Proverbs 10:9

Proverbs 10:9

​Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

Christian Based Selling 

When we meet with prospective clients we, as professional sales people, are met with, shall I say, a degree of skepticism regarding our honesty.   The distrust may be based on the prospect's direct experience of having been burned or the general perception that sales people will make false claims about their solution to win.  In my experience, this distrust is well founded as many sales reps are willing to manage perceptions ​which is a corporate expression for lying.  There is a great deal of pressure to be all things to a new prospective buyer.   

As Christian sales professionals, how do we beat competitors that are willing to say, "Yes, we do that" for everything?  The answer is to disrupt our prospect's beliefs about sales people by being transparent about the strengths and weaknesses of our solution.  In doing so, the prospective client realizes that they are working with someone who they can trust and gain confidence that they know what they are buying.   Decision makers are willing to give up some of the nice-to-have's as long as they have a high degree of trust that their essential needs will be met.  

Therefore the heart of the sales cycle is the qualifying stage.  We must determine the essential needs of the client and be honest with ourselves and the decision maker about how well our solution matches up.  If we lack some of the desired features or experience but have the essential needs covered, then we can win with a well crafted proposal.  Why?  Because there is no perfect solution!  However, if we can't address the essential needs then we have to accept that is not an opportunity.   We need to spend our time sourcing and closing  opportunities where our solution is well aligned to drive the desired business value/result.  

While we forfeit the opportunities for which our solution does not match up well, we will earn the trust of those prospective buyers.   If appropriate, you can ask if they can think of anyone in their network that may be interested in your solution.  In most cases they will go out of their way to help you because they wish they could be your client.    

When you operate with transparency you will walk securely in your business community.   Your personal brand of integrity and professionalism will give birth to a powerful network of connectors and buyers.  You will be highly productive and effective because you will focus your time on the right opportunities.  
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Are you asking the right questions in qualifying?