Use Time as a Sales Weapon

Time is the most important thing in your day. You have to send documents by a certain time, make a call at a certain time, and catch your prospect at the right time. It's the same way for your prospects when they're making a buying decision "Your prospects, when they are making a business or purchase decision, use the entire time spectrum - past, present, and future," says sales trainer Skip Miller. "Usually they use more than one time element in their decision. Your job is to help the prospect to use these time elements to your advantage."

According to Miller, "prospects use three time zones to justify their purchasing decisions. They rationalize or compartmentalize their needs, place a priority on them, and then go forth and try to make a decision. Each one - Past, Present, and Future - will cause a different motive for buying."

Time Zones

Past - Decisions made for past motivations are restorative. They are being made to get something back up to speed, to atone for a mistake, to catch up to a standard.

Present - Present decisions are made for present or current reasons. These are ones that take advantage of a current opportunity or a planned scheduled event.

Future - There are a few decisions that are strategic, where prospects will invest now so they can save money or time later, or even defer their risk.

"All of the time zones are critical to your prospect for making a purchase decision," says Miller. "During a sale, the prospect will give hints that she is looking at multiple Time Zones. It is really quite simple: The more Time Zone issues you face, the more value you create."

Here are some examples:

"They said they need it right now because it's holding up production of their new plant."

"He told me, in a very direct way, the reason they are so hot on our solution is they have tried three other options, and this is their last attempt. They need to get back on track, and they see us as the way to do that."

"Strategic. I just know it. They are telling me we are critical to the successful launch of the new product they are rolling out in a few months."

"Questions with a time element in them will give you loads of information on where the prospect is in each Time Zone," explains Miller. "You need more to your sale than just your product's features and benefits. You need to find out the reason your prospect is willing to make a commitment right now."

"To do this, map it out so you can ask questions about the time situations that are most important to them. A good rule of thumb is to ask future-based questions to move the prospect off their current objection."

"I really am happy with what we are using currently."

"That's great Mr. Janovitz. However, over the next 6-12 months, how do you see your business changing, or your customers' requests changing that may require you to do things a bit different than you are currently doing?"

"Move them into the future, and watch their needs grow, and your solution appear. Just in time."

A recognized authority on the psychology of sales performance, Skip Miller has helped countless companies, already at the height of success in their respective fields, achieve an even greater level of sales productivity and success. Learn more at www.m3learning.com