The one thing you must do to take control of your deals

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Sales is a humbling sport.

At least once each day, I feel powerless.

An email gets ignored…

A meeting gets canceled…

A contract gets stuck…

It's brutal how all the work, all the planning, all the meetings… all the talk, fail to matter when commitments come due.

Customers move on without a second thought.

How do I bring ‘em back?

Imagine pulling a rope with a customer on the other side.

You want to pull him over to yours.

So you tug and tug.

There's a name for this game:

(Tug of) War.

Do you really want to be at war with customers?

Of course not.

You’re after peace, harmony, and partnership.

So let go of the rope and walk on over.

The other day a customer says, "If this is going to be a huge headache and take a ton of resources to get up and running, I don't think we should do it."

Me neither.

No one wants to be someone’s headache.

“Sounds like you want this to go smoothly. What’s the best way to make sure we take the right time and resources to get up and running?" I asked.

Take control of your deals by recognizing you don't have it.

Because you don't.

No amount of pushing, telling, suggesting, or strongly suggesting changes that.

Dwight Eisenhower said my favorite sales quote, "Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.”

Here's how I do that:

When customers bring up problems, don’t dismiss them.

Ask how they suggest solving them.

When customers bring up concerns, don’t cast them aside.

Mention you don’t wish those concerns either.

But mostly, remember it’s not your deal.

It’s theirs.

And if things get really grim?

Go find another.

There’s always more string.

Remember,

When we embrace practice, develop awareness, and align our efforts, we can rise above the deal.

We can live #quotaless.