LIKE AT&T SAYS, “RETHINK POSSIBLE”

That’s impossible were the first words the prospect said after the rep I was with told him how our product could help him. The sales rep looked like he had just lost his puppy. He had just spent the last 10 minutes giving what I thought was a great sales presentation and the customer didn’t believe what he was told.

I didn’t want to say anything because I knew this was going to be an opportunity for this rep to really show me his sales skills by getting himself out of this corner. The rep did what I thought was going to be the end of the sale. HE LAUGHED! Yep, he just hung his head and laughed. Both the customer and I looked at each other and sort of shrugged our shoulders as if to wonder what was going on. The rep slowly stopped laughing and said to the customer, “Impossible? You need to listen to AT&T and RETHINK POSSIBLE”.

The rep then used one of the best probing lines ever written, “I’m sure you have a reason for thinking this is impossible, would you mind sharing them with me?” I immediately realized he had tweaked this line to fit the situation.

The customer immediately replied with a reason to which the rep was able to clarify what he had originally said. With the better understanding the customer asked, “What do we need to do to get started?”

SALE CLOSED!

When we got outside I asked the rep what he was laughing at. He started laughing again and said, I had no idea what to say and needed some time. He then said YOU are the one who taught me how to divert attention to give yourself time to think. He said the laughing gave him the time he needed to gather his thoughts and come up with a comeback line for the customer.

Now it was my turn to laugh, he had just reminded the teacher of what the teacher taught. He didn’t get stuck, he wasn’t caught speechless, and most importantly he didn’t just throw something at the customer that might have caused even more confusion.

I had to ask him another question, “Is this a tactic you had planned for when you need time or did you just grasp for anything that might work?”

I am still waiting for his answer!

Lorin