Customer Delays and Closing the Sale
What to do when the customer just won't make a decision
The Gestation Period of an Automation Project
In the animal kingdom, the shortest gestation period of a mammal is the Virginian opossum at 12 days. The longest is the African elephant at 22 months. In the world of automation, the gestation period of a project is often somewhere in between, but we’ve all had those projects that drag on for FAR too long. (My record is 7 years from first contact to first order.) You know those projects where you propose a solution that has a good ROI, a great concept, and the customer needs the machinery, but for some reason, they just keep stalling, delaying, and avoiding making a decision. So how do we get them to move?
Why Is the Customer Delaying
It’s important to understand your customer and their motivations. Put yourself in their situation. Why did they spend all this time preparing a spec, gathering samples, meeting with you, providing photos and videos, etc., only to not do anything? If they had no interest in automation to start with, they probably would not have even started the process. So why are they now ignoring your calls and emails asking about the project status? Most often, I’ve found it’s a reason that they feel will cause them embarrassment.
Just Ask Bluntly
A tactic I have used in the past is to sit down with your customer and ask them a blunt question:
”Why are you not moving forward with this project?”
It’s that simple. Why? What are your concerns? What specific things could be done to move this project forward?
This ideally should be done in person, but at the very least, face-to-face on a video call. Do not do this via email or text—it’ll fail every time. The secret is you can’t let them off with a weak answer.
You need to get a definitive, actionable solution. Here are some answers that I often hear (and possible solutions):
Budgets got reallocated. (So when will the budget cycle reset? Is this project on the next budget?)
Sales of the product have slowed, or projections are not being met. (OK, no problem. Let’s just shelve this for now and check in periodically to see when things pick back up.)
There never was a budget; they lied to you. (This one is usually a project killer. They have lost your trust at this point. I usually just tell them to call back when they do have a budget.)
They cannot decide between your proposal and another. (Ask what the other proposal has that yours does not. It may be something you can provide easily that you just left out.)
They are fearful of making the wrong decision. (This one takes a bit more picking apart. If you have shown them similar applications, then why the fear? You have proven you can do the work. If they are scared you will miss your deadlines, give them references that can vouch for you. Do everything possible to make them as comfortable as possible.)
They don’t have the final decision-making authority. (Then let’s find out who has that authority and ask to speak to them.)
Conclusion
You have to be ready to move these projects along. I see far too many salespeople who will hunt down a project for YEARS without success. You cannot continue to waste energy on a customer who is not going to buy. While it may kill the project, it’s better to kill it now and allow you to focus your energy on other opportunities. As a wise salesman mentor of mine once told me:
”The only thing worse than no business, is bad business”
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