“Don’t be afraid to actually ask the person whether or not they want to do something.” – Ion Farmakides in today’s Tip 739
How about you? Are you afraid to ask?
Join the conversation below and connect with Ion on LinkedIn!
Pearl Lemon
Ion Farmakides on LinkedIn
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Ion Farmakides, Ion is the head of business development at Pearl Lemon. He brings 15 years of business development experience from startup to enterprise levels and has closed over 10 million Euros over the phone. Here he is:
Ion Farmakides: Hello again! Ian here, Head of Business Development for Pearl Lemon, and this tip I think is a super important one. It’s something that is pretty self-explanatory, to be honest, but I think that it’s something that we tend to forget, or sometimes we’re not comfortable enough to use during either a pitch or a sales conversation or any business conversation, really. And this is super simple. The decision-maker has the ability to make a decision and chances are, they’ve made a decision as to whether or not they want to work with you throughout the duration of the conversation, the pitch, the presentation, whatever the case may be.
And the tip attached to this fact, in my opinion, is don’t be afraid to actually ask the person whether or not they want to do something. Because at the end of the day, you’re saving them time. You’re saving yourself time. There’s no need for proposals and back and forth and emails and calls. And the last thing anybody wants to do is chase anybody. And then the last thing anybody wants to do is be chased by anybody. So it’s fairly straight forward. It’s not the most comfortable position to be in. However, it’s very human, very normal to ask the decision-maker. At the end of the conversation, point-blank. Look at the end of the day, Mr. or Mrs. Decision maker, this is your call, right? So I’d like to know whether or not you want to do this. And I know that deep down, you already know what the answer is.
Now. I’m not looking to close you on the phone, which you, maybe you are. I’m not looking to push you, which you shouldn’t, which should be true anyway. But the reality is you already know whether or not you want to do this. Am I right? Yeah.
So let’s hear it. Look, I’m a big boy. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings. Is this something that you’d like to do? And then usually what’s going to happen is either somebody is going to say yes, or they’re going to say no, or you’re going to uncover some maybe deeper objection. And then if that’s a concern, you should address it. But typically speaking, if somebody is a decision-maker, they should be able to say whether or not they want to do something. And even if they’re not the sole decision-maker, you can still ask. Okay, completely understand. There’s a decision-making process internally, respect that.
All of that aside, do you personally want to do this? Do you think it’s a good idea? Because honestly speaking, and this is the truth and it should be the truth. If I don’t have your backing, if you don’t want to do this, I’d hate the idea of having to put you through the rigmarole of going internally, checking with your boss, checking with a board, checking with A, checking with B, checking with C, because if you’re not sold, then I don’t want to put you in that position.
So I think it’s a very human thing to do. It’s not the most comfortable position to be in. Although to be fair, some people do make it more comfortable for us, but it’s also the case that if that conversation ends there and both parties know that this shouldn’t continue, you’re saving everybody time. And you know, the worst no, is always better than the best maybe. So that’s the tip. Thanks so much and catch you soon. Bye-bye!
Scott Ingram: For a link to connect with Ion on LinkedIn, which he’d love for you to do, just click over to DailySales.Tips/739 and we’ll have that link for you there as well as the video version of this tip.
Once you’ve connected with Ion. Be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!