Sales performance … they make it sound so easy.

But it’s not … for example take some of the bog-standard sales advice you’ll hear:

• Relationship first.
• Lead with insight.
• Leverage emotions.
• Position as a peer.

It’s in all the “how to sell consultancy” books. And it’s good stuff. But what happens when you’ve done all of those things and …

• Proposals disappear into a black hole.
• Previously receptive clients start ghosting you.
• Sure fire deals stall and suddenly go cold.
• A dreaded ‘we need to delay’ email arrives.

And you don’t know why, or what to do.

Well, the why. It’s probably because you’ve left a vital part of the sales process to chance. Your client needs you to help them make the buying decision.

And someone who absolutely knows their way around sales would tell you this …

Don’t leave your client’s decision-making to fate.

All that work on relationships, insight, emotional leverage, and positioning expertise … useful … but it’s not going to move things forward when your deal is stuck.

And then what to do.

My recommendation is to learn how to become a professional mind-maker-upper.

That means leading your clients in a collaborative, and calmly assertive way … toward a decision.

That’s what all the best business developers do and you can too.

Mini-mission

Think of a recent situation where a deal has (had) stalled. Why did the client struggle to make a buying decision? What was missing for them?

Here are some common (FUD) factors that slow down, or kill, decisions. See if one of these fits the situation you're looking at.

1. Fear they might be making the wrong choice, or taking the wrong option.
2. Uncertaintly about whether they had done a thorough fact-find, or assessement.
3. Doubts about getting the expected return on investment, or impact.

Then choose if you are going to do something about that.