skill
How to Kickstart the Hesitant Buyer WILLIAM F. KENDY
You’ve done everything just perfectly – or so you thought. You’ve qualified the customer. You’ve probed and asked questions and uncovered needs. You’ve made an exem- plary presentation and responded to all objections. Yet you can’t get the prospect to commit. You get nodding agreement to everything you say, but the sale keeps get- ting postponed and there’s still no signature on the dotted line. What can you do? According to sales experts who have trained thousands
of reps, when a prospect or customer is hesitant to com- mit, either the salesperson hasn’t offered enough value or there is a hidden objection that needs to be uncovered. “It’s important that the salespeople dig to find out the
real reason or what the hold-up really is,” says one expert. “That takes persistence and asking open-ended ques- tions. It may be that there is another person in the picture in terms of making a buying decision, or the customer just doesn’t think that what you’re selling offers enough value. The hesitancy could stem from a host of things – some of which may not even involve you or your product.” When confronted with a hesitant customer, salespeople may need to do some introspection. “Is the prospect hesi- tant to commit because of something the salesperson did or
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didn’t do?” asks one expert. “Maybe the salesperson hasn’t provided enough information. Maybe the value proposition isn’t clear. Maybe the economic benefit or payment terms aren’t clear. It could be a lot of things that the salesperson is doing that are hindering the sale from going forward.” Maybe the salesperson just needs to slow down a bit
and proceed at the speed at which the prospect is com- fortable. “It may be that the customer has no hidden objection and simply wants to take more time before committing to the offer,” says one sales expert. “Then it’s difficult to create a sense of urgency. In that case, the salesperson needs to be patient, have understanding, and help nudge the customer along.” Creating a sense of urgency may also be key in moving the sales process along. Salespeople need to keep the flow in mind when trying to get a prospect off the dime and make that buying decision. One piece of expert advice: “A good presentation can turn a want into a need. Because, once a person wants something, they need it – and the job is to get them to make a commitment now. One way to do that is to use reverse engineering, which means starting with the commitment and building backwards.” “Say a prospect wants an October delivery date. Fac-
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Ideas to help reps kickstart a sale
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