How to Give Control to Take Control When Selling #502

My wife says I worry too much. I think I don’t worry enough. I’m always on the lookout for trouble and control what I can to avoid drama. Control is my secret power, and it’s also my greatest weakness. Bringing a control attitude into the sales profession was a turn-off to many prospects. By trying to control the sales process and wrangling the prospect’s actions it had the opposite effect and killed deals. It was by studying the Tao I got the idea of taking control the sale by giving control to the prospects. It was a brilliant albeit belated idea I had because works amazingly well. Today’s topic is how to give control to take control when selling.

Today’s Chapter: Controlling the Sale

Crooked with words
the sale goes sideways.
Rushing the close
the deal comes to a halt.
Showing off and preening
shows little.
Asserting with vanity
chases business away.

Rules about handling, managing, and fooling the buyer
never acknowledge what truly rules.

By not controlling the sale, the sale is controlled.
Give each buyer space
knowing each deal has its own course.
Take their lead and you’ll get there.

Today’s Story

Chris was a self-admitted control freak, trying to control every aspect of every buyer as well as the entire sales funnel. Commendable yes. But exhausting and surprisingly not as successful as expected. Despite worry and taking preemptive action, the deals never progressed as planned. Buyers would change direction at a moment’s notice. They would make requests from out of the blue, and nothing Chris could do would prepare for the unforeseen.

During a one-on-one, Pat walked through the pipeline with Chris. In frustration, Chris opened up and shared how chaotic the deals felt and how difficult it was to control the sale.

“What should I do?”, Chris asked.

Pat laughed, knowing from personal experience that the tighter you squeeze a slippery fish, the faster it slips out and back into the water.

Pat responded, “Expect change, it’s the one constant in the world Chris. Customers are never going to go the path we expect. What we should expect is the unexpected. They don’t all act alike. They don’t all have the same pains and aspirations. The best way to control a sale is to not control it. Let each deal take its own course. Let the buyers reveal their wants and needs at their own pace and address them one by one, as they come.”

Take Action Quote

Like Lao Tzu, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus is famous for his love of paradox and wordplay. He too believed in the unity of opposites and harmony. Heraclitus saw the world in a state of flux that was always “becoming”, but never “being”. He is famously quoted as saying, “No man ever steps in the same river twice.”

The same is true of prospects.

No two prospects are alike. Each prospect knows what they want. At the same time, they may revise their needs at a moment’s notice. Master sellers expect this. They accept fluctuations like the sea expects tides. They are happy to help in whatever capacity they can. They trust it will all work out.

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