New research confirms in the majority of cases, when there’s a significant lapse in closing rates, it’s not them … it’s you.
One of the biggest obstacles to closing in today’s marketplace is the fact that a company’s selling process has fallen out of sync with its prospects’ buying process.
This according to the Sales Benchmark Index, which found the three most common obstacles sales organizations encounter in terms of their selling process are:
- Their selling process was not aligned with each prospect’s buying process. This may be the result of a company adhering to a set selling process without exception for years or decades. Meanwhile, the entire marketplace has gone digital, and it’s changed just about every facet of the way prospects do business. The best bet: Gain feedback from a large cross-section of buyers to find out what they value most (in terms of buying from a company) and/or solicit feedback from prospects who didn’t buy from you about why they chose to go with another company.
- The company has one specific selling process, despite the fact it caters to a wide array of prospects and industries. A one-size-fits-all selling approach won’t do your salespeople (or your buyers) any favors in a market like this. You may want to study some of the top competitors in your market, especially those that pursue the same types of prospects you do. How are they overcoming this problem, and what type of adjustments do they make to ensure the process is tailored to each prospect’s needs?
- Prospects insist on doing things their own way. It is a buyer’s market out there. And the more a prospect understands this, the more he or she may try to cajole a salesperson into granting concessions or stepping outside of the normal comfort zone. The best way to handle a negotiation like this is to be firm but fair upfront, perhaps even agreeing to a minor concession early on, so long as the prospect agrees he or she will be willing to move forward with the sale once that demand is met. One question that seems to work wonders: “If I am able to gain approval for the terms we’ve discussed here, do you see any other reason why you wouldn’t be able to move forward?”
Source: “Stay in Sync With Your Buyers With 1 Proven Tool,” Sales Benchmark Index.
