Chapter 20
Knowing When to Move On
IN THIS CHAPTER
Letting your qualification criteria guide you
Tackling personality and group dynamics
Getting your time back
Handling indecisive prospects
Leaving when a prospect lies
As a new business salesperson, you need to recognize that some deals are just not going to happen, regardless of what you do to try to bring those deals in. And there comes a point in some sales cycles where you just have to move on and accept defeat. Recognizing when you’ve reached that stage isn’t always easy because you’re too close to the action, so in this chapter, I highlight the warning signs to look out for.
Some warning signs may be that too much of your time and resources are being consumed without moving the sales cycle forward, or the relationship you’re building with your prospect is just not hitting the right notes. Another clear warning sign is if you realize that your proposed solution isn’t actually going to fit the requirements. In this case, the decision to move on is fairly black and white. However, knowing when to cease your sales activity with a prospect isn’t always as clear as that.
Moving on is different from being prepared to walk away as a negotiating tactic that I discuss elsewhere in this book (in particular, Chapter 10); moving on is the end of the road for that sales opportunity.
Taking Action When Qualification Criteria Aren’t Met
It should be obvious that a prospect who fails to meet your qualification criteria (see Chapters 9 and 19) is one who’s unlikely to result in a sale being made, but there’s always the temptation to give it a bit longer to see what happens.
It’s important to revisit why you have qualification criteria in the first place. Qualification is the sales mechanism that ensures that you don’t waste your time chasing dead-end leads that aren’t right for your company or spend too long with prospects who aren’t a good fit for your solution. Issues such as affordability come into play here; if your solution is clearly not affordable or not in the scope of a prospect’s budget, for example, then that’s a clear sign that all is not well and that the prospect likely won’t pass your qualification criteria.
Are there circumstances when you should ignore the qualification criteria? The absolute answer is no; however, in some situations you may delay making a final decision pending more research and discovery because the need and solution may require some further investigation to determine the right fit. The following sections provide more guidance.
If your solution almost fits but not exactly, then you need to decide whether to continue with the sale, knowing that your prospect will likely uncover a perfect-fit solution elsewhere, which would essentially kill your sale anyway. Use due diligence to examine the facts that you uncover before you make any final decision about moving on and dropping the opportunity.
Trusting your qualification criteria
In new business sales, little is more important than your qualification criteria; it drives the sales process, is vital in forecasting (covered in Chapter 21), and is an invaluable tool in sales management. Trusting the results of your qualification is important because they provide an objective view of where the sales cycle is and where it’s likely to go.
Some of your qualification criteria may be softer than others, and you need room for interpretation and some leeway here. Your new business experience will guide you; however, the following four basic pillars of qualification are non-negotiable, and you really do need to trust what they tell you:
- Decision maker: Are you speaking to the real decision maker, or the pivotal member of the decision-making unit, not some more junior information gatherer who’s just passing the information along? If you’re not speaking to the decision maker, your prospect isn’t qualified.
- Real project: Have you identified the real need that your prospect is trying to address? Is the requirement a real one that delivers business benefits or solves a pressing business need? Without this level of identification, your prospect isn’t qualified. A real project is one that actually matters to the prospect and that is seen as being vital to the business, not a vanity project that is a “nice to have but not essential” type.
- Funded: How is the solution going to be funded? What budget is it coming from? Who signs off on it? Is the budget allocated to the need sufficient to meet the requirements of your project? Without positive answers to all these questions, your prospect isn’t qualified.
- Time frame: When does your prospect intend the project to go live? Working back from that, when does a decision need to be made? Are these timescales compatible with each other? Do they fit with your sales time frame in such a way as to justify sales resources being committed now? Again, without positive answers to these questions, your prospect isn’t qualified.
Another factor to consider is whether your prospect has any specific rules or requirements that you need to address. If so, are they compatible with your company’s mission, objectives, and terms of business? If not, you have another problem that points to a failed qualification. An example of this may be that your prospect will deal only with a corporation and not with someone who has a sole trader business status.
