Yesterday, a client told me that a big deal they were expecting fell through. This is one of those reasons that I’m so leary about chasing those big clients we wrote about earlier. You invest all kinds of time, get emotionally invested, start spending your profit, and they pull the rug out from under what you thought was a done deal. When you’re a sole practioner you’ve probably just lost a chunk of your life. You have two choices. Either accept the fact that it’s a fact of life that you can’t sell them all, or start a “What about” list. Once you’ve got a complete “What about” list and you use it effectively every time you meet with a prospect, you will never miss again! EVER!

Now that I have your attention, I’ll tell you the problem. Your “What about” list will never be complete. However, I started my list 20 years ago and although it’s probably not complete, yet, it’s pretty extensive and consequently, pretty effective. What is it and how to you create and use it? Let’s do it with examples.

You pitch a client. They smile. Have fun. Appear to be ready. You close. They say, “I need to talk to my (wife, partner, boss, lawyer, accountant, etc.)” and you see your deal go out the window because you didn’t even know that there was a (wife, partner, boss, lawyer, accountant, etc.). “What about #1” = “What about advice when you talk to people like me about stuff like mine? Who do you typically bounce ideas off of?” and ask this what about on every single sales call for the rest of your life.

You pitch a client. They smile. Have fun. Appear to be ready. You close. They say, “Thanks for showing me your stuff. Now I’ve just got to find two other vendors who do what you do so I can get competitive bids.” and you see your deal go out the window because you didn’t even know that there was a bid process. “What about #2” = “What about your internal process? What other solutions are you looking at and who else do you have to look at before you do anything?” and ask this what about on every single sales call for the rest of your life.

You pitch a client. They smile. Have fun. Appear to be ready. You close. They say, “We really didn’t know what to expect money-wise. Now that you’ve told us, we can go to the CFO and tell him what we need.” and you see your deal go out the window because you thought all companies this size had enough money in the bank or a credit line. “What about #3” = “What about money? Have you established a budget? arranged financing? have the cash in the bank? etc. etc. etc. everything about money” and ask this what about on every single sales call for the rest of your life.

There are 1000’s of stalls, lies and objections that a prospect can throw at you when you try to close so there are 1000’s of “What abouts” that you’re gonna need to incorporate in your pitch prior to the close so that when you do close, the prospect has nothing left that you haven’t handled.

Incidentally, if you’re a reader and you haven’t already, check out Dave Kurlan’s newest book Baseline Selling at http://www.baselineselling.com. If you already have a “What about” list, but haven’t been able to use it effectively or if you’re having a problem creating your list, send me an email and I’ll introduce you to the right person at http://www.salesdevelopmentspecialists.com.

Praying for rain in your back yard,

Rick