Sheez

Account Executive | SMB

Here is a fun topic: Stalled deals

I would be interested to hear from those who have found themselves at the end of a deal cycle and once it comes down to the actual decision being made the prospect disappears.

other than asking the harder DMP questions early and often what are a few tactics that produced an answer (either winning the deal or at least getting an idea to why they are stalling)?

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10 comments

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inboundsalesrep

Politicker

SDR

There is a couple things I have experienced when a perfect prospect ghosts at the end of the deal. 1. They are really not the key decision maker and may need a C suite approval. 2. Product might be a nice to have rather than a need 3. Prospect just has commitment issues

tonysoprano

Big Shot

Sr. AE

Yes ^ especially the DM part. They tell you at the beginning that "this is my project and it's my decision" then you find out that's not the case at all when it starts to stall

It could also come down to the economic buyer not seeing the value, which means your champion may not have sold it up the ladder well enough so they go with ~status quo~

inboundsalesrep

Politicker

SDR

Yes exactly, I have experienced where they tell you at the beginning it is your decision and then after being ghosted and blowing them up they respond our higher up spent our budget already or do not see a need right now. But again I do not get why it takes so long for them to respond and tell you they just are not going to buy.

tonysoprano

Big Shot

Sr. AE

because buyers usually suck

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Reach out to other contacts. You may not have the correct person/decision maker.

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

i've had good success with a simple question: "have you given up on xxx?"

Do.it.for.the.checks

Politicker

Account Executive

Stalled deals = lack of buyer confidence

I'm in Saas (Platform). And when I am closing a deal, I literally am asking someone to put their job and reputation on the line. They need to be confident they aren't going to get fucked. This is significantly easier when you have multiple buyers. No one person is fully responsible, the group is.

Now your title is SMB, which means getting multiple buyers might be hard. There is a lot of role overlap in smaller companies, but you still need to build confidence.

One of my favorites is when you are close to contract execution, call the boss/CEO/Owner/VP or whoever is above your contacts and simply throw it out there "Hey I've been working with John, Jane, and Jimmy on evaluating X. My guess is this has been run past you by now, but I know the weight of this decision. So I wanted to introduce myself and hear your thoughts on it."

^Even if they have no idea about the purchase, it will get you good info, or even better it will get that boss to ask about it and give his sign-off. Now you have the buyer's confidence to move forward.

Sheez

Account Executive | SMB

Good lookin out

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

I've had a deal that has gone on since December 2019. They had issues with budget and what not which is fine.

They keep coming back and everytime it happens it's the same result of budget. Every quarter they occur and I think 'Nah ignore them; but they always ring.

Thing is, they are the perfect criteria and we aren't sure if it's just an excuse...sometimes you have to just go play with the deal less and less to make yourself more important...they are now back on track and signing soon.

Give the attention till you feel like enough is enough and then make them feel like you're the one in control.

Your time is worth more than theirs.

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Sheez

Here is a fun topic: Stalled deals

10 comments

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