I’m guessing you’ve seen one of the Dos Equis beer commercials with the world’s most interesting man. The cool world traveler seems to have more adventures than Indiana Jones (who is rumored to have a 5th movie in the works.) His character appeals to the masses who all want to have a life like his.  Dos Equis has even created an Interesting Index assessment where you can measure how interesting you are compared to your friends. Now that is interesting! His tagline at the end of the commercial is “Stay thirsty my friends.” Borrowing from that phrase, we can change the tagline for professional salespeople to… “Stay curious my friends!”

Sales success is more about listening

Sales professionals learn quickly that success is not about being the best speaker or presenter, it is more about being the best listener and investigator. Asking the right questions can lead to more opportunities and ultimately to sales success. Then after asking questions, the most successful sales professionals learn to listen for specific pieces of information. Generally, you should be listening for anything that makes you curious. I call these curious items “flags” because they’re navigation signals which guide your conversation.  More specifically, you should be listening for 3 types of flags.  These three types are color coded Red, Green, and Gray Flags.

1.  Red Flags

“We like the proposal but we will need to get our New York office involved before we can approve.” If you knew nothing about a decision committee in New York and now there is a full stop on your sales process, you just ran into a red flag. Any curious item that is a (potential) roadblock to you winning the deal is a red flag. New approvals, changes in the process, going to RFP, new competitors, decrease in budgets… any of these are all potential hazards to your sale which can slow down the process or nuke it completely.

What to do?

When you run into a Red Flag, take note of it. Then, ask direct questions to understand what role this new flag plays in the entire sales process. Once you’ve gathered the details, you can develop a strategy for overcoming. The worst thing you can do is to ignore the red flag and hope that it goes away. If you’re going to lose it’s better to lose early.

2.  Green Flags

“We will deploy these services first in our region. I think the other regions are waiting to see how it goes for us.” Other regions?! How many more regions are there? Why aren’t we bidding on them now too? This is a green flag situation. When something makes you curious and it looks like a potential new opportunity or an expansion of your current opportunity, you need to investigate!

What to do?

Ask follow-up questions to identify the other opportunities. In my experience, I have asked, “Do you want me to include a separate quote for those other regions too?” This will either lead to a “yes” for another proposal or it will at least flesh out the next opportunity and any red flag obstacles.

3.  Gray Flags

“James will be in our next meeting. He wanted to meet you and hear more about what you’re proposing.” Who is James? Is he a friend or a foe on this deal? If you haven’t met James before, this may be a gray flag for now. Anything that makes you curious, but cannot be painted red or green yet, is a gray flag. Once you have gathered more information, it should become more obvious as a green or red flag.

What to do?

Ask more questions! Gray flags cannot be effectively acted upon until you have more information. Sales strategy is most directly driven by either red or green flags. If the flag is gray and we attempt to make strategy decisions, we are rolling the dice on a positive outcome because we are speculating. Get more information so you know whether it is a red or green flag. Then, choose a strategic next step.

Sales success is driven by strong strategy which is only effective when based on accurate information. Remember that information in business is like lettuce. Within 2 weeks it’s gone bad. Constantly update information from your customers so you can drive the most accurate sales strategies.

Wishing you strong sales success,

Russ

My first sales book to help overcome sales obstacles (Red Flags): Cut the C.R.A.P. and Make the Sale

P.S. If you found this helpful, please share this info with other sales professionals