It's all too common for salespeople to have a clogged pipeline. They're theoretically working on a lot of deals. But in reality, they need to clean out their list of prospects.
In fact, doing just that can lead to closing more business!
Not too long ago, a client of mine who is a real estate agent had a deal worth three million that he thought was dead. Rather than give up, he decided to reach out to one of the parties again to see if they could close it, or if he needed to move on.
At one point prior, they'd had the building under contract, but my client thought the buyer and seller were just too far apart to come to an agreement. There was a $300,000 difference between them.
Ten percent may sound like a small amount. However, both parties had dug their heels in, so my client didn't think it was going to happen.
Rather than give up, he sat down with one of the parties. They met for about three hours going over all the details. He found out a major tenant was leaving, which affected the valuation of the property.
Interestingly, that change was enough of a catalyst that my client was able to get the buyer and seller talking again. I don't know if the deal ended up closing or not, but I do know it would have been one of my client's biggest deals yet.
The key here is that my client had an assumption, but he didn't act on it. He assumed the deal was dead, but he gave it one more shot.
Change is a constant in the business world. My client kept the conversation going, and was there when a change happened and it made sense to start the negotiations again.
Sandler Rule #31 is Close the Sale or Close the File. And that's what my client was doing. Rather than letting things drag out, or just giving up, he reconnected with one of the parties. His specific goal was to find out whether they could close that deal, or if he needed to "close the file" and move on.
What deals do you have stuck in your pipeline? Would you benefit from reaching out to those prospects to close the file or close the sale?
