'I Hadn’t Thought About That'

When you give your prospect a different perspective on things, you quickly stand out from your competition. Here's an example: I recently met with a company that was struggling with customer retention. This company charged customers a monthly fee to use their services and, like most membership programs, spent a lot of time trying to find new customers to replace the ones who cancelled.

During our face-to-face meeting, I suggested they consider extending the lifespan of their existing customer base. If the company could keep each customer for one additional one month, they would increase your revenues by more than $3 million. A long pause ensued, after which the head of the company (my prospective client) said, "I hadn't thought about that." Once we established the potential gains, the investment necessary to achieve the goal seemed tiny by comparison.

One simple statement immediately changed the direction (and outcome) of that sales conversation. All that was required was a different perspective. So, here's my question to you: Are you making your customers and prospect think enough? If not, you may be missing out on some valuable sales opportunities.