As sales people, we often become more driven to work on “big sales” prospects. The huge payoff if we win the sale swindles us into working hard, not smart. We divert all of our attention and work into this one prospect, only to find that the prospect is unwilling to commit. The reasons for this can be found in the inherent qualities of a large sale – it is simply much more difficult for the prospect to make an all-or-nothing decision. With a larger sale comes higher perceived risk for the prospect.
Our short-sightedness makes us go for the big reward, only to come up completely empty handed. A more effective strategy with a large sale is to “sell small.” This involves breaking the sale into smaller pieces in order for you to reduce the risk taken on by your prospect that is inhibiting him or her to accept your offer. This allows you to get your foot in the door and win the large sale piece by piece through proving the promises of your product or service.
So think of ways you can sell small. Ask yourself what you could sell that is smaller in scope, cost, or perceived risk and is directly related to your product/service. Large sales are rarely won all at once, especially when there are existing suppliers/competitors involved. So work smart to break down the “buyer-seller wall,” and in time you will land the big sales.
BoweryJE22
I like this posts, Spencer. I agree with your points completely, I think also that in sales in order to get the “big sale” you MUST sell small at first. Sell them on trusting you, sell them on you being the best option etc. and that is what ultimately will lead to the “big sale”.
-Larry
This is a great post. In today’s society everything is looked at as “bigger is better”. Sometimes like you said, it’s all about the small things first.
I couldn’t agree more with what is said in this blog. Sometimes salespeople get anxious and tend to focus too much on the bigger sale. By starting small, salespeople develop many qualities that can help them in achieving the bigger sale in the long-run. Going off of what Larry said, it’s important to break the ice with that potential customer by starting small and developing trust and a solid relationship.