A client of mine recently told me a story. He was starting to work with someone who he had worked with in the past, and it hadn’t turned out so well last time. In the initial conversations, he felt like the past incident was hanging over his head. Fortunately, he was able to take care of the elephant in the room with a straight-forward solution.
He gathered up his guts, and brought it to the prospect’s attention.
It went something like this: “You remember that we did some work for you a couple years ago, and you didn’t really like it. In fact, we ended up refunding your money. Why would this time be any different?”
I can just picture my client asking the question and then holding his breath, waiting for the response. In this particular case, his prospect proceeded to tell him all the reasons that he wanted to do business with him now, and why it would be different.
Instead of my client selling him, it was the other way around!
There was one key Sandler Rule that came into play here.
Sandler Rule: If you feel it, say it - gently.
By taking this rule into account, my client brought up the elephant in the room. Talk about guts!
As a result, not only were they no longer avoiding the topic, but the prospect proceeded to close himself.
So the next time there’s a potentially touchy topic with a prospect of yours, don’t try to avoid it. The best way to take care of the elephant in the room is to bring it up.
