Symptoms:
Having earned a small commission check last month from her sales job, Marta was doing her best to replace her old refrigerator and had already hit the local appliance stores, as well as a few of the Big Box outlets.
After leaving the third stop, it became apparent she would have to go back to the first store to get the best price and the color she wanted. After finally approaching the floor rep with her true intentions, she was then surprised at a delivery charge that she had not discussed on her first visit. Not knowing what to do now, she returned home to look at the ads in the Sunday paper and to talk it over with her husband.
Diagnosis:
Marta's buying process is suspect in that it requires too much time and information to get to a decision stage. Her own cycle is prolonged since she did not engage the floor reps in upfront discussions about costs or rules of engagement. As a result of her own buying process, she tolerates this behavior from her prospects, and often comments that she "understands" why they need to take their time to look over her proposals and talk to others before any decisions are made.
The net effect is a lot of buyer empathy that makes her highly vulnerable to stalls, put-offs, lies, excuses, sob stories and other forms of "think it over."
Prescription:
One way to deal with buyer empathy is for Marta to become a decision maker in her own buying habits. She has not computed the value of her time and needs to understand that extended cycles often result in no price savings or no decision at all. When her buying process begins to support her selling process, the stalls and put offs used to derail her will begin to disappear. This change is conceptual, not technical.
Instead of being accepting and understanding when her prospects want to take a lot of time to make a decision, she will be more comfortable helping them through the buying cycle - even if it is a "No". This will mean fewer languishing proposals, quicker sales cycles, and more sales.
Remember this ... it is your job to set up decision-making meetings and then collect those decisions!
Critical Thinking:
How many of these have you heard before?
"We'll get back to you."
"Call us back in a few weeks?"
"Sounds good, we'll get back to you later."
"Give us a few days to think it over."
" I have to talk it over with ____."
The Drill:
Final Thoughts for the Morning:
"Not making a decision is actually making a decision. It's the decision to remain the same." Lysa Terkeurst
"It's not hard to make decisions once your know what your values are." Roy E. Disney
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.
