The Situation
Tom is a fairly new sales rep for a commercial sign company. He gets leads from a number of sources, but he also makes cold calls when he sees retail businesses with aging building signage.
Tom is personable, communicates well, and tries to match his products to prospects’ needs in a Q4 way. Yet, here’s how a recent sales call with Joanne, a retail owner, ended.
| Tom: | . . . So, we’ve covered the kind of signage that would increase your drive-by visibility, and how to get financing so you can have what you really need. How does that sound to you? |
| Joanne: | It sounds good. I didn’t realize I can get a much larger sign and stay within my budget. |
| Tom: | I’ve given you a figure. There’s lots of information on our website about specs, materials, energy efficiency, and so forth. You have everything you need to decide. |
| Joanne: | Well . . . I need to think this over and get back to you. Give me a couple of days. |
Too-Familiar Outcome
You know how this will go. When Tom contacts Joanne, she is even more vague — something about waiting until the fall to decide.
Tom has had this outcome too often. He has trouble closing or getting a firm commitment to go to the next level in a sale. He doesn’t know what to do. Since he wants to practice Q4 collaborative selling, he knows he’s not comfortable with high-pressure, pushy tactics.
If he is behaving in an involving, Q4 manner, why isn’t Tom getting better results?