Avoiding “instinct”
All too often, sales time and resources are wasted because new business salespeople ignored or overrode qualification indicators because they “knew better.” Don’t fall into this trap. Instinct is a way of rationalizing almost anything you choose, and although it has a place in guiding you through a sales cycle, it isn’t something you should rely on as any form of methodology-driven parameter. You rarely “know better” than the facts and conclusions in your CRM system (see Chapter 9 for an introduction), so trust the data and avoid hiding behind instinct when the data tells you things that you may not want to hear.
For example, your CRM may have records of several previous attempts at selling your solution to a prospect, and each time he pulled out of the deal at the last minute. This information should sound loud warning bells about history repeating itself, and unless the prospect can persuade you that he is genuine — maybe by paying a deposit — I would consider this to be a case where you shouldn’t continue with the sales cycle and risk wasting time and resources again.
When challenged on why you’re pulling out of a sales cycle and moving on, you need to be able to defend your position. Be objective in this, and back up your position with evidence from the CRM system and your contact reports. (Flip to Chapter 3 for a primer on these reports.)
Dealing with Personality and Group Issues
As well as the qualification issues I address earlier in this chapter, you also need to consider some human and relationship elements that may inhibit a sale from going ahead. Valid reasons for moving on apart from failing with qualification include the following:
- Personality clash: As a new business salesperson, you’re used to dealing with lots of different personality types, but on some occasions, you just won’t see eye to eye with a prospect. If you need to be involved in a long sales cycle or if you need to have a continued involvement beyond the initial sale, then this is going to be a problem. If the clash is both ways, then you can be reasonably sure that your prospect isn’t going to buy from you in any case. Cut your losses, and move on to another prospect.
- Goes against your values: Some prospects you meet won’t have the same morals or value set that you do or your company does. For example, it may become obvious that a prospect has a total disregard for paying license fees for products, and your solution may involve such fees. These cases always end in failure of either the sale or the implementation. Moving on as soon as you discover a problem is far easier and quicker than trying to tiptoe around it.
Not “your type” of people: People buy people first, which I discuss in Chapter 14. Corporate culture breeds certain characteristics, and people of a certain character are drawn to each other. I completely support the “not our type of people” reason for moving on as you know that particular personality types won’t fit with your company’s style of operating and that a sale will unlikely result from them anyway. Many times I’ve returned to the office after a sales meeting and declared that it wasn’t going to happen because they weren’t “our type of people,” and I’ve never yet been wrong.
One particular case comes to mind; I met with a company that was interested in outsourced new business services but wanted to pay for the services only under a limited set of circumstances, and it appeared to expect us to work for nothing in all other cases. It quickly became clear in discussions with the company that it failed to understand the nature of the service it was considering using — I say using rather than buying because the company didn’t want to pay! Rather than trying to re-educate, it was quicker, easier, and ultimately less expensive to just walk away.
You should also be wary of decision by committee. I’m not talking about the decision-making unit here. I’m talking, literally, about a decision made by a committee. You’ll most likely come across this when selling into partnerships as a business type, where each partner has a personal investment and stake in the decision. It’s like they’re spending their own money, and not the business’s, which in effect is what they’re doing.
If no clear decision maker and no clear leadership are present, and the committee wants to act in agreement with one another, then run away — don’t just walk. This is a nightmare scenario for new business salespeople, and it will drain you of valuable time and resources, frequently going nowhere. At best, these types of sales situations lead to delay after delay as the prospects can’t agree on a decision to save their lives, and at worst they’ll just never make a decision.
Walking away always needs to be done with a degree of sensitivity, regardless of how happy you are to do so. I always tell a prospect that regretfully we are unable to work with him due to a difference in culture, values, or valuation; there is no need to go into great detail. I always ensure that I follow up in writing and document the situation in the CRM for future reference.
Handling the Reality of Time Wasting
Time is precious and one of your main assets. You have to use your time wisely, and having a prospect waste your time is frustrating.
