The Stall

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="133285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Highland Llamas</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Highland Llamas"><B>home</B></A><B>          </B><A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sales Tips"><B>Sales Tips</B></A><B>          </B><A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Published Articles"><B>Published Articles</B></A></div> <div> <B>The Stall</B>   |   <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Suggestions from the Pros part one">Suggestions from the Pros - part one</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="132d2c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <I><B>A decision not to make a decision.</B></I></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>The Stall</B></I></div> <div> <I>By Dan Milton</I> </div> <bR> <div> When your prospect tells you, "I'd like to think it over." You've just been hit by <I>The Stall</I>. </div> <bR> <div> The good news is that the prospect does have some desire to purchase your animal (after all, he came this far in the sales process with you). The bad news is, something is stopping him from buying now. </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>What are the odds?</B></I><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> If you accept these stalls, hoping they'll buy at a later date, you will lose most of your prospects. Rarely do they "think it over." </div> <bR> <div> A stall signals conflict. The conflict is the agony of indecision between the desire to have your animal versus feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. When the desire to have your animal is great enough they will usually buy. </div> <bR> <div> Stalls normally mean your prospects do not have enough reasons to buy NOW -- they don't sense a need or have the urgency badly enough. You obviously need to do something, but what? </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Focus on the positive emotions</B></I><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> One of the most undeveloped selling strategies is keying in on the prospect's positive emotions about your animal. Removing an objection (a negative) can neutralize a block in the decision process. However, that's not enough. The prospect will buy only when he or she feels a strong positive benefit. Your job is to discover what those benefits are and help the customer focus on them. You might do that by asking questions such as:</div> <bR> <div> How would you benefit from our animal? </div> <div> What do you find attractive about our animal? </div> <div> What advantage do you see in our offer? </div> <bR> <div> By asking such questions, you will have a clearer understanding of your prospects' motivation and be in a better position to move them toward a positive decision. </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>What's your next move?</B></I><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> Try to find out why the prospect needs more time to "think about it." You might ask: </div> <bR> <div> What do we need to do to earn your business? </div> <div> What is blocking you from going forward? </div> <bR> <div> When prospects identify their reasons for not making a positive decision, you have an opportunity to deal with them. </div> <bR> <div> It is a combination of focusing on their positive thoughts about your offer as well as identifying their blocks that provides the best opportunity to overcome stalls. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Rebuild the prospect's desire</B><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> You may find that prospects want your animal and are convinced of its benefit, but they don't see why they should buy now. They may not be feeling any urgency! </div> <bR> <div> It's up to you to create the sense of urgency by selling their problem back to them. Build the desire by reminding them of the problem and all of its possible consequences. Get agreement on how bad it really is, then rescue them with your solution -- building on the positive benefits they identified earlier. </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Legitimate stall</B></I><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> Of course, there are times when you are legitimately stalled, for example, when you or the prospects must do some further analysis of their needs. Then you employ strategies to sell the next appointment and keep their interest and involvement high. </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Put the stall to rest</B></I><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> Whether on the first of final sales call, the stall is the classic sales killer unless you create a sense of urgency to buy now. </div> <bR> <div> With a bit of practice, you can become adept at questioning to uncover the reason for the stall, and helping prospects to understand why they can benefit from your animal, NOW. </div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>