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Rupert Miles | Chelmsford, Essex
 

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Hello and welcome to this week’s blog. I’d like to show you a straightforward way to save time, decrease your workload and increase your closing rates.

Did you know that, on average, 52% of the prospects you engage with won’t do anything? The ability to spot good and bad prospects could save you frustration and time.

Recently we worked with a company designing and selling IT software. When we looked into their sales cycles, we found they varied greatly from one project to another. The longest sales cycle occurred when dealing with organisations who had over 200 employees and several divisions or external partners.

Not only were these their longest sales cycles, but they also delivered their lowest close rates.

So what action did the company take?

They made a conscious decision that if a prospect had over 200 employees with multiple divisions, they would not pursue it any further. They knew that this situation was a bad fit for their business. They knew that pursuing these prospects would tie up their salespeople for many days (or even weeks) with little chance of success, causing them to become frustrated and demotivated.

Once they removed these companies from their sales funnel, they were able to focus on the prospects that had much higher closing rates, and they saw business improve. At the same time, they saw work became less pressurised, with fewer late nights for key staff and improved employee morale, motivation and engagement.

All this just from disqualifying difficult prospects. Many businesses waste time chasing bad prospects but it takes guts to disqualify them! When you do though, you can focus your time and energy on the best prospects for your business.

Sandler Training is recognised as a leading authority on business development, offering sales and leadership consulting and training across all market sectors including professional services.

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