In the world of OOH sales, there’s one straightforward, yet powerful question that, when used consistently, can significantly improve your close ratio, shorten your sales cycle, and strengthen your relationship with potential advertisers. And yet OOH salespeople hardly ever ask this question.
We’ll get to that question in a moment. But first, let’s understand that this particular question is one of OOH Sales Mastery’s qualifying questions. So, before we go any further, let’s get clear about what the word qualifying really means.
What Does It Mean to Qualify a Prospect?
Qualifying a prospect isn’t just about getting someone to agree to discuss OOH advertising with you. Many salespeople mistakenly believe that having a conversation with a prospect means they are qualified to buy. In reality, the qualification phase of a professional OOH sales process goes much deeper. It involves gaining clarity in three critical areas:
1. Problems/Issues/Concerns: Does the prospect have a problem that OOH advertising can solve? How do you know? Have you uncovered the full impact of these problems on both a personal and organizational level?
2. Investment: Does the prospect have the financial resources to address this problem? Are there other necessary resources, such as time, access to information, or commitment from key stakeholders? Are they willing to invest these resources?
3. Decision: What is the decision-making process for solving this problem? Who is responsible for making the final decision? Who will influence the decision informally? What criteria will they use to determine whether OOH advertising is worth the investment?
A prospect isn’t truly qualified until you have clear answers to these three questions. This brings us back to the question we mentioned earlier, which is directly related to the third area: the decision-making process.
The Common Mistake Salespeople Make
One of the reasons salespeople often fail to gather accurate information about the decision-making process is the way they ask about it. A typical, yet ineffective, question might be:
“Who has the final decision on this?”
At some point in your OOH sales career, you’ve probably asked this question or some variation of it. But think about how you would respond if a salesperson asked you this question. Chances are, your answer would be something like, “I make the decision,” even if that’s not entirely true. This response is common because the question feels intrusive, especially early in the relationship.
Salespeople often ask this question at the end of the first meeting, just as they’ve begun to build rapport with the prospect. At this stage, the prospect may have started to share important information about their challenges, and trust is beginning to develop. But then, the salesperson asks this direct question, which can undo all the progress made in building that trust.
The problem is that this question asks the prospect to do one or more of the following:
1. Admit they aren’t the sole decision-maker: This can be difficult because it touches on issues of status, control, and self-image.
2. Reveal details of important workplace relationships: They may be hesitant to share the names of others involved in the decision.
3. Open themselves up to potential internal criticism: By introducing a salesperson they’ve only met once to other, more senior people in the organization, they may risk internal criticism.
Understandably, many prospects resist answering this question directly, which leaves the salesperson without the critical information they need to move forward.
A Better Way to Qualify the Prospect
Fortunately, there’s a more effective way to gather the necessary information about the decision-making process. It involves asking a simple, yet powerful, question every time you set up a meeting with a prospective buyer:
“Does anybody else need to be at this meeting?”
This question is easy to ask and covers the same ground as “Who has the final decision on this?” but it’s much less intrusive. It continues the collaborative dialogue you’ve already established with the prospect.
While this question may not always yield immediate results, about half of the time, it will prompt the prospect to extend the conversation. They might respond with something like, “Oh, yeah – you know what, we should invite Leslie.”
This response opens the door for you to ask, “Okay – what does Leslie do?” The prospect will then provide valuable information about Leslie’s role in the decision-making process, giving you a clearer understanding of the dynamics at play.
The Benefits of Asking This Question
By asking, “Does anybody else need to be at this meeting?” you achieve several important outcomes:
- Deepen Rapport: You enhance your relationship with the prospect by showing that you’re interested in involving the right people from the start.
- Shorten the Sales Cycle: You gather critical information earlier in the process, allowing you to address potential objections and involve key decision-makers sooner.
- Improve Your Close Ratio: With the right people in the right place at the right time, your chances of closing the sale increase significantly.
Incorporate this simple question into your sales process, and you’ll find that it leads to more successful outcomes. So, the next time you’re setting up a meeting with a prospective (or landowner for that matter), don’t forget to ask: “Does anybody else need to be at this meeting?”
Need help with sales skills or coaching to take your out of home company to the next level. Learn more about OOH Sales Mastery at oohmastery.com or Contact Dan Nausley at dan.nausley@sandler.com, 423.702.5579.
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Lisa & Dan Nausley and Reggie Piercy of Sandler Chattanooga have developed the OOH Sales Mastery Program after more than a decade of training/coaching thousands of OOH Operators across the country in sales, leadership, and executive coaching.