If you think that your time is being wasted, try to uncover the reasons behind that action. If a prospect seems to be deliberately wasting your time, you should immediately move on. In that case, the prospect is unprofessional, and you won’t want to deal with him anyway. There’s likely a more logical explanation, though. To find what it may be, ask the following questions:
- Is there a fear of risk? I cover this in Chapter 18, but try to understand whether the prospect has a fear of risk. If so, address it as a risk management objection and act accordingly.
- Does your prospect actually have authority? Have you qualified that your prospect has authority to conduct the buying cycle? Is the perception of time wasting linked to his uncertainty as to how to proceed and whether he actually has the authority to proceed? You may need to revisit your qualification (see Chapters 9 and 19).
- Is there a real need? You should have determined this right at the outset, but has something changed? Or did you not qualify need sufficiently? Have a look at Chapter 19 about qualifying potential business.
The following sections provide additional pointers on how to overcome a prospect who’s wasting your time.
Taking back your time
If you perceive that a prospect is wasting your time, you’re likely right. Time is your asset, and it’s your call on how to invest it to maximum effect in winning new business. Don’t be afraid to value your time, and let it be seen that you do. It’s professional and clearly defendable as a sales tool.
Some time-wasting actions that may lead you to determine that it’s time to move on are a series of cancellations or no-shows at meetings or planned touch points, or the denial of key pieces of information that you need to progress the sales cycle and get the solution right for your prospect. There can be little justification for a prospect taking these actions, and they’re real indicators that it’s time to move on.
Another time-wasting experience is circular discussions. You just don’t make any progress. The prospect raises objections, and you address them and of course log them into your contact reports, only to find that you cover the same ground at the next touch point. Your prospect seems not to “get it,” and the sales cycle is stagnating. This is another case where your time is better invested elsewhere.
A quick and effective test of how your prospect values your time in establishing a winning solution to his business need is to take it away and see what reaction you get. Simply tell him that as you feel your time is being wasted that you’re going to invest it elsewhere and that the solution you were proposing is no longer available to him. This will lead to one of two things:
- The end of the sales cycle with no sale, which was where it was heading anyway
- A realization by your prospect that he’s going to lose the solution unless he changes his ways, in which case you may overcome the perception of time wasting
If you use the “going to move on” test, then make sure that you really are prepared to give up on the sale because there is no way back for you if he tries to call your bluff.
If your prospect fails to see the value that you’re adding in your quest to find a solid solution to his need, then in reality the relationship isn’t very strong and the sale isn’t going to be of massive importance to him, so you may as well invest your time and effort elsewhere.
Prospects can be challenging, entertaining, fun, and frustrating in equal measure, and these emotions will shift during the sales cycle. That’s life. However, if your touch points with your prospect become draining or increasingly frustrating rather than positive and engaging, then you need a reality check on where your deal is heading.
Setting deadlines
To try to overcome the perception of time wasting, you can give your prospect a deadline for action. Tell him that you need to get certain issues resolved by a given date if the sale is going to progress. This may seem like you’re taking the lead and forcing him into action, and in reality you’re doing exactly that. If he doesn’t like it, then that sends you a clear message of where the sale is going — nowhere.
If you set a deadline, then you need to stick to it and move on if it’s not met. Failure to do this will result in you losing face and, more importantly, in your prospect never believing anything else you tell him.
I’m reminded of a case some years ago when I worked for a very large computer manufacturer with an international presence. I was based in the U.K. doing a U.K. marketing job and had been asked whether I’d consider relocating to France to do a pan-European role. This was a big move as it meant moving my young family, but it offered a significant opportunity that I was keen on progressing. Discussions followed, and I went to both Geneva, which was European headquarters, and Paris, where the role was to be based, for internal interviews and planning sessions. The role was to take effect from the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1 and so had to be agreed on and in place before then.
By the end of May, everything should have been ready and was from my point of view, but the ultimate decision maker, whom I knew and had discussed the role with, couldn’t or wouldn’t sign off on it. I gave him an ultimatum: “Sign it off within another seven days, or I’m withdrawing from the transfer and staying in my existing U.K. role.” Seven days passed, and nothing had happened, so I carried out my stated plan and withdrew from the new role. It caused some uproar, but I demonstrated that I wasn’t going to be messed about, and I continued in the U.K. until leaving the company about a year later as my confidence in it had been undermined.
