Learn When to Back Off

The other day we were looking for my daughter's iPad and couldn't seem to find it anywhere. I spent a good hour looking in all the usual places but it never turned up. Rather than spend even more time looking in the "unusual" places, I decided that it will turn up when it's good and ready. One week later, it did.

So how does that apply to sales? Think about all the times you've met someone who was a good fit for your product or service and the two of you started doing business almost immediately. Now think of the times where you've spent hours and hours with prospects that seem to go nowhere. If we are honest with ourselves, we'll find that the people who take all the time and do nothing, really don't sound like the prospects who are ready to go.

When you use a proven sales system, and you have good success with it, you can always know when the time is not right. You follow your process, ask the right questions, and don't get the response you are looking for. Time to move on. Let this prospect simmer for a while, then revisit them in the future (6 weeks, 6 months, or whatever is appropriate for you).

Sometimes your prospect may have a problem you can fix, have the money to fix it and be the decision maker, yet they don't want to do business. Trust your gut feeling and know that the timing may not be right. Reasons that the time may not be right include pending litigation, death in the family, problems with employees and a laundry list of other things that your prospect just doesn't want to share with you. If your product or service is new to the area or this industry, then maybe the prospect just wants to be sure you'll be around in six months before committing to work with you.

If this is the case, then take a breath, back off and go negative. Say things like "for some reason, I get the feeling that now is just not a good time for us to be talking. Would it make any sense to pause here and revisit this issue in six months?" (This assumes of course you haven't done a proposal yet). The prospect may appreciate the "lack of pressure" and you'll be in a "more consultative" light.

Pushing hard at the wrong time will just alienate your prospect. Good swimmers don't fight the tide, and neither should you. Trust your gut, and as long as you haven't made a proposal, back off and try again later.