Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes: How Problem-Centric Selling Increases Sales by Changing Everything You Know About Relationships, Overcoming Objections, Closing and Price

by Keenan

For example, let’s say you’re selling software and you have successfully worked through the discovery. Then, right in the middle of the solution stage, your customer informs you that she’s definitely interested in your product, but before committing she needs a 90-day trial. You explain that your company doesn’t do trials, and this is an unreasonable demand anyway. You start asking questions: What is she hoping to accomplish with the trial? How will a trial get her to her desired outcome? She’s not interested in explaining herself and digs in her heels. This is how they do things at their company. No trial, no sale. But you are not the customer’s b*tch. You now have two options: 1. You can say no. Sure, that might scuttle the sale right away, but at least you wouldn’t be on tenterhooks for three months scrambling to make sure that if she bails you can fill the hole in your sales projections. Or, 2. you can set terms. You could agree to a 90-day trial, if: • The customer pays an installation fee • The customer provides clear and measurable success criteria so you know what kind of metrics you’re trying to meet • The customer commits to purchasing the software if you meet that success criteria