“I Need to Speak to My Boss.”

“I need to speak to my boss.”

I’ve never understood why we teach salespeople to overcome this.

I have a wife. There are purchases I’m going to discuss with her. You telling me other husbands felt the same way isn’t going to change the arrangement.

Traditional sales training gives us something like this:

“I understand how you feel. Many of my clients wanted to speak to their boss before making this decision…”

You can almost hear the “but” coming.

And now the buyer has to explain why they really do need to speak to their boss, which is a strange place to take a conversation.

Also, they haven’t told you how they feel. They’ve told you who they need to speak with.

I’d rather make a guess about what’s behind it, based on what they’ve shared.

“Sounds like anything over a certain amount needs her approval.”

Or:

“You see some value, but you’re not sure she’ll see it the same way.”

Or maybe:

“There are still a few things you’d want to feel better about before putting your name behind this.”

Then give them a second.

They might say, “No, I’m sold. She just approves anything over $10,000.”

Or, “Yeah. We’re still paying for the last tool nobody uses.”

Or, “Honestly, I’m not sure we need this.”

Those are very different conversations. I’d like to know which one we’re having before I start talking.

And sometimes, if we’ve been having a laugh, I might say:

“Sounds like ‘a guy on Zoom said it was great’ might not be enough for the budget meeting.”

The point is to give them something they can confirm, clarify, or correct. These are called elicitations, although you don’t need to remember the term to use one.

Just pick a guess that fits what you’ve heard.

Please don’t read all of these to someone like you’re going through the specials.

And if they say, “No, that’s not it,” that’s useful too.

“Oh, okay. What am I missing?”

If you find yourself knowing what you shouldn’t say, then drawing a blank on what to say instead, that’s why I made Tongue Tied.

They’re flashcards with things you can actually say when prospects put you on the spot.

Grab them here.