How many times have you thought you were about to close the deal and the client throws you a curve ball? How many times have you thought the sale was on track, when all of a sudden, BOOM, your prospect says they need more time or additional information? Does this sound familiar?
There is nothing more frustrating than when a prospect or customer does something different than what they say, hen they become inconsistent, and send conflicting messages.
Customers or prospects become inconsistent when they do things during the sale process that conflict with what they said they would do. If your customer says they see the value of your product and want it, then go dark or come back and ask for more information or say they want more time to think, they are being inconsistent. When your prospect says they will introduce you to the head of IT or the head of supply chain, then don’t they aren’t being inconsistent.
When customers or prospects become inconsistent, it’s your, job as the sales person, to get things back on track and to do this you have to be bold and challenge the inconsistency.
When a deal gets sideways and the prospect isn’t being consistent something has changed. The ground has shifted and figuring out what changed is paramount. Unfortunately, too many times we get “scared” and don’t call out the inconsistency. We don’t challenge the prospect and when this happens we only extend the length of the sales cycle AND decrease the probability it will close.
Sales people, it’s your job to “manage” the sale and the sales process. One of the biggest issues in failed sales and lost deals is when the sale process gets out of control and customer inconsistencies are at the core of it all.
When a customer starts acting inconsistent stop everything and ask why. Don’t let one strand of grass grow under your feet. If the prospect said they were the decision maker and then when you send them the contract they tell you their boss needs to review, call em out. Respond with, “I’m a bit confused, I didn’t know your boss has to review this as well. I was under the impression you were the final decision maker.”
Challenge the inconsistency. Get them to share with you why things are different than they had originally told you.
The reason you MUST challenge the inconsistency is it allows you to get to what is really going on and redirect your deal strategy. It allow you to get the sale back on track.
When the prospect or customer starts becoming inconsistent the sale will get away from you if you let it. Don’t let it. Challenge the prospect, call out the inconsistency and get them to commit to a new direction or remain consistent with their original commitments.
Don’t let deals go sideways because you don’t have the guts to hold your prospects accountable. Challenge them, it’s in everyone’s best interest.