如何使您的销售团队恢复“死交易”的生活

When a deal stalls, it's tempting for the salesperson to unknowingly put themselves first. We've all been guilty of it at one time or another. You might repeat the close, not-so-subtly threaten the prospect with an expiring discount, or roll several asks into one conversation.

These tactics are a surefire way to turn stalled deals into cold ones. Before we dive into how to revive a dead sales deal, let's get clear on what dead deals are, and why they happen.

Here are a few reasons your sales team’s deals may not be moving forward:

• 潜在客户的问题并不紧急— You may be working with a prospect to solve a problem that isn’t a priority for them at the moment. The solution you provide could have been out prioritized by other issues.
• You haven’t been working with the right decision maker- 您是否验证了与之交谈的联系是做出购买决定的合适人选吗？如果没有，他们可能会避免沟通。学习how to identify the right decision makerto move your deal forward.
• They are waiting for funding or other information from within their business— Similarly, B2B deals may stall because your contact is waiting for additional budget, approval, or a new product of their own to launch before they can commit to a sales decision.
• You haven’t built enough trust with your contact yet— Building trust and rapport with your contact is crucial. If you haven’t built rapport with your prospect, they may feel less inclined to communicate where they’re at in the decision making process.
• They don’t want to say "no"— Sometimes, your offering just isn’t the right fit and the prospect doesn’t want to break the news to you.

下面,我've outlined strategies for moving stalled deals forward. They keep your prospect the focus, give them options and escape routes, and help you avoid becoming your own worst enemy — the stereotypical pushy salesperson.

How to Bring a Stalled Sales Deal Back to Life

1.不要重复您的关闭。

If the prospect gave you a soft yes — and then nothing — or a firm no, never follow up with the same close. Your next request should be a different, lighter ask.

For example, if your champion was supposed to introduce you to someone in Procurement, but they never followed through, your follow-up question might be, "When do you want to start implementation?" This is an easier ask that doesn't require action.

即使你没有收到原始问题a no, it might have if you continued to push. Your goal for every email or phone conversation is not to get a yes or no — the goal is engagement. When a deal is stalling, your focus is singular: Get your prospect on the phone talking.

2. Don't corner your prospects.

没有人喜欢被困。当您朝着销售目标努力时，为您的潜在客户提供了充足的出口机会。如果您正在协调演示，并且您的潜在客户不愿确认日期，请让他们知道，如果他们需要在预定后需要更改演示日期或时间，他们可以通过电话或电子邮件与您联系。

退出机会使聆听您的音调似乎是他们的选择，可以帮助您在日历上获得牢固的约会，并减少前一分钟前景剥落或完全幽灵的可能性。

3.不要使您的关闭更加复杂。

一次只使用一个关闭，并且始终是直接的。根据经验，不要将“不”或“和”包含在您的闭幕式中。例如，假设您的目标或关闭涉及将合适的人加入您的演示，包括决策者杰里。我们中的许多人都被化合物关闭所吸引 - 一次提出多个问题。复合声听起来像是，”Could you invite Jerry to our demo? And is there anyone else who needs to be there?"

If you ask a compound question, you'll receive a compound answer. And your prospect will likely only process and answer the easier question.

Instead, ask two questions. Start with, "Should Jerry be invited to this demo?" After your prospect has responded, "Yes, he should. I'll reach out to him today." follow up with, "And is there anyone else who should be there?" You've broken a compound question into two manageable questions, making it easier for your prospect to answer both.

4. Close something light, first.

弯曲您的销售肌肉。通过关闭电话号码，简介或会议开始每笔交易。这介绍了客户对您说“是”的想法。一旦您进行了小型的“销售”，请继续进行更大的要求，例如要求与决策者交谈。

请记住，永远不要两次关闭同一件事。如果你问，”Could you connect me with your boss?" and don't receive an answer, ask, "Who's going to be the primary contact after the sale?"

You've followed an unsuccessful close with a lighter ask, and you've avoided asking the same question twice. Once you receive a successful answer to this light request, you can continue asking questions to lead the prospect back to your initial question.

5. Keep the close prospect centered.

Make sure every close includes "you" and clearly identifies a finish line. Instead of saying, "What's a good time for us to meet?" ask, "When are you free to meet for 30 minutes this week?"

In the first example, you say "us." This is problematic for two reasons:

1. If they're not your client, there is no "us" yet.

2. You haven't provided a timeline. If your prospect doesn't really want to talk to you, you've made it easy for them to push the meeting back for several weeks.

在第二个示例中，您通过询问何时免费来保持以前景为中心的问题。然后，您定义下一次会议需要多长时间（30分钟）以及何时发生（本周）。这是一个明确定义的请求，可以使您的潜在客户感到有价值和控制。

6. Send a new quote.

If the end of the month or quarter is near and your prospect still hasn't closed, wait until there are about three days left and send a new contract.

By this time, you've likely offered them a discount, so sending them a new contract with non-discounted pricing can be the wake-up call they need to move forward. Instead of a warning, "You're going to miss out on this great discount,“他们可能不会相信，新合同使新的价格变得真实和迫在眉睫。

不要急于或激进 - 只需发送电子邮件说，”At the end of the month, please replace our old contract with this new pricing structure." This allows them to call and discuss the price.

Even if they still can't close before the end of the month or quarter, this keeps the conversation going and allows you to extend the discount when appropriate.

If theydowant to close by the end of the month, be careful in framing the question. Ask,“您现在想关闭吗？这笔交易在本月底到期。" This is a less pushy way of saying, "折扣只能到本月底。你现在可以关闭吗？"

Stalled deals can be scary for salespeople. They threaten your number and eat up valuable time and resources.

7. Expand the audience.

If the salesperson is in one-to-one communication with the prospective buyer, it gives the buyer too much power when a deal is stalled.

Start new lines of conversation with other buyers, influencers, or business units at your prospect's company.

Expanding the audience makes the conversations between you and the prospect more public. More people will be looped into the sales process and this makes it harder for the prospect to disappear on you.

8. Demonstrate urgency.

If you have a sense of urgency, demonstrate that urgency to the prospect. And if you're frustrated at their lack of response but wait two weeks to reach out, you're not demonstrating urgency.

Increase the frequency of your attempts to reach the contact. You can make multiple calls in one day, but you must leave a voicemail. If you don't leave a voicemail, your calls could be interpreted as passive-aggressive.

Here are some outreach ideas for your calls:

• I just wanted to follow up on the status of [X].
• 您有演示的反馈吗？
• Do I have the correct address for [X paperwork]?

Make it clear to them that the lack of response isn't changing the status of the deal. The key point to remember with a frequent touch approach is that you have to leave a voicemail every time. This gives them an opportunity to reach back out to you and follow up.

9. Ask for help.

不要害怕寻求帮助。询问同事或队友，他们是否可以为您提供交易。让他们知道，潜在客户不在循环中，并且没有回复您的电子邮件或电话。

Then, ask them if they can call the prospect and say they're a colleague of yours, and they're checking in on your behalf. This gives the prospect another opportunity to respond and get the deal moving again.

These strategies turn stalled deals from frustrating to promising — and finally get you over the finish line.

想结束更多的销售吗？查看这些sales closing techniquesnext.