Are sunk costs sinking you? Seth Godin blogged today about that very topic. I’ll address it to sales people and sales organizations.
Biggest problem is when you have invested hours/weeks/ years in a laboriously long selling cycle and nothing is happening. But rather than pull out, you persevere—thinking that maybe, just maybe, you’ll get lucky.
Pull Out and Move On
I tell clients all the time–you know by the middle of the cycle whether a prospect will turn into a client. Your gut screams this at you. But why don’t you listen? Well, Seth hit it. We get emotional.
We get so ‘bound up’ in what we’ve put into the sales process, we neglect to consider that every extra hour we put in on a losing deal, is an hour we DON’T put into a new one.
Look At Your Funnel
So, as you spend this Friday night reviewing your sales funnel, ask yourself the question, “How many losers am I working on?” You won’t like the answer—but it WILL make you money.
