In helping our clients implement our forecasting process, we join meetings in which salespeople will report a sales forecast to leadership. My expectations are usually exceeded by the knowledge most salespeople have about their opportunities. They know about the politics of the organization, the competition, and the problems their solving. They know most everything … except one very important item: when will the opportunity close?
It’s obvious why the timing of an order is important – resource planning, expectations for board members and other investors, goal achievement, commission payment, etc. – but it’s not so obvious why “when?” is the most important question to ask.
After asking a question like “When do you think the committee will make their decision?”, most prospective customers begin to answer every other question imaginable. For example, a common answer is something like: “Most likely by the end of next month. But don’t tell your boss that. We have a habit of delaying decisions here because Susan is such a stickler about the ROI of any purchase. Sometimes she’ll drag out a decision for weeks while she plays with her spreadsheets.” Guess what? You need to meet with Susan, and you wouldn’t have known that without asking “when?”.
Do other questions spark this type of revelation? Maybe, but asking for a timeline seems to position a salesperson as a professional who has the guts to ask the right questions, but it’s not threatening at all. You’re not asking them anything about themselves, their opinions, or your chances of winning the opportunity. You’re just asking “when?”. This is direct enough to get them speaking and disarming enough to keep them speaking and rambling!
Try it and be quiet after they answer. Let them start telling you about Susan in Accounting and Jeff in I.T. and Mabry in H.R. Ask when and let them ramble!
