MongoHQ is proof that a successful startup can be created anywhere and grow anywhere. Proud of these guys and they probably have the most unique office space/location of any startup in Alabama.
Nothing is wrong with that approach. Your job in sales is to genuinely guide people. You are the expert and that's why they're talking to you... because they want to, and they want you to guide them. If you don't guide them (genuinely!) then you are not doing your job. If you think that they as a customer or the product/service is not a good fit, don't move things forward.
You are not an order taker... you are not a salesperson... you are a solutions consultant/provider. <--- I hate the way that last phrase sounds, though it doesn't make it any less true.
As far as setting a "time to follow-up"... absolutely, you should. If they drag things out, politely and professionally give them a "Sounds like you're looking at multiple options at the moment and our might be an option. How about you look at the competition, and give me a call if you need help with options... even if my product/service is no longer in the running." They don't feel sold at that point... they feel taken care of.
This is your livelihood and if they control your schedules, indecisive and stringing you along... no worries, there are simply others who need your guidance.
I disagree. I've been in sales for 12 years and it all happened by accident. I took a sales job because nothing else was available, so I just acted like my overly polite, "nothing to lose" Southern hospitality self. My closing technique in many occasions was not to use a line at all. People expected me to "close them". When I didn't,m and just sat there with my mouth shut, people were eager to buy, if only because they didn't feel pressured.
Closing techniques simply place the customer in the mindset that "there are constraints to buying everything, and these are my constraints to buying this thing."
Closing techniques are used everyday, even by yourself. However, most are unaware (even users of techniques) that a technique has just been used.
Ever go to buy something at your local Apple store and the employee whips out their mobile payment device and says "I can check you out right here. Any employee can help you pay for your item at any time."? That's a closing technique. Your constraints are that you are free from finding a checkout and standing in a long line. Because you realize "Hey, these aren't really aren't constraints at all! Buying from Apple is swift and easy!" That's Apple's closing technique... embedding in your mind that buying from them is never pushy and always helpful.
The techniques listed in the article are a little cliche, but true nonetheless.
I built an online news service in 2002/2003 with zero coding knowledge, $100, and a bootleg version of Adobe Illustrator.
I put every spare moment I had into it, skipping lunches and dinners and sleep (though I never skipped church) all for the sake of keeping it lean before keeping it lean was cool.
5 years later I sold it for a paltry sum, mainly because I didn't add enough people fast enough.
