Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here.

Today's edition is only 4 minutes.

Do too many of your sales meetings end with “I love it, but not now. Let’s speak in 1/2/3 months”?

Then you reach out and..... it's awkward.

Today, we’ll cover a simple step-by-step guide on handling these situations.

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Story Time

It's 2013, I cold called a belly dancing school.

During the demo, she loved the software I was selling. But she wanted to wait.

"Let's do this in about 6 weeks," She said.

I challenged, objection-handled, and pushed - anything to get her to buy NOW.

"6 weeks" was the sustained response.

I assumed I would never hear from her again.

6 weeks later, to the day, she called: "Scott, it's Belly Dance Lady. Do you have 5 mins to start the onboarding now?"

I was astounded.

Belly Dance Lady's business was term-based. She wanted to start fresh in her new term. Completely reasonable.

We did the deal, and I learned some valuable lessons:

1. Buyers decide on their timelines, not ours.
2. When the pain is enough and the trust is earned, buyers come back.
3. Most buyers will only communicate if you ask. I never asked the significance of "6 weeks".

Now, I use the system below to ensure I'm prepared.

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The 3% rule

Jeremy Minner coined the 3% Rule, illustrated above.

Around 3% of buyers actively seek a solution to their problem. Another 7% are open but not actively looking.

The other 90% may be open in the future, but not today.

Belly Dance Lady was in the 90% when we spoke. 6 weeks later, she was in the 3%.

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Timing matters

The buying journey ends when the pain stops, not when the deal is closed. Before signing, buyers want to be sure they're ready to solve the problem.

When you push someone to buy, before they can start solving the problem, they will always say not yet.

Some examples would be:

• The buyer is a school, and it's the first day of the school year.
• The rollout leader is run off their feet with another project.
• The prospect is an events company, and no one has time as their most significant event is next week.

While these are all legitimate reasons to NOT purchase your product today, it's also possible they are Terminators.

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Terminators

Buyers are often afraid of sellers. Sellers are trained to go into objection-handling mode. Buyers may lie to avoid ever saying "no."

I call these buyers Terminators.

Firstly, Arnie. More importantly, they plan to terminate this relationship now.

These buyers hope you will accept their "talk to me in XXX" excuse, and they can end this conversion without any fuss. Then they'll ghost you when you reach out again.

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Step-By-Step Guide

Imagine Belly Dance Lady just told you she will buy 6 weeks from now. Here is what you do:

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Step 1) Find out if this is a real

You need to isolate the problem:

Are they a Terminator, just trying to push you away?

Is this cover for a deeper objection bubbling beneath the surface?

Or is this 6 week timeline based on something real?

I would ask something like:

Make this a bit fun. Your buyer will love it.

• If they're "not interested," you have a qualified "no" and can end this now.
• If it's something else, they'll usually bring it up.
• If 6 weeks is real, keep reading…

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Step 2) Why that specific timeframe

Next, we want to find out why 6 weeks. What not 5 weeks, why not 6 months?

This step is another chance for the buyer to opt out. If they are a terminator, this will often reveal it.

Otherwise, this step is your first chance to differentiate yourself from everyone fighting for the buyers' attention.

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Step 3) Co-create a trigger question.

Based on their answer to Step 2) you should have a good understanding of what will change.

Now, you want to co-create a follow-up question

The buyer will almost always correct you and re-phrase the question based on the real reason they want to buy your product. Bonus points: you learn their exact reasoning for buying.

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Step 4) Keep your word

The last step is the easiest.

Actually, reach out at the agreed time with the trigger question.

It sounds simple, but you'd be amazed how many people don't.

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By following this guide, you'll almost certainly:

• Weed out any terminators
• Focus on the deals you need to focus on
• Get a response when you reach out in the future

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LinkedIn Post of the Week:
​Here are two top posts, one from me, one from someone else.

​3 parts to an ideal day in sales​
From Me

​If you need more leads - here is a principal for startup marketing​
From Dave Gerhardt

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Until next time,
Scott Cowley

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PS If you're ready, I have just started conducting:

Sales Tear Downs

Is your business closing some deals, but not enough? I work with many sales leaders to do a top to bottom tear down of what is working, what isn't and what to do about it. Sound interesting?

(Next opening 16th October)

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