Symptoms:
Amanda was working through her list of live opportunities after putting her pipeline through a “kill it or close it” exercise. She set up appointments to move her sales process along with several of the live opportunities. She was steadfast in naming her meetings, sending homework, and even let some her more notorious feet draggers know these were decision meetings. She was ready to do what she had to do to start meeting her sales goals for the quarter.
The week went by and she collected some yeses, found out some opportunities were not the right fit and still had two clients that could only utter the words, “sounds great. I need some more time.” No matter how much she tried to find the deal breakers, they would not budge. In fact, these last two holdouts had been in her pipeline for months. She just was not sure if anything was ever going to change.
Diagnosis:
Well, school is back in session and these clients put Amanda on the Buyer’s Bus. The Buyer’s Bus is the process where buyers do all they can to control the selling process, lead salespeople on, avoid giving any answers or making any sort of commitment. Sometimes, these activities are done intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. Buyers also do this in hopes they can get the best pricing or best deals because it is true, the longer it takes to close the lower the price the salesman will offer.
Prescription:
Amanda needs to realize she is on the Buyer’s Bus ASAP. Here is the process sellers implement to put salespeople on the Buyer’s Bus:
- Leave out vital information.
- Out for a free education.
- String you along.
- Evade/Evaporate.
Next, Amanda needs to get off the bus. Her first chance at this is to not get on by setting ground rules with the client/prospect as the first step of her the sales process. Easier said than done in some cases, but always hard to implement once she is in that bus seat.
Amanda needs to remember she is a seasoned sales professional and can put an end to the bus riding with these two clients. By remembering to use her cushions (let’s pretend), act as if she doesn’t need the business (be brave enough to say what she does not want to hear) and flat out killing the deal, Amanda can get off the bus at the next stop and move onto more important and promising opportunities. You cannot blow away a true prospect and you cannot lose what you never had!
Critical Thinking:
What is the longest, most painful bus ride you have been on in your career? How would you handle that situation today? On the flip side, what is a bus ride you avoided or ended as quickly as it began? What did that make you feel like?
The Drill:
Final Thought for the Morning:
"The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others."
Your Top 3 Goals & Tactics for the Week
Last Week: Update us on how things went last week with your stated Goals and GD Tactics.
This Week: Please share your Top 3 Goals for this week and the GD tactics you plan to deploy.