When to Move On From a Stalled Prospect

Will they buy or won’t they? Some prospects waver on closing the deal, stringing salespeople­­­­ along without giving a clear-cut “yes” or “no.” Such indecisiveness consumes resources, time and patience. There’s nothing worse than believing a sale is imminent, only to have the customer stall for months; this can even happen with longtime customers considering new products. It’s true that it is possible to revive a stalled sale successfully. On the other hand, re-igniting talks sometimes won’t be worthwhile.  Sometimes a salesperson has to know when to fold ‘em and walk away. Here are five signs that you should give up on stallers. ­­­­

The prospect keeps requesting more general information.

Stalling customers often dismiss salespeople by casually saying to send more information to aid in their decision-making. While this could be a legitimate  request for the customer who needs more details on specific benefits, models, functions or specifications, if the customer never says what specifics they are still researching, chances are they aren’t researching at all and are passively trying to disengage.  If, after receiving all requests, the prospect still is hesitant to move toward closing, they likely never will.

Prospect doesn’t display true need or urgency.

Necessity is the foundation of most sales.  Simple desire can cause a customer to close, but when there is a major problem, inconvenience or lack that the customer must solve, he is more motivated to close.  Without an urgent need, there’s no reason to buy – and this is the top reason for stalled sales. If the salesperson cannot discern a true problem or a sense of urgency, the customer may simply be exploring on a whim with no real intention to buy now or in the near future. Move on.

There are signs the prospect has not set aside a realistic budget for the expenditure. 

Beware of prospects that are overly surprised by prices. Customers with real intent to buy have set aside an appropriate budget and have researched the market to have a realistic idea of what the price range is for the product or service they’re considering. Those prospects who stall after sticker shock, likely won’t close anytime soon because they have not allocated reasonable resources or they have not gotten funds approved by a higher ranking executive. Test this by asking about funding for the project; all serious prospects have a budget they can use as a basis for negotiations. If the prospect is evasive and vague, it may be time to abandon talks for this stalled sale.  The funding inquiry is one of the tests in the popular RADAR system that many salespeople use to determine who will or won’t buy.

Customer ignores follow-up calls.

If the prospect is never available for any of your follow-up calls and never returns calls or emails, she is most likely telling you she is no longer interested.

 Won’t commit to a specific time frame for anything.

When stallers refuse to be pinned down to definite deadlines, it’s a red flag. If they can’t agree on how long they need to think about the deal, when to meet for further discussions, when they will finish comparing quotes from competitors, or how soon they must purchase a product solution, the deal is dead and the seller should move on.

When any of the above scenarios signals the salesperson should move on from a stalled sale, the salesperson should send a final gracious note to the customer to end the contact and wish the customer well. Being able to recognize which buyers are legitimate and which ones are time-wasters will ensure your efforts are used wisely.