There is a way to get out of this state of flux and to bust through indecision….

Get an Implementation Date. When salespeople think about key dates, they tend to think about milestones in the sales process: presentation date, closing date, contract signing etc. But prospects don’t care about these things. Prospects focus on when they’ll be able to start using a product, when it will be fully functional, and when it will start paying back on their investment.

So, step 1 in getting some finality to a maybe response is to find out what date is most important to the prospect. What’s happening in the organisation that’s driving their need for a solution? When is that event happening? When does the product you’re selling need to be up and running? That’s the Implementation Date.

The Lead Date. Lead dates are what cause an Implementation Date to be firm. They are key events, commitments, promises, tasks, goals, and objectives tied to the date. These are the events that have to be completed before implementation can go ahead. Asking prospects about their lead date, rather than about your features and benefits, gets them to put some urgency into making a decision.

Next time you have a sales opportunity stuck in the “maybe” phase, try shifting the focus of your pitch from product capabilities to important dates and events. It may be just what the prospect needs to jolt him or her into action.