Assuming Anything In Sales Is To Invite Failure

One of the biggest mistakes many salespeople make is to assume. To believe that something is true without any verification, validation or evidence. In the area of the spiritual this is accepted practice and can be a healthy way to go through your life. In your sales career it can be the kiss of death. Assumptions are lethal. They give you confidence without any proof. They can set you up for disappointment, failure and at the worst breakdowns in communication.

I have heard the following more times than I can remember.

I assumed,

- that I was talking with the decision maker.
- they meant it when they said they would call me back.
- they understood the benefits of our product/service.
- they didnt have a problem with our price.

Yadadada

There is only one way to determine what your prospect or customer;

Wants
Understands
Believes
Accepts
Feels
Likes
Does not like

And that is to ask them. Assuming vs. asking will guarantee a setback almost every time in your sales career. Asking, while you may not like the answer as least you are working from a position of knowledge and not uncertainty or unknown.

During the past several years no fewer than twenty-five of my weekly sales tips have focused on some aspect of the ability or need to ask good questions. If you want more information on this subject, my best selling book, Soft Sell, has an entire chapter dedicated to probing and asking questions. Or you can order my new special report Sales Success its all in the Questions. This 25 page document shares everything you need to know to integrate this critical technique into your sales approach. It is only $8.00 and I can email it to you as an attachment if you would like to order it. Just give me your order details by email and Ill get it right off to you.

Many salespeople are great at probing and asking questions when they are trying to determine the status or circumstances of a new prospect. However, many stop this probing once they get an affirmative or confirmation that the customer is buying. Lets say your prospect says, Yes, we want to place an order now. Do you stop asking questions or do you assume a yes is a yes and a now means now?

Let me ask you,

- Have you ever lost a sale that you thought was in the bag?
- Had to start all over again with a new contact at your prospects organization for any reason?
- Had a sale close in two years when you thought it would close in two months?

Most of the really successful people in sales that I know or have known are or were not geniuses. Many of them are not even very smart and some are downright stupid. But, all of them have two things in common:

1. They are ruthless in the pursuit of information through questions.
2. They constantly invest in gaining increased and improved knowledge of the sales process.

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management, leadership and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, Thats Life, Peace Of Mind, 91 Challenges Managers Face Today and Your First Year In Sales. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at http://www.timconnor.com.

Is Your Sales Team Paralysed By the Fear of Failure?
Selling for a living can be living under a constant push for figures. If you are struggling as a team to hit your sales targ...

A Sales Process Must be Certified to be Successful
If you were required to certify your sales process to be listed as a sales manager, could you? If you are like me, you have f...

Are Your Sales Meetings Boring?
Many sales meetings are boring and a waste of salespeoples time, say the majority of salespeople I interview. A review of wh...

Excuses For Failure
A keynote speaker was asked to speak at a real estate convention in Pittsburgh, Pa. during the time of the closing down of th...

Change in Sales Organizations Starts with Me
Question: What do the following have in common?- I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels and not getting very much done.- ...

Sales Management by the Numbers
If you ask me how much Bobby will sell this month, there is only one way to tell. It isnt by what Bobby wrote on his forecast...

6 Common Mistakes in the Sales Hiring Process
Is lack of sales results, more sales training costs, months ofr unearned salary and damage to your companys image orr reputat...

Cooking And Entertaining Secrets - Cure For Fear of Entertaining And Dinner Parties
Entertaining fears invade the minds of so manyrgreat home cooks. It seems that as we entered rinto the 21st century, we lost...

Top Sales Speaker Asks: Is Selling A Skill or A Discipline?
According to one of my most successful clients, an entrepreneur in his own right, Selling is so easy that its hard!If this li...

A Profitable Growth Formula for Sales Managers
Sales organizations that successfully achieve profitable revenue growth do so through a sales system encompassing sales focus...

Feasts, Failures and Food for Thought
Its the year end. Its holiday time. Its time for banquets and budgets.Along with assorted food items accumulating in the offi...

Fundraising Letter Postscripts Must Startle To Raise Donations In Direct Mail Appeals
Are the gurus correct? Is the postscript one of the rfirst things donors read when they look at your rfundraising letter? The...

Point of Failure
If you have never forecasted your retirement to determine if you are saving enough, you should. There are a lot of tools ava...

Public Relations for Bowling Alleys
So often some types of businesses get a bad rap. We all know how the neighborhood water hole can get a bad rap from a fight i...

Things To Consider While Organizing A Kids Birthday Party
Every parent has organized a kids birthday party. So, its no big deal, right? Wrong! It is a big deal, because however common...

How To Develop Higher Levels of Emotional Effectiveness For Greater Sales Success!
Everyday, people dismiss the role that emotions play in the cold hard reality of todays business as well as in our personal l...

Monster Jam Birthday Party Ideas
For young boys, and even girls, one of the best programs on television right now is Monster Jam. This program follows the exp...

Successful Managers
Over the years I have been asked by many of the attendees in my management seminars, What are the common traits of successful...

Great Sales Managers Make Less than all their Sales People
Are you a great sales manager? Well if you really are a great sales manager then every single one of the sales people under y...

The Forward Thinking Sales Manager Begins with the End in Mind
If an outside sale is truly a sales process, then there are steps involved for each sale. Since we agree on this fact, it mak...