One of the most potent sales tactics is the sales takeaway. This refers to the sales tactic of taking away what you are trying to sell to either motivate the prospect to move forward or fully disqualify them and move on. While this is a great sales tactic, it is critical to use it only at specific times, and we explain exactly when in this sales training video.
Don’t Takeaway When the Prospect is Communicating Interest
To clarify when to perform a sales takeaway, it helps to consider when not to. There are some obvious moments where it does not make sense, and one of those is when the prospect is showing or expressing interest.
If the prospect is asking questions, sharing information, calling you, or taking your calls and meetings, it would not make sense to remove what you are trying to sell. Just go with the momentum and move forward until things slow down or stall out.
Don’t Takeaway When the Prospect is Communicating a Lack of Interest
Another time where the sales takeaway does not make sense is when the prospect is clearly showing a lack of interest. An example of this might be when a prospect verbally confirms that they are not interested. Or the prospect may be communicating a lack of interest by not returning any of your calls or emails.
You could do a takeaway at this point without causing any damage, but it almost does not fit or is not needed. The prospect is already going away, so there is no need to take away what you are trying to sell.
Takeaway When the Prospect is “On the Fence”
You will want to do a sales takeaway when the prospect is “on the fence.” This is when a prospect has shown some level of interest or fit, but is slow to move forward, and is also not going away or confirming that they are not interested.
This is the optimal moment for this sales tactic: if you try to move the prospect forward by selling more or pushing them harder, you may push them away because they are in a neutral “on the fence” position. If you don’t take action, they might stall and not proceed with the purchase.
But if you deliver a takeaway at this time, and the prospect is genuinely interested, it may prompt them to move forward and overcome whatever has been slowing them down. If they confirm the sales takeaway attempt and let you take it away, you can be confident they were not a qualified prospect and likely would not have purchased anyway.
