Waiting for the Perfect Moment Will Just Lead to More Waiting.
The time will never be perfect, so act today.
What action are you waiting today this week?
What product are you trying to perfect before you ship?
Ask for the Work
One mistake a lot of new sales professionals make is not asking for the work. You put together the perfect sales pitch and assume that once you finish the customer will make their order. If they do not ask for any product you assume they are not interested. Which could be true. However, it is also likely that they just do not want to offer up their interest. So you have to ask for the work. The moment may not be perfect, the sales pitch may not have been perfect, but still ask for the sale. That is the only way you can ensure that you know their interest. This brings up a good point that even if your sales pitch was not perfect still ask. They may have questions about the product, they may have been put off by some of the comments or jokes you tried to work into the presentation. They may just not be interested in the product. When you ask for the sale though it is a good opportunity for them to provide feedback. More on that later.
Do not wait on the perfect product
It is great to have a good product, but you do not need a perfect product. Many companies have failed because they had a highly technical founder trying to perfect the product instead of getting it out to customers and getting feedback. Seth Godin talks a lot about the minimum viable product, what is the smallest amount of work you can do to create a product that can be shipped (that is not a perfect summary of Seth’s point so I would encourage you to read his work). Get to revision 2 or 3 and then find a small market to release the product to. Ask for feedback, as mentioned above this is a great way to improve.
What do your customers think?
What features would they add?
What services would they want to see?
How would they improve the product?
There is no need to wait for a perfect product. Customers want to experience the product and provide you feedback. So find a good product, ask for the sale and then ask for feedback.
Start today
Similar to my last post, now is the time to ask. You have some product you can ship today. Do that and get some feedback. Some will be good and some will be bad. Some will be helpful and some will be worth what you paid for it, zero. But it will still be a valuable lesson for your business. Asking for the sale will ensure you know where your customer stands and will allow you to improve for the next sales pitch. So do now wait for the perfect moment, because it will not come and you will just continue waiting.
3 things to remember:
You have to ask for the work, do not leave a sales pitch without asking for the sale.
You do not need the perfect product. Get one that is good enough, ship it, and ask for feedback.
Start today.
Action Step: Pick one customer or product that you were waiting for something “better” on and act today. Ship the product to a small sample of customers. Or schedule a sales pitch with that customer and ask for the work.
Thank you for your time and attention today. It means a lot that you have spent the time to read my posts. If you found some benefit in today’s post please share it with a friend or twelve. It really means a lot.
Also if you have questions or topics you would like a post on please share in the comments below!