What to Do When the Prospect Delays Buying Decision
We often hear a lot about how important it is to have urgency in our sales pitches, but what do you do when the prospect is not buying and you don’t know what they are waiting for?
Prospects are often in a holding pattern, waiting for the right time or occasion to respond.
To maintain your relationship and ensure that you’re continuing to provide value, follow up on their progress.
When it comes to delaying the buying decision, one of the most important things that you can do is simply not push them for an answer. This strategy helps because people don’t like interrupting their train of thought and will often find a reason to buy when they are ready.
How to Master Effective Sales Follow-up
We have all encountered prospects who expressed interest in our product, service or offering. For example, we met a prospect at a networking event and they were interested in what we do. But after that initial conversation, they never followed up with us or returned our follow-up email. So how can you approach them to get them to become your new client?
When we as salespersons have all encountered prospects who expressed interest in our product, service, or offer, we know that a follow-up conversation is necessary. But some of us still find it a little difficult to keep the momentum going.
Going through this process is not easy. The prospect might have a lot of questions and their hesitation can be off-putting.
So what keeps them away from responding or answering our class?
Well, that’s simple – no one is free.
Can this be improved and can decision makes be lured in to have a conversation with you? Let’s find out!
Strategies to Help Improve Follow-up Process
Be authentic and enthusiastic
Don’t pretend to know more about the industry than you do if you don’t know everything. If you’re passionate about your product or service and want the prospect to know that, then that’s the best approach.
Answer all of the prospect’s questions
The prospect will respect you for doing so but also expect a response from you as well. This will give them confidence in what they see as a potentially viable option and make them consider going further with their inquiry.
Pre-arrange follow up
Pre-arranging your follow-ups could be a powerful strategy to improve the effectiveness of your follow-up process. Having them on hand before you need them can not only save time but also help create a more productive business practice.
Know what topics you want to discuss with your prospects and have those verbal conversations in advance to give off a good impression.
Develop a Plan
Developing a plan for how to follow up with your leads daily can be daunting, but it’s well worth the effort.
A plan can help you determine the areas where you can improve your sales follow-up. It will also help you prioritize your time and make sure that you are focusing on the most important tasks.
The main purpose of a sales follow-up is to ensure that the prospect or potential customer is satisfied with their purchase, which leads to recommendations for additional purchases or referrals.
This is where a plan comes in handy. It will help remind you of all the steps in your sales process so that you don’t lose track or forget to do something before the end of your workday.