by Amy Keuper, VP Sales

The concept of controlling the sales cycle is simple to grasp in theory yet elusive in real life, especially in the Complex Sale where 1) your primary Buyer needs to coordinate with others in the prospect organization and 2) they really do need time to make a deal happen.  No single-purchaser, click-to-buy easy close here.

The Complex Sale, like Gilligan’s cruise, can easily deteriorate from a straightforward 3-hour tour into a storm-tossed wreck.  Here are two tactics which will keep you at the helm of your sales relationship:

1. Tell your Buyer what your sales process is--who helps evaluate your solution and how long it will take.  Your language might look something like this, “We have found that, typically, the key roles for evaluating [our fabulous offering] are CEO, CFO and COO—and that it usually takes about three weeks to confirm that we are a fit.  We have come to you as a key Decision Maker and are reaching out to X and X as well.  We can schedule a group meeting to discuss the merits together or loop back to you next week…”
   
   With this phrasing, you have spelled out not only the timeframe within which you hope to receive a preliminary “yes” or “no” but have also acknowledged the reality that multiple Buyers are involved.   You have set the stage that you will be contacting others which might motivate this contact to become your Champion.  At the very least, this one contact now lacks the power to stall the process. 
   
   
2. Next, determine what is stalling your prospect: a genuine lack of interest or the weakness of human nature.  If your prospect truly has no interest at this time—for whatever reason, you are unlikely to move the account forward no matter what you do.  However, some prospects are open to you and your offering, but simple procrastination and the “tyranny of the urgent” may prevent them from acting.

If you don’t have clear “no-go” signs, you will need to nurture your prospect along in specific ways.  Break down the tasks you currently do after a prospect commits to moving forward and see if you can move some of those milestones earlier in your sales cycle.  In essence, create Baby Steps which lead your prospect to “yes.”  This idea works especially well when the services you do for your client (typically after you close) only reinforce the rightness of your solution.  Do you see any ways to separate and sequence your sales process?  Do you gather requirements or run numbers?   Consider giving away more analysis or consulting so that perhaps some heretofore “post-close” steps will actually help finalize your sale for you. 

In other words, make it very easy to buy.  A story to illustrate:

I had wanted to refinance my house for months and had made some calls and web inquiries to vendors.  I had two Good Faith Estimates sitting in my in-box…for weeks.  Then I got a call from the loan officer who ultimately earned my business.  Before I realized it, we were walking through the necessary info in a phone interview—no burdensome forms.  He did some quick calculations and asked if his numbers were as good as or better than the other quotes I had.  They were.  Then, he closed the sale without me ever having to say a word.  “What I am going to do now is overnight a package that will be on your doorstep by 8:00 a.m.  All you have to do is sign the top paper and return it in the postage-paid envelope.  If you want to send some or all of the other forms, great—but don’t let that hold you up.  We can get those by email or fax later.  We will get you locked in and from that point your rate can only go down—not up.”

This master closer didn’t let me say that I needed to think about it, or else his quote would have languished in my in-box along with the others.  He took charge and took a risk by mailing me a package, but with that action he created a simple Baby Step for me.  Everyone else was waiting for me to say “Yes, I pledge to working with you,” before taking any action.  Having been through the home-purchasing process more than once in the past, I got stalled in making a decision because I knew I would then have to gather and copy countless forms and mail them in—after finding or buying a jumbo envelope and going to stand in line at the post office and paying postage for my jumbo package on top of all that.  It all felt too annoying and troublesome to deal with, so I kept stalling.

Clearly I was interested in refinancing or I wouldn’t have contacted several lenders.  By taking an action step that others saw as post close, this loan officer cemented my business.  Your prospects are the same as I was; they have an interest in your offering or they wouldn’t be taking your call.  Now—don’t wait for your prospect to say “yes” or “no.”  Don’t make those the only choices.  Don’t make it hard to move forward.  Instead, walk them through your sales steps, positioning each task as “providing them what they need to make an informed decision.” 

By definition, there are many ways that The Complex Sale can’t be simplified; however, it can be streamlined and accelerated.  And you can be in control of more elements of the timetable than you may assume.  Map a course and then help the “maybes” become “yeses” by steering your prospect through waypoints that you define—ones that have been there all along.  Share any sales process steps that you can--prior to closing the sale--and you will guide into your harbor those prospects who otherwise would have likely drifted out to sea.