Have you ever faked an excuse to get out of something? Yeah, me too.
In fact, 47% of us have faked excuses to get out of plans.
Do you know Beth, who bailed on your birthday? She may not actually have had a headache.
We fake it because we don’t want to be the bearers of bad news. We don’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings.
Your prospects fake it sometimes, too, for the same reason.
Here’s what faking it often sounds like:
“Call me next quarter.”
“Can you send me some info?”
“Send me a proposal.”
How do you know if prospects are faking it, so you don’t waste time sending proposals?
Storytime.
A prospect recently told me to send them a proposal.
Here’s a transcript of our call:
Me: “What would you like to see?”
Prospect: “The background on your company; the deliverables, schedule, terms, and pricing. You know the usual stuff.”
Me: “Let’s say you get the proposal and it’s what you want for the investment we discussed. What happens next?” (Fast forward question.)
Prospect: “We’ll probably move forward.”
Me: “I’m sorry, probably?” (Mirror)
Prospect: “I have to discuss this with my CEO.”
Me: “She’s not going to want to bring in an outside trainer, though. That’s what she hired you for.”
(Instead of talking people into the sale, try talking them out of it. If you can easily talk someone out of switching, they’re not motivated to switch. The opposite is also true.)
Prospect: “I’m not sure. You might be right.”
Me: “Would it make sense for you to have a conversation with your CEO just to see if she’s open to investing so much money on an outside sales trainer?”
Prospect: “Actually, let me do that.”
The proposal was a fake-out.