What a loss the world has suffered with the passing of Steve Jobs, the ultimate salesman. Have you ever been told that you'll never sell an account?  Maybe even a prospect told you he would never change suppliers.  It's happened to me. I've also sold them. Was it crazy to try? For some it might be.  It wasn't easy. Who said selling is?
You can sell to prospects who are difficult to sell to. I don't think it's crazy if you think that you can.  What Jobs observed was that other people think you are. They won't make the effort to try to change things. When you see things differently, as Jobs did, you will help change your world.  Your customers, just like Job's customers, will be better off for your efforts. You will be, too. ”   
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What would you do if a great prospect urgently wanted to do business with you? There's just one catch. He wants to talk with a few references about your work. Would you be ready to move forward?  Often, the inquiring minds of prospects want to know what other customers think about you.  Here's how to be ready. 

Make them persuasive.   Not all references are created equally.  You want to use effective, persuasive references to endorse your work.  Not all customers are good communicators. Those would be the ones to avoid putting on your reference list. Then consider the title of the person asking for a reference. If it's a company CEO, then another C-level employee is an appropriate reference. Your credibility will suffer if you are using low level contacts as references to high level prospects.  Unless your work is specifically with low level employees, there's no point using them as references.  Try to use references with the same job titles. CFOs talk the same language as other CFOs. They also have instant credibility with each other which makes them more persuasive. It's the same with other job titles like Plant Engineer, Plant Manager, Purchasing Manager, or Human Resources Manager.  Think before you give your references.  If you can't find similar job titles, try to select people in the same industry.

Tell them what to say.   It's in your own best interest to prepare your reference for the phone call about your work.  Do you know how your prospect is making his buying decision? Perhaps he's looking for an effective person who produced results.  What information would help him select you based on that information? That's the information you want your reference to provide.  Then call your reference.  Explain that you have a prospect who wants to talk about your work. You would like your customer to be a reference for you.  Ask if he would be willing to discuss your work.  Then give him the name of the person who might call.   Tell your customer what you think the prospect will ask.  That's when you say, “I think he's going to want to know that I was an effective consultant and that I produced results for you.  You were able to increase productivity 25% as a result of my work.”   If you don't prepare your customer, you might get a wishy-washy endorsement like, “He's a nice guy.”  That won't close the deal for you. 

Follow up.  You want to know how the call went and what was said during the conversation.  That way you have advance notice of how effective your reference was.  Call your references a few days after you've given their names to the prospect to ask about the conversation.  Ask your reference what questions were asked and how the conversation went.  You'll know if this is a good reference to continue to use or to avoid using the next time you need a reference.  If additional, unexpected questions came up during the conversation, you can consider preparing future references to answer those questions.  

Not all prospects will call references.  Most who do ask for the references will go to the trouble of contacting them.  If you are asked for references and don't have them quickly, it diminishes your capabilities from the prospect's point of view.  Now would be the time to consider who you will use for your references.  I know of one sales professional who has a list of 50 references ready to strongly endorse his work.  That's an effective selling strategy.  If your references are weak supporters of you, you're unlikely to get the work. 

The author, Laurence J. Peter, said, “Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.” Your prospects want to know how competent you are at work.  With great references, you'll help your prospect quickly see how great you really are.

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ACTION ITEMS

1. Review your work. At which 3 customers have you produced superior results?
2.  Plan the interview questions. What answers do you want to hear? Those will determine the questions you ask.
3.  Call these contacts and interview them on the phone

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