Looking for a way to save time when you prospect?

If this sparks your interest, there’s one skill you require learning now. And it’s one of the biggest challenges you will face in sales.

I am going to teach you 5 key phrases that are red flags for being time wasters. When you hear these phrases, it’s time to uncover what the prospect REALLY means so you don’t waste your greatest commodity… TIME!

Qualify Your Prospects

Prospecting requires you learn to read between the lines. It also requires the ability to confront phrases that don’t qualify for your time.

When I say confrontation, I don’t mean you are going to throw down on someone. What you are going to do is diplomatically confront an objection, indecision, a lie, or lack of commitment from your prospect.

When prospecting, your goal is to collect a decision and move on. It’s important to minimize the amount of time wasted on the wrong people. If you connect with prospects WITHOUT a sense of attachment, you’ll do much better.

You don’t NEED a prospect or NEED to close a sale. The word NEED doesn’t have power. It creates force. In prospecting, you cannot successfully build a business by trying to force a sale or force someone to join your team.

What you are attempting to do is fine-tune your listening skills and sort your prospects as you take them through the interview process.

This means you become an expert at reading between the lines. Most importantly, this is how you qualify your buyer.

So, let’s go through the 5 phrases that will give you insight to what a prospect is really communicating to you.

I’ll get back with you.

What does this really mean? Typically, the person is politely telling you a lie because they are not interested or are unable to decide. This is not someone you want to call back over and over to see if they are ready. Give them your phone number and let them know when they decide they can call you. Understand they don’t qualify for your time right now.

I don’t have the money.

Most people will give you this objection by reflex. They expect you to believe that they believe they can start a business with no investment required!

Think about it… What business can you start with no investment?

None that I can think of.

When they see the value of the opportunity you are presenting, they will find the money 99% of the time! The same goes for products and services. If they don’t see the value, the cost will always be too much.

I need to think about it.

When you receive this objection, realize that you are talking to an analytical thinker. This personality type typically will not decide until they have all of the facts, figures, logic, and research.

Your best bet is to direct this person to where he or she can do the research. Leave them with your number to call you with questions.

Some people are just not ready to commit. Often times, they’re commitment phobic. If they actually made a decision, they would have to change… especially when it comes to deciding to start a business from the comfort of their home. They wouldn’t know what to do or who to be.

You can ask the person, “What is it that you want to think about?” Or “How long will you require to think about it?”

When you ask these questions, gauge the response from your intuition whether you feel this person merits continuing the conversation. Value your time and don’t spend too much of it with someone who has to think about it.

This sounds great but…

The dreaded BUT…

If it sounds great, why is there a BUT?  After the BUT usually comes an excuse or reason not to… Not to get started, not to buy, not to decide. But it’s a contradiction.

You can respond to this phrase by saying something like this…

If you did have the money would you get started?

If you were sure, what would you say?

If you could find the time, would you get started?

The key is to respond instead of reacting or trying to convince your prospect. When you go into convincing mode, you’ve lost the game. When you have to convince someone, you will have to keep convincing him or her once they get started. It’s better that they see the value and make the decision for themselves.

I don’t know.

This phrase is a major red flag.

It’s a cop-out.

When a prospect says they don’t know, it’s a way of being lazy about answering the question. Saying they don’t know takes them off the hook. It means they are not taking responsibility for their answer or decision-making ability.

Another phrase closely related to, “I don’t know,” is “I’m not sure.” These phrases are a major signal that someone cannot pull the trigger. They’re lost in their sauce.

I recommend spending the least amount of time with this type of prospect because they don’t trust themselves to give an answer. When you encounter these people, a little Neuro-Linguistic Programming goes a long way to uncover if you have a prospect or a suspect. If a prospect says, “I don’t know,” your response can be, “If you did know, what would the answer be?”  Or, if they say, “I’m not sure,” you can respond by saying, “If you were sure, what would you say?“

And let me tell you… 99% of the time the prospect will answer. This technique psychologically gives them permission to answer. When they answer, gauge their response and decide if you want to play ball. This is how you qualify people for your time.

The Biggest Time Waster Of All

One of the biggest ways you will get sucked into wasting time is by romanticizing the outcome of a prospect. It’s a sure-fire way to spend too much time with people you think are going to be your superstars.

“Anna knows everyone. She’s going to give me lots of referrals.”

“When Chris joins my sales team, he’s going to make me rich.”

“This Susan is big fish. I am going to make big bucks off of her!”

This is how you set yourself up for disappointment and waste time trying to “get them.”

Understand this…

YOU ARE NOT A GETTER!

You are a recruiter. Your job is to conduct a relaxed interview and qualify your prospect for your time. Let go of the outcome, listen for clues, and assist your prospect to make a decision by the questions you ask in a sequence.

Adding these skills to your toolbox will assist you to save time and close more sales!

If you want to learn more about how to respond to your prospects instead of reacting to them… check out this blog Post: HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR REFLEXES