Facing an Indecisive Prospect
Sometimes as a new business salesperson, you wonder how certain prospects ever got into senior roles within their company, and when you have to deal with an indecisive prospect, that’s a case in point.
Human nature dictates that some people are naturally cautious, and that’s fine, but being cautious and being indecisive are different things. If you encounter a prospect like this, you need to have endless patience and a fair degree of time to invest, and depending on the significance of the sale, you have some early decisions to make about moving on or guiding him through the processes.
Don’t beat about the bush and give your prospect an opportunity to constantly delay everything. Make your information gathering and qualification style more direct than you normally would, and ask simple direct questions, expecting straightforward answers. Tell your prospect that you’re there to help him to decide on the best solution, but to help him, he needs to help you and be open with you. If he isn’t, the sale isn’t going anywhere and you have to move on.
If you encounter an indecisive prospect, then your qualification is going to be more important than ever in helping to determine whether you can reach a mutually beneficial deal. Dealing with an indecisive prospect takes time, and you need to consider whether the potential deal is worth you making that time investment.
Revisit the essential qualification issues of whether the need is a real one or not. If the need is real, consider how it’s going to be met. What will be the business impact to your prospect of not meeting the need? You have to lead him carefully through the process and guide him to consider the real answers. (Check out Chapters 9 and 19 for the full scoop on qualification.)
If your prospect isn’t “getting it” or is simply out of his depth and not prepared to make any decisions, then you have two options to explore before deciding to move on:
- Engage with the rest of the decision-making unit. The easier option is to engage with the rest of the decision-making unit, in the hope that you’ll encounter someone a little more dynamic who will make a decision and become your alternative champion. Covering the same ground with different people takes time, but if this is the way around the immovable object, then you have little alternative.
Go over his head. You shouldn’t consider this option lightly. In old-school sales, IBM salespeople did this as a matter of routine as soon as they felt they weren’t getting their own way, and although it may have delivered short-term success, it was at the cost of wrecking the relationship with the key prospect.
A way you can do this a little more subtly, while keeping your prospect on board, is to copy his manager on your contact reports. Do this often enough and if the need is real and the immovable object is seen to be a stumbling block, then internal pressure will usually be brought to bear, clearing the path for your sale to progress.
Moving on due to an indecisive prospect can be a difficult decision as you’re likely to have already invested an amount of time on the sale. If it proves necessary to move on in these circumstances, do so while leaving the door open should your prospect finally make a decision. Let it be known that while you can’t invest any more time on him, should he decide that yours is the solution of choice, then you’ll be happy to conclude an order but not to revisit the essentials.
Leaving When the Prospect Isn’t Telling the Truth
Why prospects choose to lie is beyond me. It may be a little thing like keeping some competitive information from you, or it could be a much bigger thing like overstating the budget or their own level of responsibility.
Accept that sometimes prospects do lie, and ultimately the reasons aren’t important. Whether your prospect is simply being economical with the truth, telling you only part of the story on what he considers to be a need-to-know basis, or is straight out telling you lies, the behavior is unethical. And if you discover this to be the case, then it’s difficult to imagine circumstances where you wouldn’t move on and end the sales cycle immediately.
I haven’t had to do this very often, but when I have had to, my approach has been to tell the prospect that we are unable to work with him due to a culture clash, and leave it at that.
A prospect being untruthful during the sales process doesn’t lend itself to filling your company with confidence if you progress to the implementation phase. Can he be trusted to tell the truth then? Longer-term implications of being untruthful can have an impact on the success of a project, and you don’t want to be associated with it.
Relationships in sales, as in all walks of life, need to be built on solid foundations if they’re going to last the course, and one of those is trust. Without trust, you can’t have a solid business relationship, and without a solid business relationship, you won’t have a deal that delivers any form of satisfactory outcome.