Jill Konrath

The presidential race is coming down to the wire. With just one more debate left, both President Obama & Governor Romney are battling for the few remaining "undecided" voters who could swing the election their way. 

Who are these people? Right now, a lot of them are women. And, if you dig even deeper, you'll find that they're white, lacking a college education and on the edge financially. They also believe the country is on the wrong track. 

The candidates need to appeal to this demographic at the same time they energize their base.

I owe it all to teenage angst. That's right. I wanted to be popular and have a boyfriend. But it wasn't my natural style to be a big flirt. I'd much rather have been immersed in a good book. Fortunately, I found my salvation in ...

Seventeen magazine. I read it religiously to find out how to get a guy to really like me. (Starting to see the sales connection? And guys -- pay attention here. You never learned this stuff.)

According to Seventeen, the key to dating success boiled down to a girl's ability to get the guy talking about himself. And that meant, she needed to ask good questions. 

How do you get a prospect to budge off their status quo? After all, they're already doing something to address their needs. Maybe they're using a competitor or perhaps they using in-house resources.

To make that happen, here's a strategy I've often found helpful.

Sell Small to Get Big Contracts

Why in the world would you want to propose a small order or project when you could get a big one? In today's risk-averse business environment, getting a big budget item approved can take forever -- especially with all the buy-in that you have to get. In fact, it may take so much work that your prospect just says, "It's not worth the effort."

Don't let that happen to you! First of all, talk to your prospect about the reality of the situation. Find out if they anticipate problems. If so, suggest to them that you do something to get started.  

Are you involved in a complex sale with multiple decision makers? If so, they probably don't make decisions too often with regards to what you sell. When you're dealing with today's crazy-busy prospects, the decision itself can be overwhelming.

If you're launching a new product or service shortly, it's highly likely your firm has invested a great deal of money and time to bring it to market.

Unfortunately, many companies don't ever realize their desired results. Why? Their product launch methodology is severely flawed.

Have you noticed how many of your prospects these days have a whole lot of knowledge regarding what you're selling? There's a good reason for it. They've been online doing their homework. Prior to meeting, they've often researched your company. They know about your products & services. They know about your competitors. They may even know a good deal about you -- personally.