Thoughtful Thursdays – Is your prospect caught between want and willing?
A solid contributor to a long sales cycle is the situation when a prospect is caught between want and willing. They have demonstrated genuine interest in your product yet the close date keeps moving out. Todays thought is about ways to address this situation.
As every professional sales person knows, it is not wise to address a situation before knowing what has led to it occurring. There are similarities to last weeks post about yes turning into no. Both situations require additional research in order to develop a good approach.
Often the signs will be positive, but the opportunity to close does not come up. They may have to consult with other stakeholders or elevate the opportunity to higher levels for approval. I have also experienced situations where additional testing had to be carried out. If the approval process requires your prospect to put in additional resources and they are willing to do it, take that as a positive. On the other hand, if you sense they are not willing, it might be time to take a step back and discuss the situation with the your prospect. At that point you will be in a better position to decide on your course of action.
If the “want” exists but the “willingness” to do what it takes to make it happen is not, you may be in for a very long wait.
Shorten your sales cycle by helping (sales is all about helping) your prospect move from want to willing and know that you will not be successful every time. Demonstrating quantifiable value can create an urgency to promote action. If the resources exist the urgency will facilitate the process and motivate your prospect to do what they need to do to realize the benefits.
Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy the holiday season.
Good selling,
Richard
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