Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here.

Today’s edition only takes 2 minutes.

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In every seller's career, they've run a meeting where they know something is wrong.

The pitch may feel off, the problem statement may be misdirected, or the business case may appear weak. Whatever it is, many sellers ignore their gut feeling with disastrous consequences.

Instead try a Reset.

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Today, we'll cover:

• Story Time
• What is a Reset
• How to Reset

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Story Time:

“There is one I absolutely butchered,” said a seller about a recent deal.

The lead was inbound, so as usual, the first step was research and discovery, where the seller uncovered that the lead was exploring a full rebrand, logo, website, colors, the works.

As usual, the next step was a 1-hour pitch meeting to present ideas and get feedback.

For the pitch, the seller ran their usual process. They created a sales deck outlining the approach, initial research, and an offer that is easy to accept.

But, before getting into the pitch meeting in earnest, the seller discovered that the project was a website refresh, not a complete branding project.

And that’s where it went wrong.

Instead of Resetting the conversation to give themselves the best chance, the seller tried to push through.

It was a disaster.

In the seller’s words, he “went a little hard,” telling the leads why their website isn’t (and won’t) convert.

This is the exact scenario a Reset can prevent.

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What is a Reset?

Experienced buyers expect early conversations to be discovery and qualification for the seller to decide if working together is possible.

Therefore, buyers are honest and responsive to questions at the beginning of any interaction.

Buyers expect the seller to repay their honesty with a valuable pitch in subsequent meetings.

Your ability to deliver value will come in three forms:

• In many buying journeys, your discovery is solid, your assumptions are timely, and everything is straightforward.
• In other journeys, you will miss key details, and the next steps will require educated guesses.
• Then, there will be buying journeys when your discovery completely misses their intention.

When you miss the mark, you owe it to the buyer to pause the buying journey and Reset back to discovery.

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How to Reset

There are two options:

• Mini-Reset, or
• Hard-Reset

Use a Mini-Reset when you ask a bad question, the buyer responds strangely, or you offer a poor suggestion. A Mini-Reset involves calling out the mistake and restating what you just said.

Example:

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Use a Hard-Reset when there is a critical miscommunication. For example, you’re about to pitch a full rebrand when they want a refreshed website.

A Hard-Reset involves apologising, clarifying what you missed, ending the current conversation, and rebooking a meeting to try again. Finding a new time is vital as you need the time to prepare, and it creates a mental distance from your mistake.

Example:

Ultimately, the goal of a Reset is to go back a step or two in the buying journey gracefully.

Most buyers will accept several Mini-Resets; in fact, I recommend you use at least a few to build trust. Whereas most buyers will only accept one Hard-Reset, so use these sparingly.

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How do you Reset a conversation when it goes wrong?

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Until next week,
Scott Cowley

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