Sales Intuition - an acquired skill?
Posted by Frank Belzer on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 @ 05:40 AM
In the 18th Century, Princess Catherine of Russia was in trouble. The Queen had died and now the new King - her Husband had decided to have her locked up and put to death. In most circumstances like this in history there has been very little someone could do.
But Catherine was different, she had started making her moves years before, she already understood how her husband would act, what he would do, his next move, his plans and his ambitions. As a result she had formed some really great relationships, the Army was on her side, the palace guards were on her side and when the order went out to arrest Catherine - well it was but a few days before young King Frederick was dead and Catherine was the new queen.
History is full of examples of people that seemed to just get it right, call it the sixth sense or intuition - but the real key was taking action based on that insight. So many sales people know what is happening in a selling situation - they are being used, they are being shopped against, they are keeping the incumbent honest - but only a few actually take action and ask the tough questions that need to get asked. (Of course there is a group that doesn't even know or sense what is going on but they don't usually read blog articles on sales)
So what can you do to maximize this skill that you probably already possess? The next time you find yourself in front of a prospect that seems to be messing with you 1)pause 2) ask permission to ask a tough question 3) pad the question if needed 4) ask the question.
Now sit back and watch how the meeting will change drastically! Once you do asking the tough question will be easier next go around.
