a mental note not to take my call or respond to my next e-mail.

Your customer may need what you have to sell, and he/she may acknowledge that need, but you have to determine when, in their mind, they will need it from you.