I don’t know why tie downs aren’t used more by sales reps selling over the phone. They serve several crucial functions, including:
Getting confirmation that the point you just made was understood and accepted by your prospect. This is especially important when selling over the phone as you don’t have the physical clues that tell you how it’s going.
Using tie downs is also instrumental in building that all important yes momentum. If the prospect keeps agreeing with you, then you can feel confident at the end in asking for the sale.
Tie downs also give your prospect a chance to engage with you – when you use one, you actually have to wait for them to respond.
Using tie downs also gives you control over the flow of the call. Remember, whoever asks a question is in control.
There are many other value reasons for using tie downs, but let’s look at some of the most effective, and go over in what situations they work best:
#1: Whenever your prospect asks you a buying question (and any question a prospect asks you is a buying question), after you answer it you must use a tie-down. Examples:
If a prospect asks you how much something is, after you give them the price, you can use any of these tie downs:
“How does that price sound?”
OR
“Is that what you were looking to spend today?”
OR
“How does that compare with what you are paying now?”
OR
“Is that within your budget?”
OR
“That’s a great value today, and I’d take as many as I could at that price – how many should I ship you today?” (O.K., that’s a close, but I couldn’t help myself! Do you see how tie-downs can lead to a close :–)
If a prospect asks a question about a feature or a benefit, use any of the following:
“Do you see how that works?”
OR
“Does that make sense?”
OR, better:
“How would you use that?”
OR
“Do you understand how that works?”
OR
“I think that’s a great benefit – how about you?”
If a prospect makes a statement that seems negative, use:
“How did you come to that?”
OR
“Compared to what?”
OR
“What do you mean exactly?”
OR
“How does your current vendor handle that?”
#2 Use tie downs throughout your presentation. Most sales reps power through their presentations and use far too few tie downs or check-ins. And when they do, they are usually closed ended which lead their prospect to reveal little. Use these more open-ended tie downs to engage AND learn crucial buying motives:
“That’s how we drive the leads….now tell me about how you would get the most out of them?”
OR
“That’s one of our biggest selling points….tell me: how would this impact how you’re currently doing things?”
OR
“Do you see how this works?” – And then: “How might this work for you?”
OR
“Are you with me there?” – And then: “What questions do you have?”
OR
“That’s a nice feature, don’t you think?” – And then: “How would that work for you?”
OR
“Is this sounding like it might work for you?” (O.K., there I go again! Do you see how after a few tie downs, it’s just natural for you to start closing?)
#3: General tie downs are useful at any point of your presentation. Customize from any of these to fit your product/service:
“What do you think of this so far?”
OR
“Would this location work for you?”
OR
“How many locations would this work for?”
OR
“How many departments would want one of these as well?”
OR
“That’s pretty special, isn’t it?”
OR
“Do you see why this is so popular?”
OR
“Tell me, would that fit into your budget?”
OR
“Most people like this – how does it sound to you?”
OR
“Will that work?”
OR
“What else do you need to know?”
OR
“What other area are you interested in?”
OR
“Would that be a deal killer for you?”
OR
“Would that be enough for you to move forward with this?”
OR
“Tell me: how close are you to wanting to move forward with this?” (There I go once again!)
Let me reiterate that using tie down’s gives you the intel you don’t have because you can’t see your prospect’s reaction (because you’re selling over the phone). Therefore, it’s critical for you to begin using more of the above tie downs during every conversation. Remember, the more you can get your prospect talking, the more you’ll learn what it will take to close them…