Read Ann Rusnak’s featured article on “Quit Wasting Your Time on Prospects Who Won’t Buy”.


Ann Rusnak’s featured article is reprinted here:

Quit Wasting Your Time on Prospects Who Won’t Buy

Ever experience a prospect that couldn’t make up their mind to buy? They keep telling you how great you are, how wonderful your company is, and that they really do need your service or product. You “woo” them, give them information, even free advice, and two months later, they still can’t decide whether to buy it.

but…

They continue to give you one excuse after another for not purchasing today. When they do, it is going to be a really big order. They send you emails asking about how your product/service can help with a particular problem. You answer. After all, you want them to see how attentive and knowledgeable you are.

So you repeat the “woo” process again. You keep them at the top of your prospect list. Two months now turn to six months, maybe longer. Now you realize this person is never going to buy and you’ve just wasted six months of your time – Not to mention hours of fr>e consultation and possible samples.

Imagine the time and aggravation you would save if you knew that from the beginning.

Every business or salesperson experiences this scenario more times then they care to count.

How can you tell if you have a genuine prospect? Obviously, when they “whip out” the credit card and say “sold.”

It’s not always that easy, and most don’t purchase the first time. It can take a few phone calls or several visits to your site before they finally make that purchase.

Use these four buying zones to identify and weed out the time-waster from the potential buyer.

The Four Buying Zones potential customers fall into:

Dead Zone

Comfort Zone

Panic Zone

Growth Zone

Dead Zone Prospect – 10%

10 percent of your prospects will fall into this zone. Big time-wasters. They suffer from “Poor, Poor Me Syndrome.” Everything always happens to them. They do not see their problem because they are too busy blaming others for them.

They just let things happen to them. They have no desire to change. They don’t think there is any reason to change because all their problems are external.

If the economy…
If taxes weren’t…
If so and so… etc.

Don’t even bother with this prospect. Nothing is ever going to happen.

Comfort Zone Prospect – 30-40%

Check this figure out – they are 30-40 percent of your prospects.

They make excuses too, but not in the same way as the dead zone prospect. They know about their problem or a potential problem.

They keep doing the same thing, expecting different results. If something worked before, why change it? They operate in a reactive mode and can’t handle another thing.

Comfort zone prospects are often the business owner. They just don’t get it. They need to deal with the problem now, but won’t.

You’ll hear excuses like:

Call Me after the First of the Year
Not Time Yet (timing not right)
But…
We Can Live with It for Now
Can You Send Us More Literature
Can You Send Us More Samples

Does this prospect sound familiar… yep… you just read about this prospect in the beginning of the article. They’re not going to purchase now, and next month they’ll have another excuse.

Tell this prospect not to call you again until they are ready to do something. Quit giving them free information and advice. Quit freely giving them your time. Eventually they will do something when all
H— breaks loose. Which takes us to the next zone.

Panic Zone Prospect – 25%

Twenty-five percent of your prospects fall into this zone. They sound like they need your product or service now. You may think you have a genuine prospect. After all, the really do need your product now. Look at the mess they needed to clean up… Just what your product/services will do…

But…

They’ve waited too long to fix the problem. They feel confused, disoriented, and fear drives them. They feel overwhelmed and can’t make a decision. Or worse yet – can’t afford to pay for the solution.

The prospect won’t cause a problem… you will. That’s right, YOU!

Why you? Because, you feel the need to rescue them from their problem. You feel sorry for them. Keep in mind your prospect can’t make a decision or doesn’t process money to fix the problem.

Approach this prospect with CAUTION… they often will turn into the customer from H -ll if you accommodate them. Resist the temptation to discount your services/products. You didn’t create their problem. Don’t spend a lot of time with this person.

Growth Zone Prospect – 25%

They also make up 25 percent of your prospects. The best prospect… ones that want to buy.

Characteristics of this prospect:
Committed to growth.
Seeking new changes and challenges.
Written concrete long-term and short-term goals.
Operate in proactive mood.
Make fast decisions

They want to know how you will help solve their problem and what they can do to help you.
They won’t waste your time…so don’t waste theirs.
This is your ideal client.

Let’s recap of The Four Prospect Buying Zones.

Dead Zone – will never see the problem – run away from them.

Comfort Zone – will find excuses – don’t waste your time with them.

Panic Zone – ugly place to be, can’t make a decision and/or no money – spend very little time with them.

Growth Zone – always do business.

Knowing where to spend your time with what prospects will make your business more profitable with less stressful.

(c) 2006 Ann Rusnak

Ann Rusnak, “The Time Diva” developed a system to show busy self employed people and business owners how to achieve success with less effort and time. Receive her free Time Package and find more additional articles at: http://www.SimpleTimeManagement.com

*IMNewswatch would like to thank Ann Rusnak for granting permission to reprint this article.

 

 

 

 

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