Create Tension From the Start

Tension is my term for the group of emotions that has tone present in every sales process. It’s pretty simple. No tension means no emotion, which means no sale. 

Tension is normally created when a prospect realizes they have an issue you might be able to help them resolve. It takes a good conversation or two and great discovery to increase that tension enough to get your prospect to act.

The very best prospectors don’t wait until they have a prospect in front of them to do this. They start early. In fact, they start from the very beginning with their prospecting efforts.

When you dig a little deeper, you recognize that you don’t just need tension to make the sale. Tension needs to be present in order to take even a single step in the sales process; most importantly the first one. You need to give your prospect a reason to take a meeting with you.

Provoke a response

Your prospecting efforts should be provocative. They should make your prospect think. I’ve always done this by asking open-ended questions. 

Admittedly, it’s a little strange to ask a question without expecting an answer, knowing full well that you’re going to do so over and again with your next few outreach attempts, but think about it. You’re trying to start a conversation, and the best way I’ve ever found to start a good conversation is to ask a great question.

When your prospecting efforts ask great questions, you really stand out. If you’re able to make your prospect think differently just by acknowledging those questions, there’s actually value to them in your efforts. Not only are those thoughts creating tension in their own minds about the decision they need to make, but the fact that they haven’t answered you yet creates its own type of tension.

Don’t give up so easily

Most salespeople give up trying to reach someone after the second or third attempt. It’s not difficult at all to wait them out. When someone reaches out to me, even with a compelling proposition, I’m likely to wait until the third or fourth decent meeting request before I even start paying attention. 

If it involves something I’m working on right now, then it’s urgent. I might take a look, but that’s really random. If it’s not urgent, but it’s important, then I’m inclined to wait. If the rep persists, then their professionalism really stands out to me. I believe good sellership should be rewarded, and I’ll schedule something in the future.

Just like asking great questions makes you stand out and creates tension, there’s additional tension created when you demonstrate that you won’t be waited out. Combine the two, and you’re really onto something. Do you have good questions to ask that will make your prospect think even when you’re not in front of them yet? Do you have enough of them to make the distinct impression that you’re not going anywhere, and you’ll persist patiently until you get a meeting?

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