Hope in Sales

An article by Bob Apollo talks about how the word Hope should not be in a sales persons dictionary when talking to a prospect. And this does not mean that a salesman or woman should not hope to get the business of their perspective client, but instead not just hope that what they assume is right. What he means by this is that salespeople sometimes do not ask the tough questions because they do not want to know the answer, they instead just want to hope that the answer is good for them. Apollo talks about how the sales pipeline is bloated by opportunities that are likely to go nowhere. Instead of salespeople asking questions that will tell them whether or not they could make a deal with a prospective client they just hope that the answer is, “yes you will get my business.” Like we talked about in class, it is important to not assume anything about the client. I know professor Sweet meant more in the aspect of pain that the prospect is having or even assume that you know about their business as a whole. But assuming that you will get the clients business can be just as dangerous for a salesperson because if you do not ask the right questions you can waste valuable time. Apollo talks about how you need to replace hope with discovery and robust qualification. These instead of hope will allow a salesperson to fully understand what the client has to offer and whether or not they are actually interested in what you have to offer them. Salespeople need to be able to focus their energy on what they can influence like finding out what the prospect’s needs and pains are. And when they do find out what they are then being knowledgeable enough to ask the hard questions that may not end with business but at least time is no longer wasted on that client.