Doug Davidoff
For me, one of the toughest judgments I have to make as a salesperson, manager or growth executive is determining when a sales opportunity is ready to close.
Push it too early and the likelihood of a sale is not only significantly lower, but the time you spend after the proposal is multiplied...taking valuable time from other pursuits. Wait too long, and you not only waste time, but you may lose the opportunity altogether.
Over the years, I've developed seven go-to questions that when answered clearly, concisely and confidently indicate the opportunity is ripe. The great thing about sales (for some) is that you’re never dealing with a perfect situation and you never have access to all of the knowledge you need.
Successful sales is a lot like playing poker. A strong process and keen insights, mixed with experience enables you to find the opportune point to take action on the information you do have to maximize your probability of success. The seven questions I share in this video have helped me shorten the time to sale, while ensuring I spend the right amount of time and energy on the right opportunities. Just as importantly, it’s provided me the indication to know when to fold and walk away from the opportunity.
These seven questions should serve as your guide. As I shared in the video, you don’t need to have answers to all of the questions to move forward. These questions will create clarity for you and your team about what you know and what you realize that you don’t know, so you can make the best decisions given your strategy, objectives and situation.
If you have any go-to sales opportunity assessment questions I’d love to know what they are. Please share them in the comments. If we find them really interesting, we’ll invite you to share more on an upcoming podcast.
