Stallers typically suffer from indecisiveness. They may or may not be a powerless tiger or political misfit, but the result to you proves to be the same: meeting after meeting; phone conversation after conversation; request after request for more information, proposals, pricing breakdowns, references, and evidence of results. And still no decision. The following suggestions may help.
Ask Yourself "Why the Indecision?"
Buyers may stall at the point of decision for any number of reasons. Your response, of course, will depend on the reason:
They can't decide about the product or service. (Response: Offer more evidence and proof.)
They can't decide about you or your organization. (Response: Increase credibility.)
They can't determine how the decision might go over inside a "down" internal climate. (Response: Help them gather input or show value in a negative climate.)
They are posturing for a price discount. (Response: Wait.)
The answer is no and they're too timid to tell you. (Response: Ask point blank and give them permission to be straightforward with you.)
Offer Guarantees
Create opportunities for the indecisive to touch, see, feel, and experience your product or service. Provide all the possible evidence of results. Put the indecisive in touch with references who can offer assurances. Delay payment options until the buyer has opportunity to "sample" your service and trust that you will not deliver and then run and hide.
Help the Indecisive to Pass the Buck
Once you determine Stallers incapable of making a decision no matter what guarantees you offer, help them to pass the decision off to others—for example, their boss, a team of colleagues such as a task force, or even a subordinate "who needs to develop judgment © Dianna Booher and Booher Consultants, Inc. Excerpted from "From Contact to Contract" (Dearborn 2003) 2 skills in making such a decision." If the would-be target is a task force, volunteer to help get the group organized.
Yes, generally, it's tougher to sell to a committee, but you still have a better chance of selling to an action-oriented committee than a stalled individual.
Create Deadlines or Incentives to Buy
People have become accustomed to acting under pressure and reacting in crisis. It may be that your buyers cannot decide until there's a deadline. If this is the case, create a discount that's good only until X date. Offer a bonus that's good for only Y weeks. Mention the benefit of seeing a demonstration and enrolling in X training for 50 managers—but only if a contract is signed in time to make the demo and training arrangements by Z date.
Decrease the Frequency but Increase the Volume
Decisions demand emotional energy for Stallers. To remove the pain, decrease the number of buying decisions the individual has to make: Decrease the order frequency while you increase the order volume so that the person has to order from you only one time per year instead of once a quarter.
Limit Choices to the Important Few Instead of the Meaningless Many
Don't let trivial decisions overwhelm Stallers' overloaded circuits so that they're tempted to pull the plug on the whole buying situation. Arrange all the details of your most popular choices into Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C choices. Offer those options as packages so Stallers don't have to tackle them step by step, decision by decision.
Write Contracts with Automatic Renewals
Allow Stallers to make as few decisions as possible. For example, propose a multiyear contract. You then can add automatic renewal clauses that require no action from the Staller to remain in force unless you opt to raise your prices.
Rev Your Engine Before You Get to the Intersection
Don't wait until you need a decision to ask for one. Start early and assume that the Staller will renew an expiring contract, mentioning new value you'll be offering under the new arrangements. Waiting until a few days before you need to get a buyer signed on the dotted line is like pulling out into the middle of the intersection and then stopping to wait for the signal light to change. Chances are likely you'll get hit before that happens.
Stallers need time to adjust to any change.
