Here is where our network of affiliates provide answers to various questions submitted by you, our readers. We publish two questions each month. To submit a question, please click here.

Question:
Why do my sales cycles end up in a no-decision?

Answer:
The top five reasons are:

1. Many sales people forgot that without first identifying a goal to achieve, a need to satisfy, or a problem to solve, there will be no buying process that can start.
2. The buyer does not have a vision in their mind that your offering will help them address their needs, help them solve their problem, or achieve their goal.
3. Unless the buyer sees the measurable benefits your offering will bring them with numbers they can own and trust, (s)he will pass on the opportunity to buy from you.
4. Unless the buyer understand all implementation issues and has identified and allocated the necessary resources for a smooth and timely deployment, more than not they will delay or postpone buying from you.
5. Understanding how to reach a buying decision involving all the key stake holders is paramount to avoiding a no-decision. Like managing any other project, using a sequence of events to guide your prospect's buying decision is key to ensuring a controlled and success evaluation of your offering resulting in the prospect buying from you.

Question:
If the prospect has budget, why can't he or she buy?

Answer:
In CustomerCentric Selling® we suggest you can only sell to someone who can buy. One of the fastest ways to shorten your sale cycle is for your sales people to get access to the line executives who have the ability to secure unbudgeted funds. My experience is that sales is easier the higher up I go in an organization. Senior level executives make a decision very quickly -- either to buy or not to buy. Without Sales Ready Messaging®, most sales people are uncomfortable talking to executives because they don't know what to say — they don't know how to have a business conversation with that job title.

Frequently, sales people may think they have a qualified prospect because a budget has been established. But what is the purpose of a budget? The real purpose of a budget is to control the spending of non-senior executives who are managers. If a budget has already been established, some other salesperson got there first and this confirms that you are just filling up a column in the prospect's evaluation matrix.

If you are after unbudgeted dollars, there are not many people who can approve that expenditure. We have found that if sales people are dealing at a level where prospects have a 'budget', they are usually not high enough in the organization. Executives do not talk about budget. Instead they ask, what is the return on the investment? Our experience is that if executives understand the offering and want it, they will find the money.

This month's FAQs provided by Philippe Lavie and Fred Hodgson, CustomerCentric Selling® affiliates.

If you would like to submit a question, please do so by clicking here.

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