Stalled sales opportunities account for between 10 and 15% of most sales funnels, yet little is written about stalled opportunities and the implications for both the sales representative and the sales manager. They are the dirty little secret of sales. Let’s consider for a moment “what” constitutes a stalled opportunity, “why” opportunities stall, and “how” to re-energize them.
What Is a “Stalled” Sales Opportunity?
First, let’s begin by distinguishing a stalled sales opportunity from a dormant account because there is often confusion between the two.
We classify an account dormant because we (as the selling organization) have stopped engaging the potential buying influences in this account. There may be many legitimate reasons for not communicating with the decision makers in an organization.
- There is no longer a need for more purchases of your product
- Their need for additional purchases will be years apart
- The customer had a poor experience with a prior purchase of your product
- Sometimes the sales representative stops engaging because:
- The organization is undergoing reorganization
- Our competition has a compelling position with the customer
- The company may be on shaky financial grounds
- Initially, the company may have met your core qualifying criteria, but upon further investigation the organization may not seem to be a good fit and you have failed to remove it from your funnel.
How does this differ from a stalled opportunity? While accounts become dormant because the selling organization has refrained from engaging the key decision makers in a buying organization, stalled sales opportunities are a reflection of a buying process that has become derailed or obstructed.
Why Do Sales Opportunities Stall?
Again, opportunities become stalled for a variety of reasons. Let’s consider eight (8) plausible explanations:
- You’ve failed to connect the buying and selling process. Sometimes, sales representatives get ahead of the buying process. Make sure you understand where your customer is in the decision making process and help them think through each stage. Are they still focusing on understanding the problem? Are they looking at options and various solutions? Or, are they comparing best choice solutions with the status quo. It’s difficult to connect your product, service or solution to specific business problems of your customer if you can’t gauge where they are and help them surmount obstacles.
- An initiative seems too complex or overwhelming. The leadership team knows there is a problem, but no one seems able to break the problem down into components that can be addressed.
- There is a lack of action by decision makers. Every sales call should end with a commitment to take action. Sometimes it’s information or access; other times it’s assistance. You cannot move the sale forward unless the buying influence is as committed as you to the initiative.
- The ROI is unclear. This means your value proposition isn’t resonating. Few executive teams are willing to invest resources in solving a problem without a documentable ROI. If the problem they are facing has too many “unknowns” the initiative goes to the back burner until someone can show how much and when they will get a return.
- It is unclear how well any solution will resolve the problem. Sometimes a leadership team is faced with one or more potential solutions but no one on the team has the experience to identify which solution is best. Savvy sellers help leaders build
- There is no internal sponsorship for the initiative. Often initiatives fail to gain traction because there is no one at the executive level who is willing to sponsor the plan.
- Other projects may have surfaced that require financial and operational resources. Pressure to change can arise quickly as market conditions fluctuate. Changes in the competitive landscape, financial downturns or difficulty with a product release can change corporate priorities quickly.
- The customer’s organization is under-performing and not willing to make an immediate investment. Internal competition for capital resources can derail your opportunity until your prospect becomes financially stable or until you can show an immediate financial benefit evident to your customer.
How Can Sales Representatives Energize Stalled Opportunities?
While the plan for re-energizing a stalled opportunity depends on the situational and contextual variables that drove the opportunity to the back burner, there are five (5) approaches that you may find helpful.
- Shift from sales representative mode to consultant. There is a great quote attributed to the late Zig Ziglar. “Stop selling and help someone.” Sometimes our “sales representative mode” can get in the way of our providing valued assistance to an organization. Try to determine why the initiative has been shifted to the back burner and offer consulting assistance. Do they need someone to break down the problem into manageable components? Do they need someone to calculate and document ROI? Would they benefit from a case study that would help them see clearly a course of action? Would a customer testimonial in their own words that showed an ROI elevate their interest?
- Attack the status quo. When a sales opportunity stalls, it’s easy to conclude that no decision has been rendered and the opportunity may resurface on its own in the near future. Let us suggest an alternative reality for you. You competed against the status quo and lost! You may have assumed wrongly that there were no competitors active and it was yours to win. Your real competition was “do nothing” or the status quo. As a sales representative you need to take a fresh look at your competition and develop a strategy to undermine support for the status quo. Build a business case to show the cost of doing nothing.
- Build internal sponsorship. Often, there are one or two executives who stand to lose the most if the problem is left unaddressed. Show them the “risk-reward” benefit of providing leadership for the initiative. Provide them a sounding board, research and documentation
- Sponsor an executive briefing for all stakeholders. Many companies, especially in the technology sector, sponsor executive briefings to help educate a potential customer. Let’s be clear: an executive briefing is not a sales pitch—it’s a forum whereby experts and specialists share their expertise surrounding a defined problem. The topic, agenda and content are designed with the customer’s interest in mind. The intent is to bring your potential customer “up to speed.” An executive briefing has many benefits for your organization. Consider three (3) key benefits:
- Positions you and your team as consultants—not sales representatives;
- Conveys a sense of urgency that brings the project to the front burner; and
- Connects senior executives from your organization to the potential customer’s leadership team.
After Thoughts for Sales Representatives
Remember: accounts are dormant (i.e., reduced selling activity) and opportunities or initiatives within an organization are stalled (i.e., reduced buying activity).
Too often we have seen situations where a sales opportunity becomes stalled. In time, the sales representative becomes frustrated because he/she is getting no traction from sales calls. Finally, communication ceases, the account is abandoned and becomes dormant.
Try to find out why the opportunity has stalled and develop an action plan. Determine who is the one key player on the customer’s side that has the power to resurrect the project and develop a rationale for action.
After Thoughts for the Sales Manager
While the sales representative is mulling whether to waste his/her time on a stalled sales initiative, the sales manager or executive is mulling over what to do with the account listed in the sales funnel. Is the opportunity still viable? Should it remain in the sales funnel or be removed? Is there some disconnect between the customer and the sales representative? Should the account be transferred to another member of the sales team?
When a sales manager is faced with two or three stalled opportunities in a single sales funnel, the problems begin to multiply. If you, as a sales manager, do nothing, it can lower your close ratio, lengthen the projected sales cycle and introduce additional sources of error in your revenue projections.
This becomes a great coaching opportunity. As a sales manager, you have the opportunity to help your sales representative review the situation and develop an action plan.
