5 Most Common Mistakes Made By OBC Sales Managers
By Lisa Engelmann, CEO of Revved Results, Inc.

1. Immediate Rate Quoting

If you want a sure-fire way to greatly increase your chances of losing a prospect, quote the rate in the first 30 seconds. Quoting the rate before taking them down the sales questioning process eliminates the opportunity to create a solution-oriented dialogue. You have to, have to, HAVE to break their fixation with rate by flipping it to a value conversation, getting them to understand that it’s really about what they are going to receive in return for their hard-earned money. The KEY to not losing a prospect by quoting a rate is to deflect them with a question that gets them thinking about the value. (For a free “Break Rate Fixation Questions” form, email info@revvedresults.com.)

2. Lacking Powerful USPs

Whether you call them “unique selling propositions” or “differentiating values”, you must understand what sets you apart from your competitors AND be able to communicate it effectively to position your center. What you offer isn’t a commodity, no matter how many other office options are available. Why should a business professional office at your center over another office solution? The USP is that why. Have several powerful USPs splashed all over your marketing materials, your website and in the form of sales questions and you WILL be in a position to charge premium pricing—or at the very least, stand firm on competitive pricing. Key word there: powerful. Common one-liners will not suffice. Your USPs must be quantifiable and unique to your location.

3. Not Asking “Needs Questions”

These questions get to the deeper level needs of your prospect. The purpose of needs questions is to tap into the prospect’s emotional hot buttons – what “pains” do they want “fixed” or what benefits are most important to them and the priority of those hot buttons. Then you can present your “recommendation” (aka proposal) reflecting back what they've told you. They’ll be far more motivated to sign on the dotted line if you’ve covered all the items they deemed important.

4. Not Knowing What Will Happen Next

Here’s a scenario: a prospect comes in for an office tour and afterwards tells you the proposal looks good but he needs to “think it over.” After hearing nothing, you call, email, and leave messages and you never again hear from him. Warning: a results-enhancing secret is about to be revealed. It’s not rocket science but it will increase your closing ratio. Simply ask, "Just suppose, that I present you with a recommended office package, and you find it’s a good fit for you, what will happen next?" Asking this question does two things: 1) it may expose untapped objections that you can address BEFORE they leave and 2) it will get the prospect to verbally commit to what will happen next. It may be they need to run it past a business partner so an acceptable next step is agreeing to speak the following Tuesday at 2pm. Whatever you agree to, the likelihood of the prospect following through is much higher when you get a verbal commitment on the next step.

5. Avoiding the Close

Studies have shown that just merely asking for the sale can skyrocket sales and closing ratios. This seemingly obvious sales step is avoided more often than not. “Asking for the sale” can mean something as simple as “Do you have any questions or would you like to move ahead?” That said, ending the conversation with “let me know if you have any questions” doesn’t qualify.  You must be clear in asking for a response. Whether you ask for it directly or assumptively, your prospect will know you are ready to move forward and, justifiably, you want to know where they are at with their decision. And if their answer is “no”, you can follow up with an on-the-spot autopsy of what went wrong and perhaps the reason “why not” is something you can solve. Vow to ask for the sale with EVERY qualified prospect and you will close more deals.

Lisa Engelmann, CEO of Revved Results, Inc., and Editor-in-Chief of Executive Suite Success, is an engaging, out-of-the box thinker who speaks on both strategy and implementation to improve performance. Lisa Engelmann and Lisa Olsonoski are co-founders of Revved Results, Inc., a professional coaching & training company. They work with office business centers to improve their marketing and sales results, find & retain more tenants, AND gain a competitive edge through training sessions and the Revved Results Mastermind Program (exclusive to executive suite owners and operators).

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