Make clients see the benefit of your requests for help

By Jacqui Sakowski

It is almost impossible to close sales without asking prospective clients to do some work for us.

We may need the client to provide quantities used, technical specifications, or even engineering drawings. We may need confidential financial information or even analysis of business data. We may need to get a design reviewed or a contract approved.

All of these activities consume precious time from the prospect's already limited resources. Some of the activities may even result in actual cash expenditure, too. Often prospects agree to complete these tasks and then they don't follow through. This causes a good deal of frustration to sales professionals who can smell an opportunity that's ripe for picking.

The client may be willing to do the work but not ready to do it at the time that you would most prefer it be done. You, of course, want to keep the sale moving forward so that you can close it before your competitor gets a whiff of it.

Without the information that the prospect promised, the sales professional cannot create a winning proposal. If they keep calling the prospect they sound desperate. If they don't call they won't get the information. E-mail is equally unhelpful -- too much is harassment -- not enough results in no action.

Everyone is busy taking care of their core activities, or at least we must assume that they are, adding a task to their agenda that appears to serve you better than it serves them is going to be hard to accomplish.

Anytime you ask a client to engage in an activity as a part of the sales process you need to make sure the client sees a benefit for his or her self in the request that you make. This is important with existing clients.

It's even more important with prospective clients.
Invest the time to understand your prospect's real needs, and link your request for assistance to an outcome that you know matters to them.

For example: "Kerry, getting approval of the contract this week will ensure that we can complete the Web site overhaul before you begin your pre-convention publicity campaign," is more likely to get Kerry to the table than, "Kerry, getting approval of the contract this week will enable me to get my guys started on your project immediately."

When Kerry hears the mention of the pre-convention publicity campaign … the success of which determines whether her reputation in the company will grow or wither, she will be garnered into action.

It's the same request and the same outcome but now it's about something that matters to Kerry, rather than something that matters to the sales professional who made the request.

Jacqui Sakowski is president of Sakowski Consulting, a Middleton-based sales coaching, training and consulting company.

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