Get the Stuck Sale Moving - Part 2

Yesterday Paul Cherry gave us some practical tips for dealing with a stalled sale. His advice will help you weed out potential buyers from the time-wasters and advance the sale. Here's his step-by-step advice for handling these common stalls.

2. "I need to talk it over with..."

You can take a similar approach with stalling questions such as "We need to discuss this," or "I need to think it over."

Agree: "Of course. I'm happy to hear you're taking that step. When would be a good time for me to follow up with you?"

Clarify: For "talk it over" prospects, the most important clarifying question is, "Is this something you're willing to recommend to ____?" If the answer is anything less than an enthusiastic yes, you need to be careful. Is this the person you want to act as your representative within the company? Try to understand any objections or suggest a joint meeting.

Legitimize: "Assuming for a minute that you're meeting with your boss (board, team leader, etc.), what will you be sharing with him?" Be careful how you ask these questions. The idea isn't to push prospects into advocating for you, but to find out how they feel. You might, for example, preface your questions by saying, "Just so I can be sure I've given you everything you need, let me ask you..."

3. "Call me back in three months"

Agree: Make sure that you agree to set a specific time for your return call. This increases the odds that you'll actually reach the person when you call.

Clarify and legitimize: You can often combine these two steps. "So that I can be prepared for my next call to you, can you tell me what will be occurring between now and then?" In other words, find out why the prospect thinks the discussion will be more relevant in three months as opposed to today. If he can't give you a good answer - or won't commit to a specific time for the call - chances are he's simply putting you off.

Paul Cherry, President and CEO, Performance Based Results has 20 years experience as a sales training consultant with an emphasis placed on sales training, leadership development, sales coaching and leadership coaching. Visit his website at: www.PBResults.com.