I have been there. I understand this more than you could possibly know. You develop a great presentation. You demonstrate all of the attributes. You make the actual presentation. Then you don’t actually ask for the order. Seriously? It happens more than you would think. I have actually been with my boss, or with a representative from my distributor and we walk out to the car without an order and start “debriefing” what happened and OMG!! We forgot to ask for the order. You wonder how that could happen. Many things about sales are common sense. I mentioned “debriefing”. This is a military term and it is essential in evaluating how things go. We briefed each other on the details of the presentation, got all of our ducks in a row, then made the presentation and left without an order. Now it is time to “debrief”,( review what happened.) What could we have done better? What did we miss? Did we ask the right questions? Then it dawns on us….we forgot to “ask for the order”. You blew it, you can’t go back at that point and ask the customer for the order. You missed your window of opportunity. You may eventually get the business but you set yourself up to win and you failed to ask the all important question. In the military a “debriefing” is just part of the process. We do this in business to a lesser degree and it is very informal. In the military it is an actual meeting with all interested parties and the event and what happened is discussed in detail. It is a formal meeting where a list of items is made and there is additional follow up regarding the list. In business it is generally not so formal and there is a lot of hand ringing and excuses and you take a few stabs at what you could have done better. I believe that we should use the “briefing” and “debriefing” process more formally in our everyday business. If for no other reason than to stop repeating the same bad habits. Your success rate on closing will improve by going through the process.
If you don’t ask you will never know. If you ask and the answer is no then you have something to talk about. Why no? What do you need that we didn’t offer? What can we look at that might make our proposal more attractive, more acceptable, more in line with your specific needs? Without this feedback it is like taking a test and not knowing the results. What is the risk of not asking? I believe there is little or no risk. If the answer is yes…life is great. If the answer is no…then why…if the demands from the customer are unreasonable or unattainable then you can move on. If they are not out of reach then you are still in the hunt. Maybe you will find out that there are unforeseen factors that you were not aware of that will prevent you from getting the business. Maybe the person who already has the business is the buyer’s brother in law. This information could save you a great deal of grief. It will move the process forward or eliminate it as a possibility. The sooner you find this out the better. I have found that when there are no objections from the customer they are not really a buyer. It is like the couple who look at a house and are having a hard time with the size of the living room because they don’t think their sofa will fit. This sounds like a buyer to me. The fact that they are trying to make the living room work for them is a strong buying signal. The customers who smile and tell you that this is a nice house need to be taken to another house as soon as possible. Then look for real buying signals at the next house. If all the houses are nice you may not have a real buyer or you are not showing them the right houses. When a customer finds objections he may really be sending you buying signals. Try to pick up on those and provide solutions. Bottom line, do not leave that presentation without asking for the order. Duh!!! Common sense…right? Brief and debrief, look for buying signals, find out everything you can to move things forward. Respect your time, try not to waste your time, evaluate everything, remain engaged. One last thing that I always tried to do. After a meeting and a presentation…even when I did ask for the order…I would write a brief letter thanking the customer for meeting with me. If there were any items worth noting the letter provided a perfect place to mention them. The thing is, most of the time this never happens. It is rare that a sales rep will take the time to thank a customer for meeting with them by sending them a letter. It is so rare that many times it can make the difference. Not a high risk or expensive thing to do, but something that could literally turn the tide on success or failure.
