Sometimes, sales deals hit a snag. Prospects might be unsure or maybe their needs have changed. They might be facing a tighter budget or dealing with organizational changes.
Closing any deal is challenging, with 35% of salespeople saying it’s the hardest part of their job. When a prospect stops responding to you or you’re just not making any progress, it makes it that much more stressful.
Ben Kassiff, the senior director of corporate sales at HubSpot, understands the dilemma of stalled deals and says they’re simply a fact of sales life. It’s unreasonable to think every deal will run smoothly from start to finish. However, there are a few steps you can take when a deal has lost steam. We share Kassiff’s ideas in this issue of PromoPro Daily.
Make sure you’re solving the problem, not just a symptom. To get a stalled deal back in motion, it’s crucial to get to the root of the issue. Misaligned problem-solving often stalls deals, according to Kassiff, and not getting to the why behind a prospect’s problems is where misalignment begins. He says it’s like the difference between prescribing a cure for migraines and telling a patient to take some ibuprofen.
Work around the prospect’s timeline. The prospect might take longer than you’d like, but it’s still important to put their needs, interests and timelines at the center of the deal. Kassiff says too many sales reps try to rush things along just to hit their quota. Proper selling happens when a deal’s closing time comes from a true understanding of the buyer’s timeline.
Get to know your prospect’s priorities. You can often reset a stalled deal when you have a more holistic understanding of what your prospect’s company is facing. Don’t just appeal to your champion, but aim to get company buy-in. You have to align yourself with the organization’s broader priorities and sell on that basis, Kassiff says.
Respectfully move on. If you get the sense the prospect is ghosting you, Kassiff recommends leaving them alone and moving on to a different prospect. Call out the fact that you feel this deal is no longer a priority for them.
No matter the cause, stalled deals are frustrating. However, it’s important to remember you haven’t reached the end of the road. With a little creativity and persistence, you can get stalled deals back on track. Always strive to address the issue at hand and work at the prospect’s pace. You should also try to get buy-in from more than just one person. If the prospect still isn’t responding to you, know that it’s OK to move on to someone who’s a better fit.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Ben Kassiff is the senior director of corporate sales at HubSpot.
