The Final Solution:
The Non-Event

The solution step is generally the easiest step in the sales process and the least important. Since approximately 80% of sales are won and lost in the initial discovery step, most salespeople are equipped to do a good job in the solution step. Traditional salespeople who have been schooled in feature and benefit selling can finally relax knowing that they have a skill set which, when used sparingly, can be transferred successfully over to a consultative sales process.

Here are some key elements and guidelines to executing the solution step:

• Ideally you will not need to do a presentation, because the best presentation is no presentation at all. Frequently you will find that doing a successful discovery step will negate the need to do a presentation. Best-case scenario is when you have a solid grasp of their problems: it is inferred that you will have the ability to effectively solve their problems with your solution.
• Review the prospect’s goals and pains at the beginning of the solution step to confirm that nothing has changed since the last meeting.
• Review their intent as to what they will be deciding on at the end of the meeting. Example: “At the end of our meeting today, what are your expectations as far as making a decision?”
• Know how much time they have for the meeting and know their agenda.
• Know the criteria beforehand for going beyond their expectations and meeting their basic expectations for product or service performance.
• Call in advance to make sure the right people are going to be there.
• Know the roles of the people in the meeting and their specific issues and pains.
• Don’t do a classic feature and benefit “pray and spray”. Simply provide documentation of how you will solve their problems.
• Do a reality check to see if they like what they have seen so far. Example: “Mr. Prospect, based on what you’ve seen so far on a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate your interest?” If they give you a high number or a resounding approval, try getting closure by asking, “What should we do next?”
• Proposals should be written for invisible decision makers.
• At the beginning of the meeting ask, “What absolutely will you have to be convinced of today to move forward or to make a decision one way or another?”

Here are some examples of some tactics to use for closure:

• “Is there anything that you need to discuss before we decide what the next step is?”
• “What would you like to do now?”
• “How would you like to start?”
• “At this stage, all I need is your approval to go ahead and get started.”
• “That’s pretty much what we planned to cover today. The question now is do you like it and if so, what is the next step?”
• Summarize what they’ve already agreed to as to what they like and ask them, “What’s next?”
• “These are our recommendations. How would you like to proceed?”

The last thing you want to do if you don’t get a final decision is to do damage control:

• “When I follow up with you next week and if I don’t hear back from you, how should I proceed? How committed are you to making a decision on this one way or another?”
• “Can we agree in advance that when I call you next week, you’ll give me a definitive decision one way or another, and if it is a no, I promise you not to arm wrestle you and I’ll respect your decision?”