A "no decision" is a loss

Despite what you read on LinkedIn and elsewhere Your biggest competitor is NOT the status quo.

No. Your biggest competitor is you. Consider this typical sales situation…

You have a buyer who is “in market.” They’ve signaled their intent and interest in making a change.

This buyer has invested their time and attention to do their research. Created a buying committee and talked to salespeople from multiple vendors.

They take their buying journey all the way to the point of making a decision. And then choose, seemingly at the last minute, to stick with what they’re currently doing.

With all this momentum towards making the decision to change the buyer didn’t suddenly decide to stick with the status quo.

That’s a false reading of the situation. When a buyer makes the “No decision” decision…

They’re not choosing to stick with the status quo. They’re making the decision to NOT buy from you.

That’s right. It’s not a “No Decision.” It’s absolutely a decision. Just not the one they wanted to make.

The buyer invited you in to help them make a decision and You couldn’t provide the them with a compelling business case to make a change.

Think how disappointed the buyer is about this. They’ve invested significant time, attention and resources to investigate and evaluate making a change.

Only to be let down by sellers who didn’t develop a sufficient understanding of them, their business and the things that are most important to them in order to create a compelling case for change.

Here’s the thing: Too many sellers misinterpret No Decisions. They think the issue is the buyer, not themselves.

Don’t try to fool yourself. “No Decisions” are losses. And you have to learn from them just as you would losing a deal to a competitor.

You have to ask your buyers, and understand from their perspective, What did they need from you that they didn’t get, that would have enabled them to make the decision to make a change?