Sometimes the Best Selling Strategy is Just to Walk Away

Country singer Kenny Rogers had a big hit record called The Gambler, and a verse from that tune read “You gotta know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em, know when to walk away, know when to run…” Those words offer sage advice to card players and salespeople too. Are you listening salespeople? Let me explain. Like gamblers hoping to win a pot of money, salespeople bet their professional lives on winning the sale… but you can’t win them all.

Smart card players recognize a losing hand when they’re dealt one. Sometimes they’ll try to bluff their opponents, but they also know that strategy will work just so many times before the other players catch on. Instead, the wise card player understands when it’s time to throw back his cards and live to play another hand. As a professional salesperson, sometimes you’ll be dealt a bad hand during a sales appointment. For example, the prospect comes across as unfriendly, impatient, overly critical, tight-lipped or incredibly demanding. You try several ways to get the prospect to open up and begin to trust you, but it doesn’t happen. In fact, you get the impression the prospect is just using you to collect information and has no intention of doing business with you.

Guess what? It’s time to fold’em and walk away. For some salespeople, it’s counter-intuitive to leave a prospect’s office after working so hard to gain the appointment. Do it anyway. Cut your losses. Don’t be rude or abrupt, but don’t be afraid to tell the prospect it appears you’re not the right company to help them solve their problems. You’ll save yourself a lot of aggravation and frustration going after business that’s not there, and you can better invest the time with a prospect who is sincere about discussing your products and services. That’s the time to “hold ‘em.”

Pre-qualify – don’t pre-judge – your prospects

Just over a month ago, my son, Phillip, was traveling to Alaska and had his golf clubs stolen from the protective carrier after his bags had been checked.

I had promised Phillip that when he graduated I would buy him any golf clubs of his choice. Considering it wasn’t his fault they got stolen, I decided to get him the clubs of his dreams sooner than we had planned, and told him to go test out some different clubs before he made his decision.

Phillip went without me to try out the different brands of golf clubs. When he got back, he said he had a horrible experience testing the clubs. The salesperson in the golf equipment department paid no attention to him. When Philip asked to try out some clubs in the practice net, the salesperson merely unlocked the cage and let him in without a word being spoken. After Philip was done hitting the golf balls, the salesperson didn’t ask him a single question.

Needles to say, Philip left the store without making a purchase. He said he felt like the salesperson thought he was just somebody with no money in his pocket and nothing better to do than test out some golf clubs he had no intention to buy.

Two days later, I took Philip to a teaching professional and golf club sales representative. They asked him a series of questions about his golf game, watched him hit practice balls with a variety of clubs, measured every aspect of his swing, asked more questions and mapped out his recommendations on a chart. We ordered 13 new golf clubs that day.

Bottom line, you can’t pre-judge a prospect before pre-qualifying them. I’m sure at some point we all have, but it’s important to remember, “Never judge a book by its cover.” Never judge a prospect without taking the time to find out if they are indeed a qualified buyer. You may be surprised.

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Throw ‘em a bone

No doubt, these are tough economic times, and many of your regular customers may not be doing as much business from you as in the past. In fact, those same customers may be asking for concessions from you such as lower prices, easier financing terms or a variety of bundling options.

Some of your customers’ demands could appear unreasonable – or unprofitable – for you, so you may have to say “No,” and that’s okay. If there’s mutual trust between you and your regular customers, they will understand there’s a limit to your generosity. However, instead of responding to your customers with what you can’t do, try to offer some solutions about what you can do. I call it, “Throwing them a bone.”

For example, you may have some options that are low-cost to you but have a high perceived value for the customer. Adding those in to a proposal in place of a price cut demonstrates your sincere desire to help and could produce the win-win scenario that helps both sides.

Every salesperson and business faces hard times; however, history tells us those hard times will pass. Your customers may not remember everything you said or did for them in the past, but they will remember how you made them feel about doing business with you.

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