How To Increase Sales And Avoid Time Wasters In Business

😳 We’ve all been there.

⏰ You invest a load of time with a potential customer.

😲 Only to find out they weren’t the right fit for your product or service (see my embarrassing story in the LinkedIn post below).

🤔 But, how do you avoid these little buggers and find the right people who will love to buy your products or services?

👀 Read on to learn about the highly effective MAN framework you can use to do just that, plus increase sales.

What is The MAN Framework?

The MAN framework helps you decide the next steps to take once a potential customer has contacted you.

It’s a way of qualifying whether or not you should invest more time in nurturing the potential customer into becoming a real-life customer.

Here’s what MAN stands for.

Means

Does the person you’re speaking to have a budget that meets your pricing?

Authority

Is the person you’re speaking to the decision maker?

Need

Does the person you’re speaking to have a real need for your product or service?

How To Use The MAN Framework

Next time a potential customer contacts you, you need to get answers to the three questions above before committing any additional time to meet them etc.

If you can see that the potential customer ticks all 3 boxes, you know the next step is to take them to the next stage of your sales process (in our case this would be a meeting).

However…

If one of the boxes cannot be ticked, you either need to take action to change it, or let the potential customer know that you cannot work with them.

Step #1 Get them on the phone

Speaking on the phone is a much better way to build a relationship than emailing or messaging.

Simply ask them, ‘when is a good time to call today to discuss this?’

Step #2 Build a relationship on the phone

Don’t dive straight into business. Try and get to know them a bit. Ask them where they’re based, what they do, how they started etc.

The key here is to ask lots of questions about the person and listen.

Step #3  Ask probing questions

To get answers to the MAN framework questions without seeming blunt, you need to ask a variety of questions in a conversational manner.

To help you with this, I’ve developed a set of 9 conversational questions you can ask outlined below.

Means

1. Our solution typically falls between [X and Y range]. If you believe can help you [achieve A results, solve B problem, meet your objective by C time], would that work for you?

2. For us to ensure we put the best possible plan forward for your business, we need some idea of budget. Our offering ranges from [X and Y range] and we want to get this right for you. What kind of budget are we talking for this?

3. How much has been budgeted for this project?

Authority

1. Who else is involved in this process?

2. Will any other teams or departments be using ? Will they want a say in the selection process?

3. Is there anyone else in the selection process that may like to meet me?

Need

1. Do you have challenges with [challenges your product or service solves]? If so can you tell me a bit about these?

2. What results are you currently getting with [your offering]? Are you happy with these results or are you looking to improve them?

3. What are your current objectives? (work out if your product or service can help achieve any of the objectives mentioned).

Over To You

It’s GO time. Next time you speak to a potential customer, use the MAN framework and the questions provided above to work out the best next steps.

How do you decide whether a potential customer is right for you or not? What questions do you ask? Let me know in the comments below.