Welcome to the CustomerCentric Selling podcast! If you don't have forward momentum, you can't be reluctant to pass up opportunities. That is a well-known concept. But what are the conditions that prevent a sale from being executed? Join Frank as he deconstructs the potential obstacles that prohibit a salesperson from closing a very excellent transaction. Tim believes it is a typical occurrence that is rather aggravating that Tim would say the same thing month after month or quarter after quarter - the everlasting bargain. Is it normal for salespeople to have the same deal over and over again yet never close it? Frank has done Field Operations assessments with customers, in which he summons salespeople and does a thorough examination of all opportunities in their pipeline. Some salespeople bring their channel in with them. Jim does this every three months. It's the same story; some salesmen have the same contract in their pipeline from the previous quarter, but nothing is going ahead or closing. Numerous prospects take a long time to materialize. Frank believes that a lot of it is not necessarily related to the length of time per se, that you're going to put some artificial criteria in there that says it has to be within X number of months or whatever the case may be, but rather to forward movement. It's like the adage, "when a shark stops swimming, it dies." The accurate indicator is that deals must be completed. From a salesperson's perspective, the first question they should ask themselves about any offer in their funnel is “Why?” What is it that they are gazing at? What made my prospect want to do this? What exactly are they? What are they attempting to achieve? What is the desired business outcome that they seek? The first question a salesperson should ask is why they are looking, and it should not be about a product, technology, or anything else. It has to be something with some substantial business value, meat on the bone. Consider the following scenario: a salesperson has discovered or manufactured an opportunity. They have asked themselves, "What are you seeking to achieve?" They appear to be contented. There is a solid "why" in place, but the potential is still in the pipeline four or five months later. Is it feasible that this was the reason why a was just not powerful enough? Salespeople should be cautious about what they assume to be the "why." Sometimes the response to the initial "why" question is incorrect. Salespeople tend to be lazy; they accept the first answer as "the answer." Salespeople must have the mental fortitude to probe a little deeper and ask, "Well, why do you want to do that?" But the underlying question is, what is the business objective that you seek? Why are you looking for the goods that I sell if that's what you're seeking? What is the source of your motivation? What do you hope to achieve? The "why" strategy implies that whatever issue you're attempting to settle, whatever problem you're having, you ask the question "why" five times. You'll eventually figure out what the problem is. And once you've identified the problem, you'll be able to assess the pain, as well as the extent to which it is severe, and you'll also be able to identify the other people who are affected by it. There are a few things that managers can and should look into. One of them is forward progress. A lengthy sell cycle is sometimes just part of the process, depending on what you sell and the complexity of what you sell, and sometimes it takes a while for a contract to proceed to the next level in the pipeline. It would be best to evaluate whether the salesperson's objective deliverables validate that the opportunity progresses. It is the outputs that the salesman creates along the process that are forecasted. Are they communicating with their prospect in a way that validates the communication? Are they able to provide documentation to the candidate?
