Walking away is hard, especially when there’s a great deal looming. You’ve spent time, energy, and resources building the relationship, and if you give up, it’s all for nothing.
But in the long run, knowing when to walk away and turn clients away will help you optimize your efforts and ultimately sell your services more effectively. Every minute you spend working on an impossible or unprofitable deal could be spent working on a doable and profitable deal.
Even if you can convince the wrong prospect to buy, you’re setting yourself up for an unsatisfactory relationship and potential damage to your reputation. To avoid the pitfalls of dealing with the wrong prospect, here are seven important signs that you should walk away from the deal.
7 Signs You Should Walk Away From Potential Clients
1. They can’t answer three questions.
Sales sometimes requires detective skills. You have to uncover your prospects’ pain points, figure out what they mean (which isn’t always what they say), tailor your messaging to their priorities, but you can’t do it all.
According to Colleen Francis, author of The Sales Boom, salespeople should avoid prospects who can’t answer three questions:
- When can this project be considered successful?
- Who else will be involved in decision making?
- When does this project need to be completed?
If a prospect answers “I don’t know” to any of these questions, they are either not serious enough or not empowered to make decisions. In the latter case, you don’t have to cut to the chase. The real decision maker will ask them the same questions during the approval process anyway. Without a satisfactory answer, there will be no progress.
Before you give up, try saying, “I’m worried that if we can’t figure out what you hope to achieve and by when, we’ll be wasting europe cell phone number list your time. Maybe we should postpone this conversation?”
2. They (really) don’t have money
But that’s no reason to give up. Many prospects use these phrases as an excuse to hang up.
However, some companies may jinsi ya kuandika nakala ya maneno 3000 not actually be able to afford your product. You can find out if this is true by doing a little research. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- What is the income of your potential client’s company?
- Is the client trying to find funds to prove the value of the purchase to his superiors or in the hope that the financial situation will soon improve?
- If you changed your billing terms or offered a small discount, would that make a difference?
- Do you typically sell to companies of this size with similar revenue?
If the answers are completely out znb directory of line with what you can offer, you’re probably out of this prospect’s price range. Instead of walking away from the deal without warning, gently lead them in by saying, “Given what you’ve told me about your budget, I don’t think our product is right for you.”
Add some pluses to your karma by adding, “I would recommend (Company A) or (Company B) – either one should be able to meet your needs within your budget.”
Now that you have established a good reputation, it is time to ask for a referral. Ask the question: “Do you know anyone who is looking for a stronger solution?”
