"People buy on their timeline, not yours."

Some sales advice I saw the other day....and whilst there's some truth to this statement (in the context of the pushy salesperson with a self-serving agenda) it also misses some critical points.

If a salesperson does their job well, they will start to shine a light on the truth of a prospect's situation. 

Much like visiting a doctor or a therapist, we as patients rarely know what is actually wrong with us. We can hazard a guess but will most likely misdiagnose. 

Yet through skilled questioning, an objective perspective & knowledge of the problems you solve, it may well be that the reality of the prospect's situation is far worse than previously realised.

For that reason, solving problem X suddenly has a lot more urgency. Timeframes are then moved forward to fix this issue imminently.

Example - if a patient visits their doctor complaining of feeling tired, they may have their own theories - stressed at work, the kids at a difficult age, getting older etc. 

But after a series of questions & tests it's been revealed the patient has a major deficiency in vitamin B12 - which if left unattended could cause even bigger health issues in the future.

They prescribe medication to solve the problem - and energy levels return back to normal.

So in light of the diagnosis, the actual problem is solved now, not left unattended due to a misdiagnosis.

Sales is about working in collaboration to solve the right problems collectively for win/win outcomes.

And timeframes should always work in sync, not in a combative 'You' vs 'Them' scenario.

#sales #diagnosis #selling