Matt Ryder explains why sales reps who try to be friends with prospects end up giving free consulting and stalling deals. Use a four-step process: diagnose needs, quantify impact, understand who decides, and agree on next steps. Be friendly, not friends.
If you become friends with your prospect and they're not buying, that means that you're entertaining and you're a fun guy to hang out with, but you're not leading them in any way towards a decision that is best for them and obviously benefits you as a sales rep. So friendly prospects are dangerous because you feel like you're winning. You laugh, you bond, you tell stories, then all of a sudden they kind of ghost, right? One of the kisses of death is like, man, you're a really good sales guy. No one who's ever said that to you has actually bought, right? Because nothing's been solved. So you need a structure. You need to diagnose, you need to get the impact, the decision-making, you need to know next step. Can still be be a human. And I think like the old adage, if you make them laugh, you make them breakfast, is good. The more they connect with you on a personal level. But you have to remember, like, you're not their friend. You're there to get a job done. And you can be friendly without being their friend. The relationship must sit inside the process. Otherwise, you're just going to end up becoming a free consultant or a coach. If the call felt good but didn't move forward, then whatever you did didn't work.
