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“We’re just not doing anything right now….”
“We’re ‘on hold’ until things settle down.”
“We’re not spending any money right now.”
These are common stalls that you get all the time, but now it seems harder to overcome them.
Why is that?
It’s because salespeople are now buying into them.
And why not? It makes sense, doesn’t it? People are losing their jobs, working from home, business is down…
Seems like the end of the world, doesn’t it?
Well, it isn’t. It’s temporary, and guess what? Companies and people are still buying. You probably wrote a sale just last week, and the top producers in your office are still writing business.
True story: I was walking in my neighborhood the other day, and a home went on sale—you know, the sign in the front yard, etc.
Less than a week later, there was a red “sold” sign on it. That was quick.
So, what do you do to overcome the stalls at the beginning of this article?
You go back to basics: you acknowledge them, and then go around them to either earn the right to have a conversation, or to qualify the prospect. Use these scripts:
“We’re just not doing anything right now….”
Response:
“I totally understand. How are you doing with the whole Covid-19 situation?”
[Listen & build rapport]
“I’m with you—very different times indeed! A lot of other companies I’m speaking to are going through the same thing.
“And some of them have come up with some really interesting ways of handling this. Tell you what I’d like to do: Let’s set up a 10-minute call, and I’ll share some of those solutions with you and let you know what we’re doing to help them.
“Don’t worry: I won’t try to sell you anything…just give you some information. Does that sound fair?”
“We’re ‘on hold’ until things settle down.”
Response:
“Right?! I know just what you mean.
“Let me ask you this: When things settle down and you get back into the office, and back to doing business again, what does your ideal vendor look like?”
OR
“Right?! I know just what you mean.
“Here’s the good news: we’re on hold here, too. But we are still having lots of conversations and letting people know what’s available to them once this clears up.
“If you’re open to this, all I’d like to do is quickly show you the things we’re doing to help companies prepare for re-opening—would you find that valuable?”
“We’re not spending any money right now.”
Response:
“I totally get that—things are tight all over!
“The good news is that it doesn’t cost anything to have a conversation with us, and we even have some amazing deals going on as a result of what’s going on right now.
“And don’t worry: I’m not going to try to sell you anything you can’t afford; instead, I’ll just let you know what some of the options are so when you are ready to make a move, you’ll know the best option out there—fair enough?”
There you have it. Proven ways to try to get around these stalls and earn the right to have a conversation.
Try them, adapt them, have fun with them. They’ll work if you use them…