Why do prospects delay their buy decision? From my work with clients globally, an increasing number are sharing that prospects are delaying their decision to buy, thereby extending their closing dates and impacting cashflow.
It’s easy to defend these delays, placing blame on the economy, budgetary pressures or even the increasing number of people involved in making a purchase decision.
Let me suggest, however, that the reason your prospects might be delaying their purchase decision is something you can control entirely.
A client who asked me to speak at their recent sales kickoff requested that I share insights into how to shorten their time to close. The client shared that the average time to close an opportunity was 30 to 90 days. They shared several variables they believed were impacting the sales team’s ability to speed up the close, including:
- Not creating a sense of urgency in prospect calls
- Delays in following up with prospects
- Time wasted in attempting to craft a perfect response or presentation
The VP of sales believed that closing ratios could be reduced from months to weeks, so I interviewed some of their existing clients and several team members to gain a better understanding of what might be happening. The insights I gathered told a different story.
For the most part, clients wanted to move forward much faster. However, they repeatedly found that the information they had researched in advance of speaking with sales did not align with the information shared by sales.
For example, when a client shared examples of benefits they had read about the product, they were diminished by the salesperson who stated, “These were in a few exceptional cases and are not the norm.”
Another client shared that when they initially spoke with sales, several new options were presented that they hadn’t realized were possible, prompting them to return to having more internal discussions to determine the next best step.
We’ve known for some time that today’s prospects do considerable research before they buy. What we haven’t realized is that what a prospect finds during their research, in terms of content, must align directly with what sales shares with them; otherwise, it sends them back to the drawing board for more research.
Last summer, after considerable online research, I found a car with the options and features I was looking for. I contacted and spoke with a salesperson over the phone about the car and, after some back and forth, decided to proceed with the purchase.
While I awaited the agreement, the salesperson contacted me to say that, unfortunately, the finance rate they quoted me was actually for a different car. After more back and forth, I decided to proceed with the purchase.
Before we could finalize the deal, the salesperson came back again, this time suggesting we needed to add $2,000 for a special “vehicle certification” that was not initially included in the price.
The salesperson wasn’t new. In fact, he had been with this dealership for some time. Unfortunately, however, some unusual terms had been tied to this vehicle that were out of the norm for them, and that they clearly weren’t aware of.
This second round of “new information” caused my wife and I to pass. The duration of this back and forth added a week to the initial date we had agreed to pick up the car.
How do we prevent a misalignment in information between what a prospect might learn during their research and what sales tells them? The simple answer is to shop your own business.
Have someone external, who is not as familiar with your product or service research a buy, and then contact sales to discuss that specific purchase.
The results might surprise you.
Remember, prospects are spending an increasing amount of time researching your product or service before they buy. Will what they find align with what sales tells them? If not, you’ve got work to do.
If you address any gaps, you can rest assured that you’ll minimize unnecessary delays in closing deals. You will also create less frustration with potential customers, which has enduring impact.
