Thoughtful Thursdays – Avoid being fooled
Have you ever had the feeling your prospect might be using you as a lever to better their position with the existing supplier? Fair or not, it happens. With forethought and planning you can lessen the chances of it happening to you.
I will assume your product/service is not a commodity.
There are signs to look for that may indicate the presence of a second agenda.
- You may have called on the prospect for a long time without any great degree if sales success and a request comes from what appears to be out of the blue
- The prospect says that the matter is urgent and needs your quotation right away
- The volumes are unexpectedly high
- The prospect tells you that your pencil needs to be sharp
- The opportunity sounds a bit too good to be true
If you get a sense the real need is to drive prices down and that even if you come in lower, the business will stay with they current supplier you are probably correct. Before making your offer consider the following tactics.
- Ask the prospect what has changed
- Why is it suddenly urgent? (If it is truly urgent, price should not be the deciding factor)
- Don’t put the offer in writing without receiving a commitment to buy if should your proposal be favourable
- Conduct some quick competitive research. Has anything changed the competitive landscape that would compel the prospect to come to you?
Be thoughtful and ask yourself why before jumping in and risking needless price erosion. It only takes a second to drop price and it will seem like an eternity before you can implement an increase. Don’t be blinded by an opportunity that may not really exist.
Good selling,
Richard
Have a question about sales? Contact me and I will respond.
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