Don't Stall the Sales Process

There are many points where it is possible for a sale to stall but the main three are as follows

1.After you have made the initial presentation,

2.The initial proposal

3.When the contract has gone to the legal department for verification.

As the last point is really not a matter for the salesperson to worry about we will take a look at the first two points mentioned, i.e. the initial presentation and the initial proposal.

So lets begin with how we can prevent a potential deal slowing down to a point where everyone seems to lose interest.

Always try and set dates and times for each stage of the process. You really should be doing this anyway but it becomes even more important when you get to the presentation and proposal stages.

This is because your prospect is now in a different state of mind. Up to this point you have been finding out more about your prospects requirements and he has been slowly discovering more about what your company can offer him and how you can offer him that perfect solution.

It has probably been an enjoyable and informative experience for both of you but you have now reached a stage where the selling process gets down to the nitty gritty and it has reached a different mode entirely.

This is where you earn your money. Any worries or conce
s that the prospect may have are now starting to rise to the surface and this can quite often come across as him or her being unresponsive. This is why it is vitally important to have a pre arranged time and date already arranged so the prospect does not have an excuse to pull out rather than to discuss his needs and conce
s.

You must also make sure that the person you are presenting to is actually the decision maker for the company. You will be initially setting down the terms of this and future relationships and even though your prospect will definitely not agree to all of your requests it is much better for him to decide that and not to keep having to refer to a third party to agree with everything, this is counter productive and will slow the process right down.

When any questions arise make sure to answer them straight away, if you can't answer them make contact with your head office and demand an answer as soon as possible, it may seem to be more comfortable to make another appointment but you must remember that this is where sales are lost.

Don't go for the comfortable, go for what is needed, and in this case that is answers to the prospects questions.

The key point here is, and what separates the professional salesperson from the amateur is not to appear forceful in any way.

Just try your hardest not to stall the process by having to make future appointments if they are not really needed.