|
The Distracted Prospect
Getting your prospect’s attention when he’s busy
doing other things
It’s tough enough getting that
appointment with a prospect, but when you
finally end up in his office in that first sales
call and he is totally distracted with other
activities, what do you do? We are all very busy
these days and it is common practice to
multi-task (for instance, I’m doing three other
things while writing this article). Some of us
are really good at it while others struggle with
simply walking and chewing gum at the same time.
Regardless of your level of skill at
multi-tasking, it’s just plain rude to do other
things while someone is trying to talk with you.
I’ve written enough articles about listening
skills where I discuss how to focus your
energies on the other person in order to clearly
demonstrate that you are interested in what they
are saying. Nevertheless, we can’t avoid it when
other people don’t show good listening skills to
us.
I know this has already happened to you. You’re
in your prospect’s office and you are
trying to ask him questions about his business
so you can determine the best solution for his
problems (aka, doing a good job during your
initial meeting), and all he is doing is
shuffling papers around his desk, answering the
phone, and taking interruptions from his
executive assistant. You feel like a piece of
the wall paper since you’re basically being
ignored. You feel like getting up and leaving
but you obviously can’t be equally rude and risk
losing the opportunity (assuming there really is
an opportunity to begin with). Your time is just
as valuable as your prospect’s, therefore you
need to make sure that you have quality time
with your prospect or else you are both wasting
precious time. So what’s a sales professional to
do?
First of all, if your prospect is clearly too
busy to pay attention to you and is constantly
distracted by the phone, pop-in visitors,
paperwork, etc., then politely ask him when
would be a better time to re-schedule the
meeting. Say something like, “I see that you are
really too busy right now to meet with me.
Should we perhaps schedule this at another time
that would be better for you?” He will either
re-schedule the meeting or realize that he is
being disrespectful of your time and stop the
interruptions. Either way, you showed
professionalism and respect for your prospect,
which can’t hurt. He’ll also feel a bit guilty
if he needs to reschedule which means he will
overcompensate next time and be all yours.
Another technique for avoiding distractions is
to hold the meeting away from your prospect’s
office. If he has a conference room you can use,
then try for that. This could be challenging if
he brings you directly into his office. You’ll
have to be creative and delicate so as not to
hurt his feelings or sound too intrusive. If you
have a presentation you’re giving or need to
spread samples across a table or need room for
whatever, you can politely suggest you move
somewhere that has a larger space, such as his
conference room. You could also try to arrange
for this in advance, when you schedule the
meeting in the first place. If you have your own
office location, you can invite him to come see
you. Alternatively, try meeting for a cup of
java at a local coffee shop or perhaps set up a
breakfast or lunch meeting. Personally, I don’t
like first meetings at restaurants for two
reasons. One, it makes me feel like I am trying
to bribe the client into doing business with me,
and second, it is frequently too noisy and
loaded with distractions. But this is a personal
preference. The goal is to get him out of his
office and away from his phone and other
interruptions so he can dedicate his time to
you.
If you find that your prospect is being
distracted and not paying enough attention to
you, then be more assertive during the meeting.
Depending on the layout of his office, you may
be sitting in a chair ten feet away from his
desk. You might as well be sitting out in the
hall. Pull the chair up closer so you are
sitting closer to the prospect or to his desk so
he knows you’re there. Lean forward and look him
in the face (maintain eye contact). Place your
literature, proposal, etc. in front of him and
gesture to it so he feels more engaged in the
discussion and interactive with you. This will
make it more difficult for him to ignore you or
treat you like you are just part of the
woodwork.
Be sure to get him talking first. Since people
prefer talking to listening, and they themselves
are their favorite subject, then get him talking
about his business, problems, issues, and pains,
even his family, hobbies, interests and more.
This is basic selling skills. Ask good questions
and get him talking so you can learn as much
about his needs as possible. This way you will
be able to match the right solutions to his
problems. This will also get your prospect
totally engaged in the conversation and he will
ignore all those pesky interruptions.
Finally, you can try getting a little gimmicky.
I had a sales person once tell me that he brings
an unmarked box of something special to a new
prospect, like candy, and places it on the
prospect’s desk, unopened, during the meeting.
He ignores it, but eventually the prospect will
ask what’s in the box, at which point he opens
it and shares the contents. His prospect’s
curiosity gets the better of him, but in the
meantime, he is more focused on you (and your
box) instead of other distractions. Clever!
When prospects repeatedly get distracted during
your meetings, then get creative and demand that
they respect your time in polite, professional
ways such as those mentioned here.
Good
luck and good selling!
Russ Lombardo
PEAK
Sales Consulting, LLC
russ@peaksalesconsulting.com
(702)
655-5652
|
