What do your business prospects have in common with someone swimming the longest river in the world?

 

They're both in De-Nile ... get it? Denial is a safety mechanism that ranks right up there with rationalization. Both can stop the sales process in its tracks! Getting your prospect out of denial is your job in the sales process. There are two reasons prospects fall back on denial:

 

1. They don't see their challenge/problem as the most important fire they have to put out that day.

 

or

 

2. They don't believe they can solve it with the resources they have. Those resources could be related to time, money, and/or effort.

 

So, how do you shock someone out of denial? By asking tough, consequence questions like: What if you just do nothing? If it is not working what are YOU doing to fix it? What will your business results look like if your fiercest competitor opened up shop right across the street? How does it feel knowing that at your current skill level, you may never make it to Manager? Who will be held accountable if your team dynamics don't improve? Why aren't you...? etc.

 

It's easy to be polite ... it's tough to be tough. It also happens to pay to be tough.