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One trend that has grown in 2009 is the growth in sales ending in “No Decision” (ND).  While most sales people will tell you that they hat loosing opportunities most, for me the worst is the ND.  Having said that, ND’s do have one advantage over lost deals, the ability to reengage them in a shorter time span than those lost. The risk is that there is no guaranty that the result will be any different the second time out.

To avoid this you have to include it in you qualification/quantification routine. To do that you have to go back to the beginning and treat these outcomes as you do wins and loses, and do an analysis of ND’s as well. Of course you all do win/loss analysis right?  Actually it probably not true, some do win analysis, more do loss analysis, but combined they still are less than those that do not do any at all. But the smallest group are those that do analyse their ND sale efforts.

Once you have the analysis you will see specific attributes, behaviours, actions and inactions in these prospects.  Once you have enough of these, you can begin to look for commonalities and consistently recurring elements.  With that you are now in a position to not only to look for these things and address them before it’s too late.  Needless to say that when you spot them early you can get ahead of it, take steps to alter direction or at times just have the confidence to walk away.  Please remember, walking away is a viable option, while no one doubts your resolve and commitment, no one can get you the time you invest back; so invest wisely.

You can also use your analysis to draft questions that will help you understand if the prospect is displaying the tendencies of a non-decider.  The upsides to these questions is also the fact that you are taking a proactive posture that could in itself change the curse of the sale, as being proactive puts you in the lead.  Again, while the questions will serve as indicators as to whether the prospect will act or not, allow You to MAKE a decision.  As stated above, since you will have the opportunity to come back, and make use of the information you glean now.

I realize that this may seem like tedious work, and it certainly not as exciting as being “out selling”, but as with most things worth doing, there are continuous dividends both in terms of increased sales, and saved time.

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto