Decision and Procrastination

Making decisions isn't easy for some people. What do you to help your customers overcome procrastination?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus

Making decisions isn't easy for some people. What do you to help your customers overcome procrastination?

That is not something I do.

People who procrastinate seldom get to be my prospects. Therefore, I have very few customers who procrastinate.

Hello Marcus,
I agree with Jacques here. Maybe try to establish a different way to qualify your customers thus making sure that by the time it gets back to you you are ready to sell not aid in their procrastination.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowboy

Hello Marcus,
I agree with Jacques here. Maybe try to establish a different way to qualify your customers thus making sure that by the time it gets back to you you are ready to sell not aid in their procrastination.

What would you say to a prospect who says I want to sleep on it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus

What would you say to a prospect who says I want to sleep on it?

It almost never happens. That is handled when you set up the appointment.

One of our Rules of Engagement is that, at the end of the first meeting both parties will make a commitment to go forward or to terminate the purchasing process. That is agreed upon as a condition of setting the appointment.

Then, at the beginning of the appointment, both parties recommit in a review of the Rules of Engagement.

Could you ask questions like:
"When would you like to start saving your company money?
"How many more times do you want to bring your car into the shop before you buy a new one?"
"How long does your equipment need to be down before it's brought to the attention of the higher ups?
"Who else do we need to invite into our conversation?"
"When you wake up, what do you think your decision will be?
"Right now, on a scale of 0-10, with zero being, "absolutely not" and ten being "I want it right now," where are you?"
"Maybe I haven't covered something that is important to you/your company?"
or right out ask, "What is holding you back today?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by sallysellsseashells

Could you ask questions like:
"When would you like to start saving your company money?
"How many more times do you want to bring your car into the shop before you buy a new one?"
"How long does your equipment need to be down before it's brought to the attention of the higher ups?
"Who else do we need to invite into our conversation?"
"When you wake up, what do you think your decision will be?
"Right now, on a scale of 0-10, with zero being, "absolutely not" and ten being "I want it right now," where are you?"
"Maybe I haven't covered something that is important to you/your company?"
or right out ask, "What is holding you back today?"

All of those questions are good ones – if you are dealing with low probability prospects. But, why would anyone want to do that?

Jacques, true, I don't think any sales person would want to deal with a low probability prospect. Sometimes, I think we do get stuck with them occasionally. I agree that it is ideal to pre-qualify a prospect before a sit down meeting takes place. In some industries where leads are fed, could a sales person get stuck with a low-probability prospect that he is expected to meet with?

I'm not sure what Marcus is selling or the level of selling of experience. Would an insurance sales person sometimes end up with a wishy-washy person? Could a sales person think that they pre-qualified a prospect only to find out that the person was a procrastinator? What would make a prospect high-probability? Can a high-probability prospect, in the end, become a low-probability prospect?

When I sold floor coverings in a retail setting I sure wish I would have always had qualified, ready-to-buy prospects and no wishy-washing, sitting-on-the-fence ones. But it never happened that way.

You will have customers who are what I call 'matter-of-fact' buyers, who come in and look at products, learn a little about them, and say "let's do it." (Don't you just love those people?) But it's hard in the retail industy to only work with qualified buyers. And I suspect it's hard in any sales field to only spend your valuable time with 'buyers.'

Then you have the customers who are so afraid you are going to 'sell' them something something they really don't want, and they are scared to death they will make a big mistake. They come into your place of business with enough 'defense' to stop a good football running back.

But the fact they actually walked into your business means they need and want what you have to offer. If they didn't they wouldn't be there. It's your job to displace these fears by asking tons of questions, attempting to relate to them on a personal basis, and convincing them you are the expert in your field who is concerned with helping them get exactly the right product/service for them.

In retail, I would say 60-70% of the prospects come in on the 'defense.' I know when I go in to buy something I don't know much about I've got my own 'defensive line' with me and I'm not going to let this salesperson win the 'game.'

But when they ask me a lot questions about my situation and needs and wants, talk to me as though I'm a friend, and don't go on the 'offense' with me, I become more relaxed and open to listen to them about what they think would work best for me. When they sincerely help me get what I need and want, I buy.

These principles must be 'adapted' to other fields to work. When I sold real estate I made sure I 'qualified' the prospects to know if they could even get a mortgage. If they couldn't you would be wasting your time unless you wanted to work with them on a long-term basis and help them clear their finances to be able to get a loan.

It's always nice to work with only 'qualified' prospects, but in the 'real world' that doesn't happen every day. I think you should create plans and hone your skills to work with both, depending on your industry and what level of success you are at...

Doug,
Your post about selling retail floor covering reminded me of a feature article that appeared on the front page of the New York Times Sunday Business section in 1999.

The last few paragraphs cite a highly paid floor covering salesman. Here is the link: http://www.highprobsell.com/html/salesmanship.html

Decision and Procrastination

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