People talk about going after the low-hanging fruit as a method of ramping up sales, but is it truly a good business practice? This article delves into the idea of low-hanging fruit and its “true” benefits…
Sales and The Low-Hanging Fruit
By Tim Moore
Published by Carolina Business Connection
I hear salespeople and business owners remark every week that they are going to build their business by “taking the low-hanging fruit.” There is a problem with relying on the low-hanging fruit in sales. Because it is low hanging, anyone and everyone can reach it. Problem is, easy sales don’t necessarily make good sales. Low-hanging fruit are those sales opportunities that are ripe for the picking with little effort. Isn’t that what we all want? Before you succumb to your temptation and start plucking away, make sure you don’t end up with a bitter aftertaste.
Low-hanging fruit is often not as good as it appears. It looks plump and delicious, but after one bite of the fruit, you’re spitting out worms. In a sales scenario, that’s the equivalent of making a sale to someone that you later wish you never had met. Most salespeople are too interested in making the quick sale that they don’t slow down to fully assess the potential client and the situation on the front end of closing the deal. This can easily result in one of two scenarios.
Slower = Faster!
The first scenario is that you and the client never fully engage. Because you shortchanged the sales process and failed to understand what was important to the client and why, you don’t have much of a relationship. I believe that Slower = Faster when evaluating a prospect. Take your time, ask the right questions, do your homework and with each prospect you will find you get to your sales goal faster than spending time in damage control. While you can always try to build a stronger relationship after the sale — and you should — you may find that it’s too little too late. The client may not be interested, you or the client may be too busy or you may find that you really don’t have a lot in common.
Is the Prospect a Good Fit?
The second scenario is even harder to overcome. After you start working with the client, you discover that your solution is not a good fit for what is needed. Or you find out that your client is the type of client who is never satisfied. This realization usually comes about when your new client calls to complain, which may be an ongoing and regular occurrence.
In fact, if you have clients who are thorns in your side, you can often track their origin back to your failure to fully assess the client on the front end. You got excited about closing the deal, and you shortchanged the sales process. You didn’t ask all the questions you should or you dismissed the red flags you noticed and hoped they would go away.
The problem with these ill-fitting clients is that they demand your time and keep you from focusing on those clients and prospects that are the right fit for you. And because they are not thrilled with your products or services, they will never send you referrals or give you positive word-of-mouth advertising. In fact, it’s more likely that they’ll make damaging and derogatory comments if they bother to talk about you at all.
To learn more about the art of the business sales process, contact Tim Moore with Dancing Elephants Achievement Group at (919) 460-6909 or by e-mail at Tim@deagsales.com.
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Tim Moore is Principle and Owner of the Dancing Elephants Achievement Group of the Carolinas. His mission is to show entrepreneurs and salespeople how to make more money in less time than they ever thought possible. Tim fills his days with teaching classes, private coaching and making presentations around the country. For more information, visit www.saleselephant.com or send an email to Tim@deagsales.com .
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