As all sales professionals know, the B2B sales cycle usually involves multiple people, a lot of information, and a ton of patience. One sale can take months to come to fruition, sometimes even longer, and nothing is more frustrating than putting in so much time and effort only to have your potential client back out of the deal.
To avoid these types of situations, and to keep from wasting time and money, you have to recognize the warning signs for when a sales opportunity just isn’t going to close.
1) General Questions
Think back to some of your successful sales. What kinds of questions did those clients ask?
Detailed and specific right? Good questions if you had to categorize them.
Serious buyers ask tough questions. If your potential client is asking only about the basics and you’ve already had a few conversations, he’s probably just a casual prospect not ready to pull the trigger. Don’t waste your time.
2) Time Delays
The classic time delay. We’ve all heard it before.
Statements like, We’re waiting on another deal to close before pursuing anything further, and, Why don’t we touch base again in six months, are just excuses, and they’re a good sign that your deal isn’t going to close.
Good businessmen are proactive. If they truly thought they’d need your product in six months, they’d be jumping on board right now.
3) Management Ain’t Buying It
If the boss isn’t sold, the deal isn’t going to get done. Period.
This can sometimes be the toughest part. You can educate your contact as well as possible, but it’s still up to him to approach his boss and articulate the benefits your product would bring.
We touch on a few good ways to help avoid this miss-communication in our posts CMOs Love Data, Research And Proof and 3 Ways To Help An eCommerce Manager Convince Their Boss About Your Service.
It’s all about reaching upper management with your message!
Recognizing these signs will help you weed out the prospects that just aren’t interested, freeing up more time to seek out ones that are.
How do you recognize a sale that just won’t close?