Can I get back to you on this?

Have you ever heard these seven words during a sales call, “I’ll get back to you on it” or its cousin, “We’ll get back to you on it”? It’s unlikely that hearing those words filled your heart with glee. No, Brad won’t get back to you. Not because your product is bad or irrelevant to his situation. Not because the competition has leapfrogged you in the race to win Brad’s heart. Brad won’t return your call, because he hasn’t recognized the need.

The enemy is not the competition. The enemy is the status quo.

So what can you do?

The key here is to focus on needs recognition early on. Help them recognize and identify the need. Give it a name. Thomas Friedman tells us that to name a thing is to own it. 

Needs recognition gives us the power of ownership, and if we’re lucky, traction might follow.