Grrrr; when you lack credibility gatekeepers block you out, prospects won’t give you the time of day, and sales opportunities are about as common as a $3 bill. How are you supposed to succeed in sales when you can’t even get a moment's attention? You can’t establish value when no one will give you a chance.



It’s a catch 22 and you need to get off the treadmill. But what do you do? How do you do it? Where do you start?

There are 3 things you can do to establish your credibility. First, let your reputation precede you. Next qualify the prospect. Finally, focus on the need-solution match.

How do you let your reputation precede you? You change the way you approach the first connection. Your outcomes are predetermined by the way you make that first connection.

The prospect must immediately recognize that you understand them and what they want. If they don’t you lose because they won’t give you the time of day. You don’t deserve their attention because you haven’t earned it. If they do you’ve crossed the first hurdle by getting their attention.

You must communicate value. No one wants someone to sell them something, but everyone wants to get what they want. Focus your first connection on providing valuable information about what you already know they want.

Pique their curiosity. You must make them want to know more. Their desire to know more must be strong enough to motivate them to take action.

Every connection should include an opportunity for your ideal prospects to take an action. If you’ve grabbed their attention, and piqued their curiosity they’ll be motivated to take that action. If you’ve failed to do your job they won’t take action.

Currently you work from the premise that prospects qualify or disqualify you by either agreeing to work with you or rejecting you. That’s your choice one you’ve chosen because you lack credibility. The better choice is to focus on qualifying prospects, and helping them identify themselves as qualified to take the next action.

You do that by asking questions. The questions you ask should be well thought out and asked because they demonstrate to both you and the prospect that there might be a good reason to explore what you can do for them. A few well chosen questions are the key.

One of the most important things you must do as part of the qualification process is validating the prospect’s need. If the prospect doesn’t believe they have a need they aren’t a prospect. If they do perceive they have a need you should explore the impact of that need, and increase their urgency to act.

When both you and the prospect clearly understand there’s a need you have the opportunity to increase the desire to act on that need. People only act when the motivation to act is greater than the option to do nothing. You must help the prospect articulate why they should act, and act now.

Credibility comes from expertise and control of the situation. While there is nothing wrong with asking a prospect what they’d like to do next you also should provide viable options that you already know will help the prospect through the buying process. Rather than pushing or pulling the prospect to do what you want them to do you should be helping them do what you realize they must do to make a solid decision.

When you meet with a prospect to discover how you might help them your focus should be on the need-solution match not the sale. If their need doesn’t match the solution you can provide they aren’t a match. You should have no problem walking away from a non-match.

If there is a match you and the prospect must explore the gap. You must help the prospect pinpoint the cause(s) of the gap. Then you can talk about ways to close the gap.

As you’re jointly going through this thought process you also want to review potential solution options. Evaluate the pros and cons of the available options including options that you don’t offer. Help the prospect select the option that works best for them.

At this point you have a responsibility to help the prospect envision their desired future. Without this forward look into the future they want their motivation to buy will be less than their natural inclination to do nothing. As the prospect clarifies and further defines this envisioned future their motivation to act increases. It’s far easier for them to make a “yes" decision without you having to push them into a “yes" decision.

At this point they’re close to being ready to make the purchasing decision, but as the professional you realize there’s one more thing you have to do. You have to help them weigh the value of the desired future against the cost of having it. If the value of purchase isn’t far less than the value of the desired future they can’t buy. If they rashly decide to buy they’re likely to have buyer’s remorse later.

You established your credibility from the first connection. You’ve demonstrated it before you agreed to an appointment. And you’ve followed through throughout the sale process. All that’s left is deciding a start date. Read more about how to get all the leads you want below.