We used to call them "fence-sitters". I'm referring to those sales prospects that take a year and a day to make up their mind about anything. There's always an excuse coming from them about the delay, and little clarity about when they will make the final decision. It's called the "waiting game", and I hate it.

If you sell technology to the financial services industry, are you noticing how much longer it now takes to get a decision? It seems like there are a lot more committees involved with decision-making lately. No wonder we play the "waiting game" so often. It's practically impossible to get committees to agree on anything within a reasonable amount of time. This has always been the case, but something's changed.

Since Y2K there have been big changes in the budgeting and decision-making hierarchy within the financial services industry. Thanks to the recent credit and mortgage-lending crisis, we've got a real messy selling situation on our hands. Oh, and let's not forget the insurance companies that have lost billions in the wake of Katrina.

When companies feel the pinch they tend to take their time making purchasing decisions. The days when middle managers could make independent buying decisions are probably gone for good. What are salespeople to do? Sometimes a decision not to make a decision is the decision.