Dead horses are just that. Dead.
So quit trying to convince them to buy.
Sounds simple, but too often salespeople spend far too much time trying to do just that. The reason is simple. Dead horses don’t object. They will sit through the entire sales presentation and rarely object.
That right there should be a cue. If the customer isn’t willing to object, then what makes you think they would be interested in buying?
Can you see how your sales motivation will continually take a hit the more you try to convince a dead horse to buy?
The key with minimizing time with a dead horse is by ensuring the customer does something for you — the salesperson — on each call you make. If you’re involved in selling a product or service with a long selling process that encompasses multiple sales calls, you have to follow this process.
The objective is to keep the customer involved doing something for you. When the customer is doing something for you, it allows you to validate they are not a dead horse and it helps you accelerate the sales process.
The best way to use this technique is by asking the customer to review something for you after you end the sales call. By leaving them with some information you want their opinion on, it will allow you to know if they are interested.
Dead horses won’t do anything for you. It’s that simple.
More important than ensuring the customer is not a dead horse is by getting them to provide you with proprietary information. Again, dead horses won’t do that for you. Engaged and interested customers will do that for you.
In the end, trying to sell to a dead horse is a lesson in futility.
It doesn’t even provide you with a chance to improve your selling skills.
The only thing it does do is waste time that could be spent on much more productive customers.
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Copyright 2011, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
