How to Get More Green Lights

Posted by John Livesay in blog0 comments

One of three things happens after you leave a sales presentation.

You either get a green light, a yellow light, or a red light.

The green light is:

All systems go!
Home run!
We want to do business with you!
Send the paperwork!
Happy days!

Do you have a system in place to onboard your new client to make them feel welcome?

What steps are you taking to keep them in this happy mindset?

One quick and easy idea is to find out their birthday and put it into your system, so you can remember it. Then start growing other personal milestones or details from their life.

Yellow light means:

We’re not sure.
Caution
Slow down!
We’re not ready yet.

This is what I call the dreaded friend zone at work.

Let’s stay friends.
We are interested.
Follow up with us in a month.

Result: You never get any traction.

What happened? More times than not, the problem is that you did not tell a story that created a sense of urgency to solve a problem they have now.

Red light is:

Stop
No thanks.
We can’t afford this.
We don’t need this.

We all know what a “No” sounds like. What most of us forget is “No” now does not mean “No” forever.

Many times people leave a job or their circumstances change, and if you’re not following up to see if things have changed, you will miss an opportunity to get a green light.

Or perhaps a client chose one of your competitors. If you aren’t checking back in to see if they’re happy, you might miss an opportunity to get a green-light.

When you’re driving your car and you see a green light, a yellow light, or even a red light, you don’t take it personally. It’s just part of the driving experience and the rules of the road.

What if you zoom out and see the lights that you’re getting in your sales career with the same detached mindset?

You’ll go from feeling rejected or frustrated to being in the moment and being able to figure out what story you need to tell next to get another green light.