What happens after you’ve engaged with a prospect who just won’t sign the deal? Unless the company is ready to do business with you within the next 90 days, they aren’t a prospect. If there is no commitment after 90 days of assessment and communication then it may be time to walk away. So, how can you make sure that you aren’t leaving too early or staying too long?
These are essential steps to take before making your decision.
1) Assess whether or not this is truly a prospect. Do they have a need for what you can offer? Are your business objectives aligned? Does the client want a consultative relationship or are they only interested in the lowest price? Assessing and answering these questions can help clarify whether or not the prospect is a right-fit for your agency, and whether or not they will commit to the work necessary to improve their outcomes. If they aren’t, you may be wasting valuable time and recourses if you choose not to walk away. According to Geoffrey James, “finding out who is not a potential customer is just as valuable a discovery as finding out who is one.”
2) Dialog. Engaging in dialog with the prospect means having a conversation where both parties are exchanging and discussing ideas—it is not a presentation of products and services. It is important to try to understand the prospect in order to determine if they are a good fit. Failing to do this may cause a producer to stay in the sales process too long. Without engaging in meaningful dialog, producers will not be able to gauge the probability of entering into a mutually beneficial business relationship with the prospect.
3) Commitment from both parties. To obtain any commitments from the prospect, producers must prove that they have the ability to deliver valuable capabilities. Producers who are effective leaders should be able to guide the prospect through the sales process in order to help them self-discover risks and see the benefits of entering into a business relationship with their agency. Buyers must have confidence in the producer’s capacity to deliver.