Your Inner CEO: Time Should Be On Your Side

When you’re trying to land a new client, being a smooth talker isn’t enough. You can't just rely on your way with words. You have to be fully prepared.

A major component of being fully prepared involves having knowledge of your product or service down to a science. You need to know it like the back of your hand. Prospective clients will test you. If they detect any sort of weakness, you won't get the deal.

Always “hope for the best and prepare for the worst.” Always ask yourself, “How will I respond if the client says, ‘No’?” Also ask, “What if the client says “Maybe”? Or what if the client says, “Yes, but….”

This preparation is absolutely necessary for gaining commitment. But experience is also important – because sometimes things will happen that you simply can’t prepare for. There will be times when clients say yes and times they say no, but the real test comes when clients are clearly undecided. You’ll need to handle this with sensitivity but also with total confidence.

When prospects are ambivalent, the correct response is, "You seem interested but also a little hesitant. Can you tell me why that is?" Make it a point to listen closely. Because this question – which is itself a request for commitment -- will uncover the real issues that need to be resolved.

Then you need to know how to resolve them. Suppose the client says, "You’re just too expensive." Don’t try to justify your price. Be frank but low-key. Say, “This is what I need to have.” If the client makes an offer that’s a reasonable number, you can start negotiating – but then you must receive a clear commitment.

Before contacting a new client, you should create a set of commitment objectives, a sequence of steps you want the client to take. The objective of a conversation is always to close the deal. Sometimes your commitment objective is just to schedule another meeting. But the objective must always be something that will move the process forward and bring you closer to the ultimate goal. 

All clients need something, often without even knowing that they need it. Your job is to show clients what they lack, and how your product or service will perfectly fill that void. That’s how you get commitments.

Try not to see yourself as a salesperson. See yourself as a consultant to a new client, but you are a consultant who gets paid for closing deals. You just have to know what steps to take in order to get a 'yes.'

That ‘yes’ might come today or it might come next week, but in your own mind you need a clear road map that will get you there.