At last, we have reached December of 2009, a time of the year when things start to get frustrating for many salespeople and business owners.  This is when salespeople and business owners start to hear prospective new clients say things like:

• "Call me after the holidays."
• "Our business is slow right now, so we won't be buying anything until after the first of the year."
• "We're going to wait until after the first of the year before we change _________."

Unless what you sell can be given as a holiday gift, this time of year presents a unique and difficult challenge for many salespeople. That challenge is not objections, but worse.

Here Are Just A Few Ways To Handle A Prospect Delaying A Buying Decision...  

• "I understand. Some businesses are putting off _____________ until after the first of the year and because of that, I wanted to see if your company qualifies for our new cost saving ____________ program (or whatever your special offer is called), which has an extra bonus if you sign up by December 30th. This would save you X%."
• "I can relate to things being slow right now. By the way, I wanted to share with you a new _______ package to introduce our (insert your product/services here)."
• "I can relate to things being slow right now, but tell me, will anything change after the first of the year that will prevent you from starting then?"
• "I understand. What day after the first of the year would you like to start your _____________?"
• "I understand. We can deliver the products now and bill you after the first of the year.  Does that work for you?  On top of that, you will save X% by avoiding the 2010 price increase."

What You Say After Being Told "No" Will Prompt A Prospect To Tell You Their Real Objection.

Often times, the reason a prospect stalls their buying decision is because they are afraid of taking a risk. They may be thinking, "Suppose this service doesn't work well for our situation?then I'll be in trouble." In addition to fear, another reason a prospect may be stalling is if their cash flow is off and they are not authorized to make any purchases.  Whatever the real reason may be, you need to flush it out and solve it before you move a prospect down the buying process.

If A Prospect Still Says "No" Here Is What You Need To Do. 

Like you, I talk to people who want to put things off until after the first of the year.  In fact, I spoke with one owner this week from Michigan, Matthew S., about hiring us to handle the marketing for his payroll service.  And no matter what we discussed, he still wanted to wait until after the first of year to get started with MyMarketingPartner.  To keep Matthew in the sales cycle, I am doing three simple things. 

1.       Schedule a follow-up call to him for the first week of the year.  

2.       I place him in my weekly e-tip marketing campaign so my company's name stays in their conscious and subconscious mind. 

3.       I will be sending him two postcards about our marketing services as well as relevant information about his industry.

See below for some additional ideas:  

• Postcards that promote special offers on your products or services
• Special reports or white papers about cost savings, customer success stories or related customer testimonials.
• Buying guides that help them make the best buying decision. Consumer Reports magazine does a great job at presenting this type of data.
• Letters from the president of your company thanking them for their past business.
• Independent articles that talk about cost saving from your product or services.
• Press releases on new clients, customer service guarantees or special interest projects.

Executive Summary:  Do not let your sales team be the ones who send out a formal drip marketing campaign; let your marketing team do this for them as salespeople, in general, are unable to implement a consistent series of drip marketing activities.  If you don't have a marketing department then be prepared to work double time unless you hire an outside marketing firm like us.  Nonetheless, if you do not engage a drip marketing system, I will guarantee that you will miss a number of sales opportunities.