Stop Avoiding the Hard Questions!
It’s part of the human condition to be tempted to choose short-term safety instead of long-term benefit. It’s why even the most successful sellers sometimes avoid having uncomfortable conversations with customers…and vice versa. That includes choosing not to ask (or to hope avoiding having to answer) hard questions in the run-up to making a sale. Because tackling difficult things in the present tense can look like they have an immediate cost. Instead, via avoidance behavior, we are lured into borrowing from tomorrow’s happiness.
Be better than that! You are at risk of losing the business by being blindsided.
It is a giant red flag being waved in your face if you or a member of your sales team walks away from a meeting with a customer feeling relieved that hard questions didn’t get raised. Selling is about more than moving product. And closing deals is just an outcome in a process that’s even more valuable than the sum of its parts. Your real job is about building and maintaining buyer confidence in you and in what you’re selling.
The only way your buyer knows they have made the right decision is by assuring them that all the hard questions got asked and received satisfying, thorough answers.
Your customer won’t do that job for you. Nor should they.
ENGAGE YOUR CONFIDENCE GUIDE.
That’s why you and your team must adopt what I call the Selling Confidence Guide. It’s a framework we use at Engage with our clients that identifies what buyers should be asking you (and what you should be asking them) before closing a sale. It also prompts you to note what they didn’t ask, so you and your team are equipped with deliberate forethought to bring it up yourself.
To give you that extra push, we frame this guide in the form of questions, putting everyone in the right frame of mind and positioning you for success.
Are you thinking like a customer? Risk is at the heart of every buyer’s decision. You must see every sale from their point of view. There are three categories of questions and answers that mitigate risk for them. Ones that instil credibility in who you say you are. Ones that build confidence in your claims that you can deliver reliably on your promises. And ones that prove there’s going to be measurable ROI by choosing your solution. You must anticipate those hard questions and bring each one to the table. Because even if they don’t ask, they’re definitely thinking about it. Every answer you give serves to test you on those three categories, helping them avoid making a bad decision.
Are you defining success on their terms? You must reframe all successful solutions as having legitimate, provable value/outcomes using terms that make sense to your buyer. Test this by looking at what kinds of questions your customer is asking. If all they do is focus on features and price, you must go digging to uncover what the real problem is that they are dealing with. Ask: “What problem do you see us trying to solve here? What measurable outcome are you expecting per quarter with our solution?”
Are you bringing proof to the table? Don’t wait for your buyer to ask about this. When it comes to validating your claims and promises: show, don’t tell. Arrive equipped with persuasive data that instils confidence in their decision to do business with you. That includes case studies, a custom ROI calculator, customer testimonials and other social proof. And remember: every proof point is an opportunity to turn an intangible benefit into a tangible one.
Are you explaining the implementation cost? Every business decision that involves choosing something new over the status quo carries with it a cost measured in time and resources. Eliminate all guesswork. Ask: What are the staffing requirements to adopt your solution? Are there regulatory issues to take into account? Does the customer have the existing capacity to train and implement your solution? You’re not only asking these hard questions, you’re ready to provide the answers, too.
Are you defining what failure looks like? If your customer doesn’t ask you about this on their own, explain the early warning signs of failure in achieving expected value in your solution. This “pre-mortem” is how you define expectations in the event that things don’t work out. It’s important to do so, because it’s how you fairly define the risks and barriers associated with choosing your solution. I once learned that lesson the hard way. Working directly with a CEO, I lost a major sale because I wasn’t brave enough to say: “If the solution fails, this is why.” Instead, a risk-averse VP in the company blew up the deal based on objections that simply weren’t accurate. But there was no factual counterargument, because I didn’t provide one.
Are you differentiating fairly? Don’t believe anyone who says their solution has no real competitor. There always is. Your customer is no different. Be confident that yours is the best solution, but back that up with facts that differentiate your value based on buyer-relevant data. Don’t just do a feature comparison: that’s just information the client can get on their own. Real differentiation highlights value that the competition is not talking about
Are you acknowledging the status quo? To quote the famous Canadian rock band, Rush: “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” A legitimate alternative to choosing your solution isn’t just to pick a competitor: it’s to do nothing. In their conversations with the buyer, be sure your sales team acknowledges that it’s okay for the customer to not act now. But do so in a way that also makes the case that your solution is an improvement…one that will be waiting for them when they are ready.
Are you naming the fears? Some buyer objections go beyond just risk: they’re just afraid to act now. All fears lose some of their power when we assign words to them. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. In sales coaching, I teach sellers to do this by asking: “What would scare you if you were the one having to decide whether to say YES to the solution you’re selling?” Name those fears. Explain clearly how to mitigate or allay those worries. And do so without judgment or being defensive about it.
HARD THINGS MAKE OTHER THINGS BETTER
Anticipating and tackling hard questions right away (especially the ones that your customer has avoided asking) is really an exercise in putting a check on your assumptions. Never assume an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality when it comes to understanding buyer objections. Do the hard work now and prosper. Or avoid it and pay dearly for it later. As weightlifting champion Jerzy Gregorek reminds us: “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”