How to map your sales call to a closed deal 🗺️
I’ve told you before how Steli Efti likes to open sales calls with: “So…are you ready to buy yet?"
It’s one of my favorite anecdotes because it sounds insane—but it works.
We don’t all have the cajones to be so brash at the beginning of a call, but the question must be asked at some point during the call:
- Are you ready to buy?
- If not, what’s it going to take to get you to buy?
If you don’t end a call with a clear answer, it was a bad call.
Chances are, you’ve just engaged in sales call theater—a.k.a. going through the motions of talking to a lead, answering their questions, showing some slides, and maybe reading from a script… but not driving them toward a decision.
My advice to get to outcomes faster: Think of a sales call like a map.
Start each call with a clean slate and use the conversation to draw a map of what that person’s buying journey will look like.
You already have a destination in mind (a closed-won deal). Your job on a sales call is to get your prospect to show you how to navigate to your destination—which trees to cut down, which mountains to cross, and where the bodies are buried.
Ask your prospect all the questions you need in order to create a timeline of what it would take to get them to become a customer with you.
For example:
Lead: This all looks great. I think that’s all I need.
Sales Rep: Based on what you’ve told me, it sounds like we’re a great fit. I want to make sure you’re getting results ASAP, so what needs to happen in order for you to sign?
Lead: I need to talk it over with the team first.
Sales Rep: Great. What else needs to happen?
Lead: Well, then I need to get the budget approved by Finance.
Sales Rep: Okay. So once Finance approves the budget, then we’re ready to sign
Lead: Not quite. Then, it needs to be approved by Legal.
Sales Rep: Got it. So once Legal approves, then we’re done?
Lead: Well, no—then we need to set up a pilot. If that goes well, we can sign a contract.
Sales Rep: Great! I’ll do the prep work now to get you everything you need for Finance, Legal, and a pilot program. Let’s pull up our calendars and schedule our next check-in while I have you here…
Every time you ask the question, it unlocks a whole new world.
Mediocre reps quit asking long before they get all the answers they need.
Keep going—even if you feel uncomfortable repeating the same question over and over again—until you have a full map of the buying journey.
