The best way to shorten the sales cycle | Hacker News Reader

The best way to shorten the sales cycle

inc.com

20 pointsAegean4 comments

I'm really interested in learning more about this. I've been making sales calls lately (for the first time in my life), and one of the biggest sticking points I have come across is when someone tells me they have a problem (that my business solves), but that they are happy with spending time and resources to solve it in house.

I've been playing with a lot of numbers, and I'm almost certain that I can solve their problems a lot cheaper than they can. I've tried to convey this in a couple of different ways.

1. Telling them straight forward "I can solve this for cheaper than you can right now." 2. Asking them if they would consider using an outside tool to solve the problem and explaining more about how my product works.

Neither approach is really working for me. Does anyone have some solid advice on how to guide the customer along so that they come to the conclusion that they have a condition that needs to be fixed?

We have/had a similar issue. We got around it through the "social proof" of similar customers testimonials, industry specific press releases etc. The first few sales were really difficult and we had to do them pretty cheap to get the work but after the first few it started to pay off.

Make sure you communicate a clear understanding of their problem. There is a strong temptation to leap to your solution, try more focus on making you sure you understand their problem and that they know you understand it. Then offer proof that you have solved similar problems for firms like theirs. Here is where case studies, testimonials, references can help. Finally, try and determine a trigger for action: is there a date or event where their situation will get worse? For example, April 15 for taxes, summer vacation driving trip for oil change, adding a new employee for a payroll service.

Jeff Thull's website is http://www.masteringthecomplexsale.com/ and the 2nd edition of his "Mastering the Complex Sale" is on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470533110/

Definitely: customers aren't thinking purely about cost, but instead about cost:benefit ratios. Saying "we can do it cheaper" implies not only less cost, but—through an intuition that you're charging what the market will bear—less benefit as well. Instead, prime them by first telling them of a greater benefit ("we've solved your problem 1000 times for 1000 companies, while you've only solved it once; we know more about your problem than even you do" etc.) and only then cancel out the intuitive expectation of greater cost.

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