They Ask, You Answer, 2nd Edition

30 How to Use Assignment Selling to Avoid Common Pitfalls

Before we finish with assignment selling, I want to show you how you can use this sales strategy to avoid common sales pitfalls and mistakes.

Here’s a very common sales scenario: A salesperson gives a prospect a proposal or a quote and a few days go by without hearing back from the prospect. As the days go by, the salesperson starts to get nervous and sends the prospect an email. That email usually sounds something like this:

Hello, Mr./Mrs. Jones,

We met a couple of days ago and I gave you a proposal. I’m just checking in to see if you have any questions. Don’t hesitate to let me know.

Sincerely, Salesperson

That email might as well be called a “Please-don’t-break-up-with-me” letter because it essentially sounds like we’re saying:

Dear Mr./Mrs. Jones,

Do you still love me? Yes or no? I sure hope you circled yes!

Almost everyone writes that type of email when a prospect goes silent after receiving a proposal or quote. But it’s completely ineffective.

It’s at moments like this when it’s easy to see the incredible power of assignment selling. Using the principles of assignment selling, your email would consist of the following:

Hello, Mr./Mrs. Jones,

We met a few days ago and I gave you a proposal. During our meeting, you mentioned a couple of questions and concerns you had. In order to further help you with these concerns, I’ve attached to this email a video and an article that specifically address each.

Please take ...