After you close a sale, spend some time making sure that the prospect won’t back out of the deal or cancel to stay with the current vendor. By the next day after a sale, the prospect struggles with buyer’s remorse. That is normal. Think of purchases you have made, especially involving large sums of money (home, car, major appliance). You probably were wondering to yourself, “Did I get the best deal?” “Did I make the right decision?”
It is better to deal with that situation BEFORE you leave the meeting. After all, the prospect just trusted you by giving you the order and those feelings of buyer’s remorse haven’t come up…yet.
Most salespeople rush out the door and cross their fingers that they won’t have a message in their voicemail saying, “Hold the order,” or “Don’t cash the check yet,” or “I’ve decided to leave things as they are.” They are unwilling to bring it up face-to-face because they don’t have the posture, the equal business stature, to act as if they have a million dollars in the bank, to truly act in the prospect’s best interest. When would you rather have the conversation, now while you’re in front of them? or after you get that message? Here are some questions you could ask:
[Current vendor] isn’t going to be too happy when they get word you’ve switched to us. Are you ready for that call? Are you ready to explain why it was a good business decision? [remind of reasons they changed if needed]
When we talked about [issue other than money] our delivery date, and you needed it this week and we can’t have it here until next week, is that a deal breaker? Should I give you back your check? [when they defend their own decision it will give them backbone to stick to it when buyer’s remorse comes up]
Assignment
Use your own sales role (or fictional one you create if you are not in a sales role).
1. Describe a scenario where a buyer backed out of a deal after the sale was made. What reason was given for the back out?
2. Now go back in time mentally: You are still face-to-face with the newly sold client. This is your chance to avoid a back out either to stay with the current vendor or to cancel the order. What specific questions will you ask? Write a short narrative (you may use the examples above to guide your specific conversation).
