“I will pretend to sell if you pretend to buy” This is one of my favorite quotes from Sherwin Uretsky, one of our Revenue Architects advisors and one of the top revenue architects that I know!
What does it mean?
So many people engaged in sales imagine that they can win business after gaining access to a particular client – or after a warm meeting with a prospective client. But too often, they fail to really listen to their gut . They fail to perform the basic qualification that they need to do: BANT – Budget, Authority, Needs and Timeline. Or SCOTSMAN: Solution; Competition; Originality; Time Scales; Size; Money; Authority; Need.
They are kidding themselves… meeting after meeting of friendly banter with the client….pretending to sell, and the client pretending to buy.
- Wrong opportunity
- Wrong decision maker
- No BANT
- Free consulting
- Long sales cycle
When you see it, stop it. Ask yourself the question – what is the compelling event? What is the implementation date? What happens if the client doesn’t buy? There likely won’t be an answer and you will see that there likely is not an opportunity after all!