Fulfillment

One of the biggest complaints I hear from owners and managers is that “the stuff in the pipeline” just hasn’t closed. What constitutes a stalled opportunity? Stalled opportunities are those deals which should have closed, but still continue to show up on the forecasted pipeline. We hear the prospective client saying things like, “We’re not ready yet”, or “the timing is off”, or “we love it, but we just aren’t ready”.

People buy for their reasons, not ours, and at times, in spite of ours. Having a quality product or service that provides high value to the purchaser is important. The key word in that statement is purchaser.

Knowing how your prospects view the outcomes they desire—solved problems or achieved goals—and the motivation for those outcomes will enable you to present your product or service from the most favorable position.

You’ve done it. After months of courting a prospect, you’ve closed the sale. “Yes,” the prospect has said, “Let’s get this going.” Your happy ears are on. Understandable. You’re beaming about your job well done. Good for you. But wait a minute...

Fulfillment is one of the very last steps in the sales process, but it can be one of the most crucial. The ultimate goal of fulfillment strategies is to confirm some level of commitment from your prospect, eliminate any wishy-washy responses, and mutually agree to a clear decision process.

If you don’t solve both customer repair problems, the actual and emotional, there are tons of other salespeople ready to do the job and take your commission.

Know how the prospect makes a buying decision and you are three-quarters of the way to making a sale.

Consistently high performing salespeople always let the prospect or customer be involved in the sale.

There are prospects out there right now, who need to buy what you sell. Sell them!

If you make the decision, you control your life. If someone else makes the decision, he controls your life. Make a decision.

The only way to find out if a decision is good or bad is to make it and deal with the results.

Remember Smokey the Bear? “Only you can prevent forest fires.”