In my previous two blogs, I have talked about the first 2 P’s of Prospect Delay which are ‘Priority’ and ‘Pain’. So what is the next P on my list of possible reasons your prospect might be delaying a deal? Hit play on the video, or keep reading!
PROSPECT DELAY NO.3: PASSION
The 3rd P of my 4 P’s of Prospect Delay is ‘Passion’. The dictionary definition of ‘Passion’ is a “strong and barely controllable emotion.” So, ask yourself, is your prospect barely able to control their emotions when it comes to your product or service? If they’re not, then great, you should have no problems closing the deal! However, this is a strong statement and one that is unlikely to be true of most prospects.
The majority of prospects won’t experience ‘uncontrollable emotions’ when it comes to a product, however they may be passionate about what that product can do for them. For example, my prospects are not passionate about attending one of my sales workshops, but they are extremely passionate about achieving incredible sales results and they have a burning desire to succeed. This is where their passion really shows.
Let me give you another example; one of my long-term clients, is a great company called Laundry Efficiency who provide some incredible and innovative products to commercial laundries all over the UK. Their products reduce the water bills of these laundries by up to 80%, which is huge! But with these machines also comes positive environmental impacts. Laundry Efficiency approached a laundry owner last year who is very conscious about the effect her business has on the environment. They followed my 3 key rules of selling. They listened to her and asked the right questions and discovered that this was a huge passion of hers early on. The deal, therefore became very easy to close because she was so passionate.
If Laundry Efficiency hadn’t listened and tried their best to learn about their prospect, their outcome could have been very different. They could have continued to talk all about the great financial savings their prospect could make, but whilst she would of course wanted to save money, this isn’t her passion. She may have wanted more time to consider making the investment, which would have caused a prospect delay. However, they did the right things and brought her over the line the same day.
Discovering what your prospects are passionate about is a skill. It’s not always easy to identify, because some prospects are more passionate about certain things than others. However, by getting to know your prospect before you try to sell to them, asking the right questions and really listening to them, you’ll eventually have a better chance of learning where their passions lie.
When you discover what they are passionate about, use this in your communications with them, nurture them with the right information, show them your previous customers who shared their passions and share the story of how you helped them. Show them that you also share their passions. Tapping into their passions will help you avoid a prospect delay and successfully convert your prospects!
The 4th and final P of my 4 P’s of prospect delay is Personal which I’ll be discussing in next week’s blog. In the meantime, let me know what you think of my first 3 P’s of Prospect Delay. Do you agree with them? Is there another reason the delays the sales process? Leave a comment below!
