"We're passing at this time"

by Smith Sinclair
(Seattle)

My worst objection is the one that is not defined; just, an email saying, 'were passing at this time". I cannot tell you how many times in my business we are getting this one. Hard to know why we are getting it, although there are several legitimate reasons for getting it. We were working with the CFO who had total authority. But, our service was turned down. This has happened a lot lately.

We're already writing them back and asking for an explanation first, but in light of the way we are being told no thanks, I'm concerned they won't even take the time.

Thoughts?

Comments for "We're passing at this time"

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Feb 06, 2020
Rating
starstarstarstarstar
by: Greg

Hi,

yes it's hard to get anything out of "passing" isn't it?

You don't know if they're going with somebody else or just putting up with what they currently have.

Although I suspect from the tone of the comment they are sticking with the status quo (mind you I don't have a lot to go on either in that you haven't told me what you sell or how you made the approach).

Sharon Drew Morgen (author of "Sales on the Line" and "Selling with Integrity" writes about people sticking with the status quo quite a bit.

To quote her ...
"Let’s consider the, um, status quo: When does a buyer buy? When they’re ready – regardless of their need. When is a buyer ready? When their stable status quo recognizes it cannot fix any problems with known resources and is prepared to change in a way that won’t cause irreparable disruption. A buying decision (any decision, frankly) is a change management problem."
and
"even if buyers need your solution, they can’t buy if the cost of disruption is higher than the cost of the solution implementation. And here is the frustrating part for us: Any change must be initiated, managed, and maintained from within the system because no outsider can understand the nuances of a status quo they are not part of."

To read here full article click HERE

The point that Sharon often makes is that businesses are a system and ANY decision in some way is a group decision. You mention you are talking to the CFO and they have "total authority". That means they sign the cheque but how likely is it that they are discussing any change with other department heads? And just maybe those other department heads are not interested in any change to the status quo? And the only way you'll find out is to uncover who else has input (maybe not authority for) into the decision.

Hope this helps

Greg

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Pesky Sales Objections.