3 Ways to Jump-Start a Stalled Sales Opportunity

You’ve got a big sale in process that would absolutely make your quarter. The problem? It’s lost momentum and is going nowhere fast. Smart Selling Tools founder Nancy Nardin shares three tactics for applying some juice and closing the deal.

 

After 25 years as a sales leader and consultant, you’d think that Smart Selling Tools founder Nancy Nardin (an OpenView Top 25 Sales Influencer for 2013) would find closing complex B2B sales easier now than when she first started in the business. Au contraire. As Nardin explained in a recent podcast for OpenView Labs, enterprise sales has actually become more complex in many ways.

Today, more people are typically involved in buying decisions, while the period of time that it takes to make a purchase has extended, Nardin explains. That can be very frustrating for salespeople who feel like they’ve given buyers all of the information they need to make a decision, yet still wait weeks or months for a final verdict. Nardin likes to call that holding pattern the “Maybe Purgatory.”

“Forecasts get pushed back, sales managers become unhappy, and there’s a lot of uncertainty around whether the deal will actually close,” Nardin says. “For salespeople, it’s not a very pleasant place to be.”

Thankfully, Nardin says there are three ways to escape it and move a deal forward.

Stalled Sales Opportunity? 3 Tactics to Help Close the Deal

1) Take the Pressure Off

The problem with today’s sales process, Nardin says, is that there’s much more involved with most purchase decisions than whether or not a prospective buyer recognizes the value of a product. For instance, buyers may wonder whether they really have the energy or bandwidth to implement the product, or doubt their ability to get all of the stakeholders on board with the purchase.

Understanding that, Nardin says that salespeople should resist the temptation to confront buyers with big decisions right off the bat. Instead, Nardin suggests taking small steps forward that progressively give buyers the confidence they need to pull the trigger. In other words, help them visualize the next step.

2) Eliminate Uncertainty

With any sale, uncertainty can be a deal killer. With complex technology sales, it’s a surefire way to end up in the “Maybe Purgatory.” That’s why Nardin says it’s critical for salespeople to understand the process of a technology purchase, and never assume that buyers will intuitively know what to do next.

“Let’s say you sell a complex product, and it’s at some point going to require the IT department’s approval or input,” Nardin explains. “Why not create a document with FAQs that helps IT folks understand what’s going to happen so they’re not surprised by it? That will go a long way toward helping buyers navigate the roadblocks that keep them from making decisions.”

3) Leave Buyers with One Key Takeaway

Let’s say you go into a meeting with a buyer, deliver a killer presentation, and leave knowing the buyer is excited about your product. Money in the bank, right?

Not necessarily, Nardin warns. All too often, prospects leave meetings and aren’t sure how to articulate or convey that excitement to their colleagues. Maybe they aren’t sure which talking points will be most persuasive, or they forget little details about your products features or capability.

As a salesperson, you need to give your buyers the ammo they need to clearly articulate your company’s value to their team or other key stakeholders. You can do that by providing one clear, powerful takeaway that allows buyers to confidently communicate (and defend) their excitement for your product.

Try these tactics out and let us know if they hit the mark! Share your own experiences below.

 Photo by: Francisco Antunes