Most salespeople could use a little help at closing time. It’s not with the prospects who say yes or no, it’s with prospects who can’t say yes or no. They need more time, need to think about it, need to discuss it, need to compare your offerings, or need a better price. Today we’ll discuss what salespeople can do about all that.

There are some really helpful closing approaches in Baseline Selling, in the chapter on Scoring, including The Inoffensive Close, The Rule of Triple Elimination, and the Rule of Habits. But let’s use today’s clip to talk about what happens when the Rule of Triple Elimination reveals the real issue preventing you from getting the business closed.

What should you do? Most salespeople begin addressing the issue and, as a result, still fail to get the business closed. When you begin to address an issue you invariably tell the prospect what you think they want to hear, without first determining what they want to hear.

A good rule of thumb, when hearing that a prospect is uncomfortable, confused, misinformed, wrong, or otherwise of a belief that prevents them from moving forward, is to ask a question like:

what would make you comfortable?
what would you like me to do?
how can I solve this problem?
what do you need to move forward?
who would you need to speak with?
what would I need to do for you?
why do you think that would happen?
when did you first begin to feel that way?

Asking the right questions encourages your prospect to tell you what to address, how to address it, and what you must do in order for them to move forward. So resist the natural tendency to address a prospect’s issue until after you’ve invoked the Infield Why Rule, asked the right questions and then, and only then, address the issue.