Detaching from the outcome is complicated.
That’s because you have a vested interest.
You’re paid to talk people into buying.
So you pitch.
You value prop.
You don’t take no for answer unless a prospect says “no” four times. Or is it five?
You lead the witness by saying things like:
“You’re not interested in saving time and money?”
“Aren’t you frustrated by all the opportunities in your pipeline that don’t close?”
You ask ‘why’ questions that implicitly request that prospects justify themselves by saying things like:
“Why isn’t this a priority right now?”
“Why aren’t you interested?”
Your desire to ‘help everyone’ can cause you to say and do things that come across as pushy.
Whenever people feel the push, they pull away.
I’ll prove it to you.
You walk into a department store.
A salesperson asks if he can help you.
You say, “No thanks, I’m just looking.”
Then 5 minutes later, you’re at the register buying something.
Why did you tell the salesperson you were “just looking”?
You were in what I call the Zone of Resistance (ZOR).
The ZOR is a defense mechanism to protect yourself against self-serving salespeople.
So your first job isn’t to persuade.
It’s to lower your prospect’s ZOR.
How do you lower the ZOR during a cold call?
Be curious about your prospect without having an agenda.
A shift from “not taking no for an answer” to understanding your prospect’s truth.
Simple but not easy.
By way of example, here’s what that might sound like on a cold call.
A prospect says, “I’m not interested.”
Not this:
“Why aren’t you interested?”(Makes people defensive.)
This:
You say in a calm voice, “That’s not a problem; I know you didn’t ask me to call you. Before we hang up, if you don’t mind me asking, is it because I called at the worst possible time, or are you happy with what you have?”
Then listen.
Ironically when you lower the ZOR you get to more truth which leads to more sales without having to play the chase game.
Knowing how to lower the ZOR is a good skill to master.
The majority of sales happen on the other side of the ZOR.