Sales Coaching: I'm Just Looking Means...

Ok, confess you’ve said it yourself when approached by a salesperson. And you understand it in a retail setting, but what about service industry businesses? In your case when the prospect projects disinterest what do you do how do you handle it? n nWhat does “I’m just looking” or general disinterest really mean? It means you have a ready buyer! You don’t go to a car dealership because you have no interest in buying a car, and a prospect doesn’t agree to an appointment because they have no interest unless they’ve been tricked into the appointment. That means your prospect recognizes they have a need and they want to make sure your solution matches their need, they have the money to get what they want, and they are ready to make a decision to buy the right solution. nnYour prospect’s apparent disinterest is a defense mechanism to keep you at bay. They don’t want you to launch into a high-pressure sales conversation. They aren’t ready to buy just yet because there are some things they need to know. They need the facts surrounding your solution, they need to know the available choices, and they need your help sorting through those choices to find the best choice or choices for them. nnThe prospect won’t be ready to buy now until they have the motivation to do so. And typically it’s much easier to do nothing than it is to do something, so you have to change that for the prospect. Help your prospect to discover their motivation by getting them to identify how not having what they want is impacting them, helping them to define the value of this solution to them today, and guiding them into the future to explore the impact of this solution down the road. Remove the focus from immediate sales, and place it on value to the client helping them to buy what they want.nnWhen you’re highly motivated to buy and the seller makes buying a no-brainer you can’t help but act and act now. And your prospects will respond the same way when you help them to pick the right solution, you help them to uncover how the value of the solution is greater than the cost, and when they realize the potential consequences of not acting now are greater than the costs of acting. When you act as a helpful advisor or guide you turn the disinterested prospect into the highly interested buyer.n