The buyer and seller are in different time zones
The seller had exactly what the prospect said he wanted. However, he was unable to close the sale. He called the prospect over and over and sent him a series of emails, all to no avail. But the prospect was indifferent and seemed gruff in the last conversation, so the salesperson got frustrated, then angry, then pulled the prospect out of his “active prospect tickle file” with a deep sigh, and finally forgot about him. .
Months later the phone range. It was that long-forgotten prospect who now wanted to make that purchase. After completing the paperwork and signing the purchase order, the salesperson asked the customer why he seemed so nonchalant when she actively pursued him to buy. The answer was simple and illuminating: “I wasn’t ready to buy yet.”
There is a classic difference between the seller and the buyer. Both are working under different needs and different schedules. The seller wants and needs to make the sale immediately. The buyer buys when it suits him, not when the seller wants to make the sale.
The problem or challenge for sellers is that it is often very difficult, if not impossible, to get an accurate understanding of a buyer’s time needs. The buyer may be on a “fishing trip”, just discovering what is available in the market and has no immediate need, but is unwilling to tell the seller. The buyer may be in the midst of a “hair on fire” emergency and need to make a purchase as close to yesterday as possible.
Yes, the seller can ask those questions, but buyers often shirk because they don’t want to divulge information that might put them at a disadvantage in the negotiation, so accurate answers are rarely forthcoming.
When she asked about the time of purchase, he told her he had to look through his notes to find her name and phone number. Hearing this, the salesperson pulled out her “inactive leads” file and started calling all the people she left behind as she wondered how often she had lost sales due to differences in priorities between buyer and seller. Is it happening to you too?
I often preach the strategy of using “polite persistence” to keep in touch with prospects who seem to have a need but have no current commitment to buy because, at some point in the future, when it’s convenient for them to make the move, you want to. be the first on the list to receive the call.
