Hard work finds good luck

It really does.

Having been in a variety of Sales roles since 1990, it still surprises me when I see a deal going off the rail. Closing a deal requires a tremendous amount time, effort, resources, skill, persistence and optimism. All Sales professionals work hard to predict and prevent why their client might utter the dreaded word “no”.  We all know that no Sales professional closes every deal, which is why we overcompensate with 3-4x pipeline coverage. Right?

Many deals get to a point where you need to start thinking about moving on.  Should you continue to drive forward with a customer, or should you cut bait and move on to another prospect? 

But when is the right time? And how do you ensure that you made the right decision?  In all of my years of experience, the famous Guru Ganesh’s words “my time is valuable” ring in my subconscious and I know it’s time to “strip-line the customer”.

Many sales reps give up control on a deal way to late in the cycle.  It’s a known fact that the most successful reps always seem to be banging out deals with little to no effort.  And the more a rep falls behind on their quota, they sadly lose sight of some of the most obvious signs that they are losing control of an evaluation.

If the rep has a good manager, that sees the warning signs and instead of pushing you to create more pipeline or close more deals, they ask you to walk you through a all the key steps in your sales process, to make sure that you have not missed anything.  We have all been there, and sometimes you have to take a few big steps back to see the whole picture.

In this blog post, I thought I would share some early warning signals, which may indicate that you are on the verge of losing control of a pursuit and the ways you can recover.

What Are the Early Warning Signals You Are Losing a Sale?

Deals can go south quickly, or they can slowly dissolve over time. No two deals are the same, but many share similar characteristics, especially signs that you may have a disinterested prospect.

Here are some of the top signals that you could soon lose a sale if you don’t take action:

·       You cannot define the Business Value to be achieved by solving the business issue

·       Your project champion or coach become less cooperative, not as available

·       You cannot define the Personal Value to be achieved by the owner of the business issue

·       Unable to articulate what would happen if the client does not solve the business issue

·       Your project champion responds slower and slower to your emails, phone calls, texts

·       The project deadline seems to be less clear, or slipping

·       You have not met the final decision maker and/or any other stakeholders

·       The client regularly mentions other competitors and conversations seem price-focused

Are you noticing one or a number of these signals?  It’s definitely time to take action and reassess if you and the buyer are still in the same part of the sales process.

How to regain control

You won’t make all your customers or prospects happy.  But you do need to be prepared to have a heart to heart with your prospect to determine what has changed. Even if you have lost control of your deal, you can still recover.  

Here’s how I do it. I use reverse questions to get the prospect to open up and be transparent. Sometimes you need to do the opposite of what the prospect expects from a salesperson, disarming them and creating trust with them.  

One of its more compelling techniques is called "strip-lining", a method of using reverse questions to get the prospect talking, and you keep "throwing more line and let them swim". However, you need to do this step right, or it could backfire on you. When you do it correctly, prospects feel like they are in control of the conversation, and you have a better chance of confirming that the prospect is still interested in solving the business issue, with you. 

This is the most effective way for you to understand where they stand and what you need to do next to get the deal back on track. You will have to practice this step frequently in low risk situations before using it on your biggest and best prospects.  What should you practice? Getting the fit right means executing as follows:

·       Neutral prospects get very hard strip-lines, such as, “It sounds like you’re very happy with your current situation and we should wrap up our conversations here today. Before I go, what do you like about who you’re doing business with now?" This is where you leave a long period of uncomfortable silence if you are on the phone. If you are in person, this might be where you stand up and start packing up your briefcase, put your jacket on slowly as you prepare to leave.

·       Negative prospects get hard strip-lines, but not as hard as neutral prospects. For example, “Based on what you just said about your current vendor, it makes sense to me why you’re not interested in switching your business to another company. We get great feedback like that from our customers, too, but your vendor sounds really good at what they do. I don’t know if you can do any better than that. There doesn’t seem to be much opportunity for us to work together here, is there?”

·       Positive prospects get strip-lines that are just a light touch: “Thanks for reaching out to us. I have to say that since I don’t know your application, I’m not sure if I can help you at this point. Could you be nice enough to tell me about it?”

·       In all three examples, you’ll find three components. Look at each of them, and you’ll see how strip-line responses are structured.

1. The first component is a build-up (a compliment or validation of the prospect’s point of view). In the above, an example of that was, “It sounds like you’re very happy.”

2. The second component is a takeaway (a conclusion that goes in the opposite direction to what the prospect expects). In the above, an example was, “ …and I should leave.”

3. The third component is a question (a continuation of the discussion). In the above, an example was, “Before I go, what do you like about who you’re doing business with now?”

Listen...

Many sales professionals are guilty of talking too much and not listening enough. People have a tendency to tune out when the conversation is too one-sided. Are you talking too much? Are you giving the prospect the opportunity to ask questions and engage you in conversation? Are you too focused on trying to sell?

Listening carefully to what a prospect has to say will actually make it easier for you to sell. Listen to the feedback they offer. You’ll quickly learn about their pain points, timelines, and be able to better identify the products and services you sell that can help them. Ask great questions and listen attentively. You can learn a lot when you focus on being a better listener.