Reasons People Don’t Buy From You

Many sales people spend a great deal of time marketing their products, but still do not sell at the quantities that they would like. The cause could be a range of potential problems.

No matter how great a product or service you have, there is more to making a sale. Too many people believe their products will sell themselves. This simply will NOT happen and will only result in you losing money!

Often times, we unknowingly create barriers to purchase. Sometimes buyers are ready to buy and a salesman will spend so much time in the presentation that the buyer actually drops in certainty and they lose the sale.

No matter the reason, the biggest objection we could ever get is the unspoken objection. This is why it is crucial, in sales, to know the reasons your buyer won’t buy. If you know the reasons (they are finite by the way) you will be able to shine a light on them and help the buyer to make a decision.

Read these, study these, learn these, and become aware of which reason your prospect is using not to close.

1. Lack of Time

The more qualified an individual is to purchase, the busier they will be. Whenever you encounter a busy person, recognize that they are probably people with money.

Lack of time is a reason why people are not getting back with you. You need to figure out how to solve this problem to put your product and company back on their agenda. Their problem of not having time to email you or call you back, or to have you come and give another presentation, is now your problem.

So, look for creative ways to solve this lack of time problem. You cannot do that by reducing the price or by somehow making your product sound better… these things do not actually solve the lack of time issue.

How do you take time out of the equation? Go to them. Quit asking or hoping for them to come back to your office. Send them information and address the time issue. “I know you are busy, what can I do to solve your time problem?”

The reality is, they are going to do this now or they will do it later. They already told you they love the product and they can afford the product, so get them to see the value of taking care of it now, sooner than later. Here is a great close to any “time” objection:

“The sooner we get this done, the more you are free to get the other things you need done. And the more time you have to concentrate on all the other things you have not yet done! Let’s do this now so that you can get on to all the other things that require your attention! Sign here…”

2. Personal Issues

Often times, customers will walk into your office or retail store ready to buy. However, after you give your presentation, for whatever reason, they don’t end up closing.

Once they leave, things in their personal life tend to take their attention away from your product or company. These personal issues have nothing to do with your product or service, which is why the follow up is so important. Now you need to be persistent. The client’s personal issues are why you need a planned follow up schedule.

Be the one who is scheduled and disciplined and always there. Weather the storm and you will be there for the sale.

3. They are concerned about the cost

Before they ever even speak with you, the customer knows it will cost money for your product. However, their complaint is now “I don’t know if this is going to work for us” or “I am not sure we can afford that.”

Try moving the customer up a product. Maybe it’s not actually the cost itself, but it is the value for that cost. Show them your best product and if that doesn’t work, move them down a product.

Money and budget are usually just stalls, but it can be a real objection. This is a problem that you now inherit.

Lowering price and adding value does not solve the cash flow concern. Be creative and try to help solve the problem with financing. Example would be delaying payments until they get the cash flow and then considering they will be able to pay the last 3 payments in that month when their cash flow problem is solved.

Budget constraints = not doing a good enough job of finding out the real problem within the company or person. If you can find their problem, they should be able to see how the product will solve it and therefore make it happen, regardless of price.

They are spending money every day on electricity, water, gas, taxes, legal, employees, etc. Find the real problem and the budget constraint will disappear.

4. No urgency

A customer might come at you with, “Well, we are just going to wait. We didn’t have this before and we have been doing just fine.”

They have decided they don’t need your product right now because they are still living! They are fine. Your product and service is good, yes, but they can carry on without it.

Until you can establish the real problem for them, that thing that tells them they cannot carry on without this, you will not make the sale.

Establish what the real problem is, find the solution and show them the cost of waiting or the cost of them not having your product.

5. Sold by someone else

This is one of the most disappointing things in sales. You had the lead and you had them close to closing, but another company came in and took them. To handle this, keep your pipeline full and nurture your leads. Keep following up and keep your schedule full!

Sometimes when customers are not answering or replying to you, this is the reason. Only they don’t want to tell you, so they just cut communication lines!

You have to ask them, “Did you guys decide to buy from someone else?” Take yourself out of mystery. You are a professional. You lost a deal to the competition, so what?

