How Do You Know a Prospect Is Ready to Buy?
Rejection stings. It’s true whether you’re talking about personal relationships, career advancements or sales prospects – no one likes to be told no. Having a sale that ends in rejection isn’t the worst outcome that sales professionals face, however. Sales that end in no decision can actually be worse. The good news is that you can use lead generation strategies that help you find prospects who are ready to buy.
Why No Decision Is Worse Than “No”
Many sales don’t end in a “yes” or a “no.” Instead, they end in no decision. According to Harvard Business Review, between 40% and 60% of deals involve customers who express intent to purchase but never act on that intent.
For sales professionals who chase leads, a lack of decision is a major obstacle. In fact, in some ways, no decision is worse than just being told no.
- When a prospect tells you that they’re not interested, you have a clear answer, so you can stop investing time in that lead. On the other hand, when a prospect simply fails to act, you may continue to invest your time into the lead in the hopes that it will pay off eventually. Doing this with a single lead can be frustrating. Doing this for around 50% of your leads can be an untenable strategy. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to waste that much time.
- When a prospect tells you that they’re not interested, they might give you a reason. This can help you refine your sales pitch or target better prospects. In contrast, prospects who don’t make a decision may be less likely to give you a reason.
Persistence Doesn’t Always Pay Off
Salespeople are often told to be persistent. This can be sage advice because closing a sale can require multiple touchpoints. As HubSpot points out, the number of touchpoints needed can vary, although a good benchmark might be somewhere around eight. Due to the law of diminishing returns, continuing past this point can mean that effort beyond a certain point becomes less and less effective.
Sometimes, the prospect just isn’t ready. Maybe they filled out a form with their contact information because they were curious about something, but they have no real intent to buy in the foreseeable future. No matter how many touchpoints you aim for, you’re not going to be able to change this.
Persistency can be good – but only if the prospect is interested. If the prospect has no actual intent to buy, you’re just wasting your time.
To make matters worse, you can end up annoying the prospect. No one likes being hounded by salespeople. If you’re too aggressive with a prospect, when they finally decide they’re ready to buy, they might not want to deal with you. Depending on the leads you use, you could also be accused of harassment and non-compliance with the TCPA.
Finding Prospects When They’re Ready to Buy
Your time is too valuable to waste on prospects who aren’t even ready to buy. Instead of chasing after weak leads, you need to connect with prospects who actually intend to make a purchase.
Unfortunately, many of the leads that sales professionals buy don’t go anywhere. Many of these prospects aren’t ready to buy. Even if they are, if the sales leads are shared, you’ll be competing against other sales professionals for the same sales. The odds are stacked against you.
Pay-per-call leads provide a brilliant solution.
When consumers are actually ready to buy, they’ll take the initiative to pick up the phone and make the call – you don’t have to chase them down. Pay-per-call lead strategies take advantage of this. The benefits are numerous:
- Pay-per-call leads provide prospects who are ready to buy. As a result, you’re far less likely to lose the sale to no decision and far more likely to close the sale.
- Pay-per-call leads save time. You’re not chasing after uninterested prospects or wasting time trying to connect. The prospect is on the phone and ready to talk to you.
- Pay-per-call leads are exclusive, so you don’t waste time chasing the same lead as other sales professionals.
If you’re tired of losing sales to no decision, it’s time to adopt a new strategy. Digital Market Media is a leader in pay-per-call marketing. Learn more.
Interested in increasing your inbound call volume? Read about our services here.
