Sales Skills #5 - Gaining Commitment

The principle mission of the salesperson is to gain commitment. That's the reason why companies value the work that we do. But Action Selling research indicates that 62% of salespeople make sales calls where there is no attempt at gaining commitment.

FACT:62% of Salespeople Fail to Ask for Commitment

One of the most important reasons why this occurs is most salespeople do not establish what we call a Commitment Objective for every sales call. (See Sales Skills #2: Sales Call Planning.) This is the number one mistake that all salespeople make. Well, it's time to change that!

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Plan to Win

No sales call should ever be made without a Commitment Objective. If you do not have a Commitment Objective firmly planted in your mind before the call, you will end up like one of those 62% that don't ask for commitment - most likely you won't win the sale.

Your Commitment Objective must be something to which you want the customer to agree. The Commitment Objective is not always to "get an order". Sometimes you may want a commitment to attend a demonstration, to schedule another meeting with all decision-makers present, to grant you primary-supplier status, etc. But the commitment must be for something that will move the sales process forward and bring you closer to the ultimate goal. You must not only plan to gain such a commitment, you must ask for it - in every call you make.

When a consistent sales process like Action Selling is used, salespeople will know when and how to gain commitment through each milestone of the sale. (See Sales Skill #4 - Presentation Skills.)

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