I heard all about this concept in Sandler classes I attended. It always seemed like a cool saying to me, but I never quite got it.
A couple of recent examples really brought it to mind. Here is a typical conversation:
- Salesperson: I’ve got this deal expected to close next month for around $60K
- Manager: That’s great – how did you get to $60K?
- Salesperson: Well, they need 2 more servers and 50 more seats – that adds up to $60K.
- Manager: Does the client expect to pay $60K for what they are getting?
- Salesperson: That’s how much it costs – that’s what the contract reads – and that’s what I am going to close them at!
This is mutual mystification. The mystification is all about how much the customer really will pay for this deal. No one really knows how much will get paid. The mutual part is that neither the customer nor the salesperson knows what the other’s number is. They’re both mystified, and that mystification is truly mutual.
Sadly, the mystification is mutual, but the effect of it is not. The salesperson suffers – you know what happens:
- You put the forecast in at $60K
- You get down to closing, and the client brings up some issue with the number
- You need the deal to hit the number
- You start discounting like crazy….
- The customer feels squeezed by the salesperson
It;s our job to avoid this mutual mystification. There are plenty of other tactics to fix this like understanding who signs the check (economic buyer), the circumstances of the purchase, the signing authority, and all that other stuff. Still, I want to focus on one tactic that you can use with every single person you speak to . No matter what selling methodology you follow, you cannot leave questions unanswered when you talk to someone.
So, you have to train yourself to see when you want to be mystified. I always hear people talking about how they forgot to ask a question in a meeting – it just did not come to mind when they were talking about it. Honestly, I don’t believe they really forgot. These questions existed somewhere in their mind, but they were just too scared to ask them. Our mind gets all clever and conveniently allows us to forget them.
Still, maybe you (not the other people I am writing about) really do forget. For some unknown reason, very logical questions never get asked. Your next step is to write them down. Get a notebook and write down the questions – then review that notebook before every call and ask all those questions. Questions should be direct, and you should have follow-ups for each of them:
- The retail price for that level of purchase is $xxx. Are you expecting to pay about that much?
- When do you expect this contract to get signed? Wow, that seems aggressive. Can it get through all the required signers in that time? What happens if we get a delay in one of these steps? Maybe we should aim for a later date.
- I’d like to give you some incentive to buy right now – we use discounts to reward customers who move quickly. Do you want this quarter’s price? Will next quarter’s price be better?
- Can you just go ask for that kind of money? Are people internally there expecting this level of investment?
Whatever you need to do, do it. Do not allow these “unasked questions” stay unasked. Asking these questions to your customers is not being pushy – asking these questions is actually part of “selling well.” Customers like to be mystified sometimes, and it always make our work together with them harder. Setting expectations early and often will make the whole process easier, and that customer will much more likely work with you than the person who “hardballed” them into a price they did not expect.
