How to Get a Stalled Deal Back on Track

Editor’s Note: These tips are taken in part from Unsticking Stuck Deals, a webinar featuring Tom Searcy (author of Hunt Big Sales), and Gerhard Gschwandtner, founder & CEO of Selling Power.

In sales, there are generally three signs that a deal is headed south.

The first sign is frequent or prolonged delays. If you’re being deferred to other decision makers or denied access, you’re in the delay zone. The second sign is a shift in information or key players. Are you suddenly being introduced to new executives, new requirements, or new caveats? The third and very obvious sign that your deal is going nowhere is a flatline in communication. If there is suddenly no connection or response from contacts, you’re definitely on the ropes.

If and when any of the above signs crop up, don’t panic. Instead, admit it and deal with the problem head on.

The first order of business is to bring your team together and determine where things got off track. Generally, a deal gets stuck due to one of four factors:

1. Uncontrollable factors (a budget freeze, job changes, etc.),
2. Due diligence (i.e. no opportunity ever existed – the prospect was simply following corporate protocol in soliciting RFPs),
3. The prospect believes your solution is a poor fit but hasn’t said so directly yet,
4. Your solution is a good fit, but the prospect has concerns about some aspect of the deal (e.g. your team, process, or resources).

If the deal is stuck because of the first two possibilities, your best bet might be to cut your losses and walk away. If this is a solvable problem, however, you have some options:

Recruit more people from the prospect’s side. This can add energy to your campaign and lend support to your approach.

Reconsider the problem and stakeholders. Did you accurately define the problem up front?

Consider how you might more closely align with your prospect. If you’re proposing too much change, you’ll scare them, but if you propose too little impact, you might not get their support.

Find out if you can re-submit a business case. If the ROI from the business case is not compelling, go back to the drawing board and re-examine.

Trade out some of the people on your team. If you have reason to believe the prospect dislikes or mistrusts someone on your team, send in a sub. Trust and likeability are critical to a successful close.