You know sales don’t usually happen after the first contact. Not the second, or third. You also know increasing supply (of calls) won’t increase demand (to buy). While this means you need tenacity to keep going, you also need something else: Timing.
Timeframes for today’s world
Of course, it’s a delicate balance between encouraging you prospect to “keep things moving” and making them say “Stop pressuring me to make a decision”.
Particularly because timing has never been more important. Nowadays, prospects are used to having CRM-powered personalised interactions, rather than gut-feeling-fuelled “spray and pray” pitches. So let’s look at some ways to optimize timeframes from the start.
3 steps to the right timing
Stakeholders
It’s vital you’re speaking to decision-makers as early as possible. You don’t want to waste time pitching to people who don’t have the authority to close, or at least present a deal for internal sign-off.
Cycles
Let’s assume you’ve verified that budget is available. Now it’s time to check your prospect’s average selling cycle.
List your past 25 deals. Look at how many weeks each deal to close. Add the weeks together, divide by 25 and you have your average sales cycle.
Now talk to your prospect about their timing, and what steps are needed. if the dates fall within your average sales cycle, you know you can progress to the next stage.
It will take some time to research these “buying signals”. However, there’s less chance of hearing, “Sorry, it’s just not the right time” from a prospect who doesn’t have budget until the next financial year. These scenarios are common, and helps explain why our data shows that lost deals take up to 3X time longer than closed deals.
Engagement
You don’t want to waste too much time on prospects telling you “not now” or “maybe in the future”. However, even though they’re not likely to respond to a direct sales pitch, you can still focus on nurturing them.
We call this “micro-engagements” – long-term (over several months) low-commitment interactions with your brand. With this approach, you build up a relationship that means you’re more likely to be in your prospects’ thoughts when it’s time to buy.
How to make sure you have the right timing
As an Upsales customer, you won’t have to find this timing by yourself. We’re here to help.
Start by planning your activities. Upsales offers many ways to help you, such as:
- Appointments and to-dos
- Targets for completion
- Assigning leads to your sales reps
When the timing is right, it’s a glue that holds deals together. When the timing is wrong, it’s a slippery substance where deals fall down. Use some of the tools outlined here, and you’ll always have a next step planned for your opportunities. Plus of course you’ll be one step closer to having perfect timing.