You may have heard that patience is a virtue. Not only is this a good antidote for everyday life, it is especially true in professional sales, as patience can pay big dividends towards closing the sale. This is not the same thing as letting a sale cool down and drop off your radar. Rather, it’s an integral component of every sale. Recognize when to be patient, and give your client some space, while staying connected.
Powerful Pause
Exercising judicious patience allows you to drive the outcome and close the deal. It is, in effect, a powerful pause during the sales process. Think of it like a rubber band. If you keep pushing and pulling, you increase the odds of the rubber band snapping back hard. This can result in a delay or even a lost sale. Very few people like being sold to, which is why building and developing the relationship is vital to long-term success. This process requires diligence and active patience.
Build a Lasting Relationship
Practicing patience is very important when building and maintaining relationships internally and externally. While waiting for a deal to close, you must keep in mind that while this may be extremely important to you, it could be very low on the client’s list of priorities. You must manage your expectations to avoid creating a situation in which you are demonstrating impatience or are following up too continually. When you do this, you are effectively becoming noise. We’re all surrounded by noise, and you never want to be perceived as adding to it. You are striving to break through and stand out.
Recognizing the thought process, style, and culture of the organization and individuals you are working with is key to exercising judicial patience. It might feel like you’re just waiting and waiting for that contract to be signed, but your active patience is vitally important to close the sale. Business relationships that last are based on mutual understanding and appreciation of intent. Don’t be a frantic pest – you won’t pass the test.
Active patience allows you to reframe the dialogue and move the sale towards the close. You are proactively driving the sale forward while demonstrating you are a reliable, long-term partner who can balance the ebb and flow of the relationship. The elements of diligence and patient persistence enable you to stand out, resulting in successfully closing a sale.
Lynn Whitbeck is the co-founder and President of Petite2Queen. She is focused on identifying and evaluating opportunities for women at work, helping them define their personal roadmap. She dedicates herself to delivering tools and insights, embracing visualization of the big picture, and identifying and implementing the minutiae of detail. Lynn aims to share lessons learned along her journey and enable positive uplift for women.