Your goal is to get them to talk to you again even after you have lost the deal; they will buy again! You have to get them to respond to you because no communication means…they are never going to take you calls, they are never going to take your personal visits, and they are not going to respond to your emails, links, or your information. Find out about the lost deal to the competition. If you lose a deal, find out why you lost the deal.

6. They have bad experiences in the past

These people have made so many bad decisions in the past that now they don’t want one with you! The past could make the customer not even want to make a decision that is good for them. You need to call them out on this.

Just sit down with them on a personal visit, not a call or text or email, and ask, “Have you or your company made some poor decisions in the past maybe that didn’t work out?”

You will find out YES. Just get them to talk about how those previous decisions were bad for them and those decisions will clear. Then they will be able to make another decision.

This will differentiate you from everyone else. I promise you this will flush out the fact that they can’t make a decision with you because they can’t differentiate you between their previous poor decisions.

7. You lack branding

This is why companies that don’t sell as good of a product and are more expensive get deals over you…because they have done a better job at branding themselves. They have been there carving the path and making people comfortable.

People do not do business with people they do not know. This is why people spend so much money advertising. So blog, use my strategies, use social media, YouTube, follow up, and do whatever you can to brand yourself.

You are not going to be a pest, you are building your brand and you have to pay the price to do this, so stay with it.

8. Bad reputation

You have a reputation that you don’t know about and you need to find out what it is. Google review, something on Facebook, someone said something about your company or about you and you need to handle it. The best way to handle a bad review is not to remove it, but to get more good reviews to combat the bad.

Get lots of people saying good things about you and your company.

To get to the top, you are going to have to have haters. Many people will even say things about you that are not true! So what? It happens and there is no avoiding it unless you stay so small that not enough people know you.

Get everyone around you to say something good and that will overwhelm the hate. Never worry about the haters, worry about the “black eye” that reputation you don’t know you have. Ask people! Just ask them straight up…

“Have you heard something about me or about my company or about our product that is keeping you from doing business with us?”

The answer will show up before they even say anything! You will be able to see it on their face. And then what you need to do is provide real data that says it isn’t you. “People don’t want to lose their market to us, but here is what we really do and what is true about us.”

Reputations are extremely important, so protect yours and don’t be afraid to tell people what you are doing well. Use social media to show people what you and your company are doing out in the community.

9. Uncertainty

They will tell you they are going to think about it, put it off, wait, your price is too high, we are going to look at something else, etc. This is uncertainty, and uncertainty breeds more uncertainty. The way to handle this is to straight up confront it…

”What is it that you are uncertain about? Do you think we are not going to be here next week? Next month? Three months from now? Three years from now? What if the economy does get worse, what if they quit hiring people? What if the government does this, are you going to stop being in business? Are you going to stop growing?”

Share with people good and positive news. Even during the worst economies or employment routs. You can do this by sending people blogs, articles, participating in broadcasts, sending people links, etc. Use this as a way to build certainty not only in you but in the economy, in them, and in their future.

10. Not a decision maker

If they have the money, they need your product, and they like your product, but still won’t buy, you probably don’t have the decision maker.

“Would there be anyone else involved in this decision other than you?”

“I know a lot of decision makers like to bring in other people. Other than yourself, who would you like to have involved with the decision making.”

There are two types here…

1. He said he’s a decision maker, but he is not.

2. He is a decision maker, but he just can’t make a decision!

Not having the right person is a reason not to close your product. After the presentation, tell them “There are only two reasons you won’t buy this right now. You are either not the decision maker, or you are scared you won’t use the product. Which is it?”

11. They don’t like you

They don’t like the way you stand, talk, the email you sent, or the way you posted something online. They just don’t like you, for whatever reason it may be.

Not everyone is going to like you. I believe it is better for you to like yourself, the activities you do every day, the discipline you have, what you should be doing, how you go out and carry yourself, than for everyone else to like you.

In this case thought, you should flat out ask, “What is it about me that you don’t like?”

Take responsibility for whatever the reason.

The only thing you can do in a situation where you are the problem is to pass off the customer to your manager or another salesman, to ensure you don’t lose the sale for the company.

These are all reasons people will not buy from you. When you know the reason, you can better maneuver around them to help comfort your buyer to a decision.

Learn these and become aware of any other reasons that may be relevant in your industry, so that you can overcome them, differentiate yourself from the others sales people, and so that you can become a true professional in your field.