Secret #87: Having an accurate read on your sales opportunities. . .

Secret #87
Having an accurate read on your sales opportunities gives you a strategic advantage over the competition.

Most sellers have been conditioned to ask hopeful questions. Here are some examples of hopeful sales questions:

Seller:
“Would next Tuesday work for a conference call?”
“Does your boss like our proposal?”
“Are we still in good share to wrap the deal up by month-end?”

The problem is, hope-filled questions tend to cause people to share less information, that’s also less accurate. From my perspective, competent sales professionals aren’t afraid of hearing bad news. In fact, having a complete picture of the opportunity (good news and bad) increases your ability to address any outstanding issues and wrap up the sale.