Here are some things that will help you get beyond the big chill of an initial meeting with a prospect and enter the needs analysis superhighway by transferring relationship tension to task tension.
Most business relationships start off with a certain amount of relationship tension. This reality is a natural part of the sales process. Simply put, new business prospects don’t know you and might not trust you. When relationship tension is high, productive conversations are difficult to have. It’s difficult to uncover real needs or problems or be seen as a trusted advisor.
Here’s a list of things that cause relationship tension:
Detecting relationship tension is easy. Look for these signs:
When the relationship tension is high, productivity is low. Your job is to transfer the tension from the relationship to the task of addressing their desired business results. Here’s some insight about task tension along with some tips to help you make the transfer.
Task Tension can be described as a positive feeling that exists when there's interesting work to be done. This tension includes feelings of enthusiasm that encourage people to dive into a project and seek ways to overcome challenges to achieve desired business results. World-class sellers understand moving from unproductive relationship tension to highly productive task tension is an essential part of the sales process.
If you reduce relationship tension without moving to task tension, you will make a friend, but not a sale. Task tension is productive when it challenges thinking and focuses the conversation on desired business results.
These four steps will increase your credibility and shift the tension onto the task:
Tension can be good when it’s focused on the task at hand. Be sure to take the appropriate steps and allow highly-productive task tension to lead the way to an open discussion of business needs.