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I’m going to go out on a limb.

Most likely you’ve had, at some point in your life, an AMAZING first date where you left in awe and was wondering where this person was all of your life. I mean the conversation was easy, they were saying the right things and you could picture a future instantly.

But, I’m also going to guess that the same person you’re thinking of isn’t your current spouse or partner.

So, what happened?

Happy Ears, that’s what.

And in my own weird Brian way, I’m going to spin this into a lesson on sales.

Because it’s why you lose deals after what you just thought was an amazing conversation.

Maybe it’s just coincidental but why does it feel like the calls that go absolutely amazing have a harder time closing than ones that feel harder?

It has to do with something I wrote about a long time ago: Tension

(ICYMI: Why Tension Is The Secret To Closing More Deals)

Now, I am not saying that great calls don’t turn into great clients. It happens a lot.

What I am saying is that if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

And that’s why you have to be more diligent when your happy ears start to perk up.

A lot of founders are just winging it and have no real idea what constitutes as “great” and what is merely just a call.

So, if our current definition goes sour in the days and weeks following, how can we make sure we build awareness toward a better definition?

To do that, ask yourself these five questions.

Buyers that are serious are curious.

They have questions, they want to know how things work and they want to trust that what you say you can do, you can actually do.

If there isn’t an ounce of curiosity from their end, that’s a big red flag.

What do their words say about the commitment to solving this problem.

Is it a “We need to figure out something asap” or a “I’m just looking at some options”.

Commitment language means they’ve thought about this problem deeply for some time.

The term “buyer” is used interchangeably for prospects but the real question to ask is, “Can this person actually buy?” Like do they make the decision or hold the budget? If it’s a no, that’s okay, that’s not uncommon. They might be the person doing the initial evaluation.

What’s uncommon is someone without that authority acting like they have it or are unwilling to let those people be involved.

Being committed is one thing. Making it clear through specific actions and timelines is another. Have they thought through when a decision or implementation needs to happen? Or, do you get the feeling it’s a “When it happens, it happens” sort of thing.

People who prioritize know the impact of getting it solve. Those are the buyers who continue to show up.

Specificity is everything in sales. It’s a big part of my coaching around removing ambiguity. When someone is serious they are more likely specific.

You may have to be the one to ask deeper questions but if their answers are all vague and you can never pin them down to anything, that should raise the red flags.

Think of your best clients. I bet if you reviewed your interactions with them through the sales process, they checked all of these boxes.

Don’t overcomplicate things.

If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s probably a duck.

So you can’t let your guard down when they are saying all of the right things. You can be both optimistic about the possibilities and skeptical of how they are showing up.

You can hold both at the same time.

But, the real questions to ask yourself are clear.

→ They may cause some tension.

→ They may be a bit uncomfortable.

But, they are the exact thing you need to do to know early on whether they are serious or not.

It saves you from leaving the first date head over heels only to never hear from them again.

I want you to do a “post mortem” of a deal you recently lost.

How did the first conversation go?

Did you miss out on key information that would disqualify them or make you go deeper?

Which one of the above 5 questions felt unchecked?

Don’t skip this. Doing the practice now helps you keep it top of mind when you’re live on a call.

And, let me know what you found out. Hit reply and tell me, I read every one.

Need to get a quick W?

I offer one-time sessions to go deep into the specifics of whats happening today.

→ Set up a deal review audit: It’s deep-dive into active deals and how to get them over the finish line.

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Want to build a repeatable sales foundation?

These help you build the skills and systems for the long-haul and a foundation to accelerate growth.

→ 90 Day Sales Accelerator: Hands-on coaching built around your pipeline and growth objectives.

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