Yesterday, 50 salespeople gave me their biggest closing obstacles - about 25 - when we combined them all. I showed them the four bases in Baseline Selling and defined what must happen for the salesperson to reach each base. Then I asked them to identify the specific base paths where the closing obstacles should have been dealt with. Closing takes place at home plate and sure enough, all 25 of those closing obstacles actually should have been dealt with either between 1st and 2nd base or between 2nd and 3rd base. The moral of the story is your salespeople haven't even earned the right to close until there are not issues that would prevent them from getting the business.
Try this with your salespeople. Have them write their biggest closing obstacles on a piece of paper. Then hand each of them a copy of the four bases. Next, review the criteria for each base and then have them identify where in the baseball diamond their issues should have been dealt with. Were they uncomfortable? Have your sales force evaluated to find out why they get uncomfortable dealing with these issues prior to closing time.
(c) Copyright 2006 Objective Management Group, Inc.
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