Whenever I get home around 5 in the afternoon, I enter into a frenzied festival of family fun. Claire cooking tea, answering the phone, simultaneously helping with the kids’ homework, petting the dogs, and emptying the dishwasher. So soon I am heading to my office to escape the carnage.

Claire is totally exhausted right now and doesn’t have time to handle me too.

This evening routine reminds me of the modern customer, who happens to be exhausted all the time, not just at 5 in the afternoon. Teams are shrinking in size, existing managers have more responsibilities, demands from companies, technology and social media are continually yelling at them, they all contribute to this current scenario.

The last thing they want is for a salesperson to get in their way.

But if they need your product or service, they really want the process to be as simple and less time consuming the better, so here are 4 ideas to help your customers during their sales process.

1. Before the meeting, provide an agenda for them to add. Don’t ask them, just do it. Most of the customers are very happy that you do this.
2. When submitting your proposal, make sure you have the next step attached. Let them know that the way you normally do business is to present the proposal in a Skype meeting or a ten minute phone call. Take the following steps to avoid having to contact you again. Tell them that you will be contacting them on the morning of June 22 to see how they want to proceed. Don’t leave it in the air because they are so busy they won’t.
3. Give them the answer. I like to give clients multiple options. If I haven’t heard from them in a while, I’ll send an email saying they can reply to A, B, or C. A is that they haven’t had a chance to see the proposal, B is that they are still considering it. and C is that they have found another solution. This multiple-choice arrangement can be used in many communications. When you’re looking for prospects and making all 14 touchpoints, when you’re trying to pin them down to make a decision.
4. The final tip is a bit aggressive … well, something like that. Let me explain. When looking to schedule your customer for an appointment, try sending them an Outlook calendar request with a fixed schedule. You will be amazed at how many potential customers will respond positively.

The key is to make life easier for them, do mundane tasks for them, and take control of your sales process on time.

5 pm at Archer’s house, with Claire. I take off my coat and empty the dishwasher for her, walk over to the kids and help them with their homework, pet the dogs, and make sure the peas are in the microwave for 4 minutes. That way I can help her achieve her goals and talk about my day.

Or do I go to my office while no one is looking? What do you think i do?