Bye-bye 2023. Out with the old, in with the new. Here’s 3 ways how.

“Bye-bye 2023. Welcome 2024.” 2023 is gone. It’s never coming back. So, quit driving looking at the rear-view mirror of ‘should have’ and ‘could have.’ Look, instead, at the windscreen of “Can do” and “Will do”. Otherwise, forget the mishaps you had in 2023. In 2024 you’ll be rushing headlong into a crash. As you review 2023, live in anticipation, not regret. Here are three examples how.

You didn’t question their objections

“Your price is high,” the buyer objected. And you went ahead to justify it by spelling out the features of your product. As a result, you lost the sale. “Ahhh!,” you now regret. “I should have questioned the objection when he raised it.” Yes; you should have realised the vagueness of his statement. And in doing so asked, “Something is high or low compared to something else. Who are you comparing us too?”

This forces the buyer to be specific. Is it their budget, the competition, or was he just shooting in the dark hoping to dislodge you from your perch? If it’s the first two, great. Now you can address something objective. Unfortunately, in your case, it was the latter, and you fell for it. But. That’s gone with 2023; and because it’s bye-bye 2023 and welcome 2024, correct it this year. So, to, “Your price is high” you now know how to question that objection. Or, any other.

You didn’t treat the customer as a person. But. It’s bye-bye 2023

Caught up in your presentation and consumed by what you see as your miracle product, you ignored engaging with the buyer. Here’s the medical equivalent of that. You just went on and on about the dangers posed by the swelling in the abdomen. “It could be a cancerous tumour,” you said without having even tested it. Further, you were completely oblivious to the growing emotional agony you were causing the patient. You just went on to paint a grim picture of ill-health and possible agonizing death. Dramatic example? Maybe. But you get the point. Now. Back to sales, and you. You didn’t even build rapport.  

Bye-bye 2023

Now then. That was 2023 and it’s gone. In 2024, engage with the buyer. Listen actively, engage deeply and demonstrate empathy. “How does that affect your department, when the system in down?” “And what about you personally?” Let him share his pain and be empathetic to it. It is resolving that pain that will humanize you and quite likely get you the sale.

You went too quickly to a close.

Finally. You zoomed in for a kiss without having seen any signs from the girl to do so. Or, you misread the signs and are now reeling from rejection. Now. Berating yourself over this is unproductive. It happened. It’s gone. That was then. This is now. And if you think your case is a candidate for the ICU, get a load of this. A med-rep once shared her experience detailing (That’s what their selling is called). “I kept insisting that the doctor buys the medication. I was so misguided; I didn’t even realize how much so. Doctors don’t take this medication, they prescribe it. I was barking up the wrong tree. I was pushing, instead of pulling.

All I needed to do was show him why he should prescribe it and follow-up to see this through. He wasn’t an end user; he was an influencer. Needless to say, my embarrassment was a sufficient deterrent to keeping my sales low.” But. That was last year. And it’s “Bye-bye 2023”. In “Welcome 2024”, take rejection in stride, keep alive to closing signals; and having done so, attempt to close more than once.   

Read: Overcome split second tension and close

Bye-bye 2023. Cheers to 2024!


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