Three Tips to Avoid Missing Out on Making Sales

Great timing usually outsells sales brilliance. Sales professionals know this and ask, “When and why is a prospect ready to buy?” By knowing the answer to these three questions, you avoid missing out on making sales.

1. What triggers a sale? Baby formula, baby furniture and car carrier sales are triggered by a baby’s birth. Wedding plans trigger dress sales, travel arrangements and event planning. In a business, a lease getting ready to run out on the copier pushes companies to start shopping for a replacement.

2. How can you use a trigger event to sell? When you talk to a potential customer, ask questions relating to trigger events. If they aren’t ready to buy today, but they are thinking about buying, make it a point to call them back.

3. Know how to identify hot, warm and cold leads. All leads are not created equal. Hot leads are ready to buy now. Warm leads plan to buy in the next 90 days. Cold leads want to know more but haven’t decided whether they ever will buy. Determine your “sorting” criteria. Put it into a checklist format and use it when selling to evaluate if a potential customer is sales-ready.