Be Wary of Our Own Assumptions

We find ourselves saying this very frequently, the job of a salesperson is to help prospects make a decision. Too often, as we are trying to get the prospect to make a decision we fall into the trap of making assumptions.

Assumptions are one of the root causes for many of the “sales nightmares” we can experience. Statements from prospects like “everything seems to be in line we just have to run it past our committee for a final ok, but you have my vote”. Or, “I am going to need a little time but I feel real confidant about what you have shown us”. We hear they are buying, but time may prove that was a hopeful assumption.

The result, we assume our contact is advocating for us, we assume that they are going to have enough horse power to push us through the committee or we assume they are telling us the truth. We may also assume that we have educated our contact to answer all of the questions that the committee might have? What if that one question we didn’t prepare our contact for is the question that the committee asks? This is called “Murphy’s Law”, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. What if we did not leave our results up to chance?

Great salespeople ask all the questions necessary to really understand the prospect’s intentions. Successful salespeople will not accept words that are not clear from their prospects. Avoid making assumptions rather get clear well understood commitments from your prospects. Before you go on your next sales call think about being wary of your own assumptions. Let us know your thoughts! Please leave us a comment.