Hilary Hinton Ziglar, known to all salespeople as Zig Ziglar, was an American author, salesman, and motivational speaker.
He has written a number of successful books on sales, one of which was called 'Timid Salesmen Have Skinny Kids'. Even its title speaks to a sentiment I absolutely love.
To me, this idea cuts right to the important part of selling. What Ziglar was suggesting with this line is that by being a timid salesperson you will not earn enough money to feed your children enough food for them to be anything but skinny.
It's clear to me that there is a direct link between being a 'timid' seller and not being firm enough with your qualification.
Timid sellers are too scared to ask the questions that will uncover whether their deal is qualified. They don't want to reduce their pipeline or give up on a prospect, so they don't ask the hard questions. But all that does is delay the inevitable.
That's why using MEDDIC / MEDDICC / or MEDDPICC is so important. Even if someone is naturally a bit timid in style, MEDDIC can act as the guiding light that sellers can use to ensure they are keeping themselves on track in uncovering the right elements to qualify their deal.
No matter how timid you may feel, when the constant qualifying questions that MEDDIC prompts are in the back of your mind, it pushes you to be firm as you evaluate a prospect. MEDDIC makes sure you keep asking yourself things like:
- Do I have a Champion?
- Does this customer feel sufficient enough pain for us to make an impact?
- Do I have access to the Economic Buyer?
There is not a cheat code for growing out of being a timid salesperson, but MEDDIC is as close as you can get!