He Said, "Where's The Banana?"

I was on a GoToMeeting with a client the other day. He asked me to review a new home page for his company's website.

The first thing I blurted out was, "Where's the banana?"

"Where's the banana" is a phrase coined by Seth Godin, in his book The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Website Better.

The concept is to picture a monkey in his big red Fez monkey hat, and what are monkeys usually thinking? You got it: "Where's the banana?" Which, incidentally, my one-year old daughter does to me every morning when I make my breakfast shake - she tries to swipe my banana from me before I get it into the blender! I guess that's why we call her our little monkey...

Back to the point...

Web users do the same thing. There should be one and only one action a website should want a visitor to do, whether that's continue on deeper into the website, request more information, or make a purchase.

In this case, there was no clear call to action. And that's when I explained the "Where's the banana" concept to my client, with clear instructions on how to fix the site.

Salespeople Make The Same Mistake

Most salespeople make this same exact mistake: When talking with a prospective buyer, they have NO plan in place to direct the prospect to take a direct, specific action.

Instead, there's usually a lot of vague talk, totally irrelevant questioning and fact-finding, a proposal & presentation that's not done properly, and then a long series of follow-up emails and phone calls to the prospect, who brushes you off over and over again.

No wonder why few salespeople really make it into the big leagues! And it's all because you left the prospect wondering, "Where's the banana?"

The Other Big Sales Mistake

Let's look at a different situation: You run a GREAT appointment with your prospect! No dumb vague questions, but instead, specific and directed fact-finding that enables you to develop a proposal that, as The Godfather would say, "Makes 'em an offer they can't refuse."

But then - nothing happens. Even though you did everything right, and the prospect seemed interested at first, they blow you off anyway and never return another phone call or email from you.

Here's the problem: They were never FULLY qualified in the first place!

Maybe they really do want your product, but don't currently have the budget for it, or maybe they will be ready to buy a year from now, but not today. That, my friends, is not a prospect you want to spend time with. Not until they're FULLY qualified and ready, willing, and able to buy right now. So stop wasting your time and spinning your wheels on people who, quite simply, aren't going to BUY.

Work to really qualify - and qualify OUT - prospects. Then you'll only spend time with those who are ready to buy, and your sales numbers will explode!

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the creator of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential People. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit NeverColdCall.com