Will Hummel of Ferguson was sitting in on one of the Remodelers Advantage Roundtables™ Meetings that I ran this spring. At some point in the meeting Will said that what you want as a business person is a quick “yes” or a fast “no”. What you did not want was a slow “maybe.”

Think about how important this concept is regarding your business.

In sales a slow “maybe”, otherwise known as “We need to think it over”, can suck up large amounts of a salesperson’s time. If the salesperson gets a fast “no” she can then move on to new potential clients, instead of wasting her time fruitlessly trying to followup.

During the actual remodel the need for decisions to get made with limited information at hand occurs on almost a daily basis. It is important to teach your people how to make decisions in a timely way, even if it involves risk, so that the company is more likely to meet its goals. Getting bogged down in collecting a lot of information oftentimes does not make it so a “better” decision is made. All it sometimes does is slow the project down, consequently increasing the cost of doing the project and reducing the company’s ability to take on new projects sooner than later.

Preach to your people the benefits of a quick “yes” or a fast “no” as a routine part of being in business. Your people will like it and will be less likely to present you with a slow “maybe!”

Is this a real problem for you?

If you’re getting “we have to think it over” more often than not from your sales calls then you should check out Getting Rid of the Tire Kickers and Getting the Work You Want!

I want to hear from you!

Please share how you avoid getting the slow “maybe” out of prospects, employees and subs in the comments below.

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net