Objections

13Micro-Commitment Objections

It's better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.

—Chinese Proverb

When I conduct pipeline reviews my default question on every opportunity is “What's the next step?” Following the question, I watch salespeople squirm in their seats and search for answers.

The brutal truth is far too many of these opportunities don't have firm next steps. The salespeople are:

• “Waiting to hear back.”
• “Calling back next week to set the next appointment.”
• “Putting proposals together and hoping to get on the decision maker's schedule.”
• “Can't understand why everything suddenly went dark.”
• “Trying to get back in touch.”
• “My contact is taking the proposal to her boss. I'm hoping to hear back this week.”
• “The prospect seemed interested in doing business with us. I keep leaving messages to check in, but he doesn't return my calls.”

I could go on and on and on. I've heard all the sad excuses. It's always the same. No next step.

The Bane of Sales Organizations

Stalled deals plague the sales profession, clogging pipelines, ruining forecasts, and causing untold frustration. From the CEO to frontline sales reps, everyone is looking for ways to unstick deals, shorten sales cycles, and increase pipeline velocity.

The two most common issues holding sales organizations back are insufficient prospecting (not getting enough into the pipeline) and pipeline congestion (not getting enough out of the pipeline). ...