August 27, 2008
Three quick ways to get out of your prospect’s hair…
… and three quick indicators that tell you how good a prospect they really are…
To add something of value, most of my prospects never see me face to face or talk to me over the phone. Their first point of entry into our relationship is either via our website or through my colleague who would handle their call and talk about their requirement in detail.
I would usually get a summary note or an email to follow-up. In any case I end up with one of two things, an email address and/or a telephone number.
Getting out of their hair:
- Respond to the initial quote request and indicate when you’ll get back to them. Don’t give a definite day or time, just estimate the number of days you require and give that figure to them. A good example is, ‘I’ll get back to you within three work days.’
- Prepare the quote and any related information. Don’t go into details that can be sorted our later (sometimes I omit Payment Terms if I’m not asked to submit them) but answer all their questions and try to cover any issues that they may want to know about (e.g. length of service, discounts available, quality or guarantees).
- Deliver the quote via email. Ring the prospect and inform them about your quote and that it has been delivered (you may want to use regular post or fax it across but I never use these two methods as a first choice).
Indicators that tell you how good a prospect they really are:
- If this is the first time you’re talking to them, you may have to break some ice. Your first email (one that you send to inform them about when you’ll get back to them) and the latter one that you follow-up with the quote should help to break the ice. Your phone call is your third contact so it should get you a good response and if they’re serious about the requirement, you’ll find out. The first indication is that the ice is broken and you get a buzzing response. A buzzing response would be, ‘Thanks, I’ll definitely have a look and get back to you!’ or ‘Ok, great, I’ll have a look.’ or ‘Thank you, have you included your pricing?’ (notice that serious buyers would want to get as much information as possible and will begin a conversation right away). Great buyers talk to you.
- A prospect who’s really serious about buying a product will respond with some enthusiasm. If you find lack of enthusiasm or a lack of response or a few famous ones, ‘I’ll get back to you.’, ‘I’ll check it.’, ‘We’re currently evaluating proposals from several companies, so we’ll get back to you.’, I must say you may well be wasting your time. Sometimes it’s just not the right time, or you’re perceived to be a cut-throat salesman and hence the defenses are up and I do suggest that you don’t rush for the sale but let it rub in - if your call oversells, be prepared to face the slack, but that’s not exactly why we make the call. The purpose of the call is to inform your client that you delivered the quote and that they may review it and get back to you if they require more information. How they choose to respond to this invitation is what let’s you analyze them and their approach. Lack of interest on their part reveals a flaw somewhere in their buying cycle and these are some of the prominent ones that come to my mind: the buyer is price hunting, is not interested in buying a quality product, lacks corporate purchase experience or is a newbie at purchasing, reports to too many decision makers, isn’t the right person to talk to (not the decision maker), is taken by surprise when you get back on time and call-up or is simply shy (not probably the best choice, but some people are shy over the phone).
- Lastly, a great prospect will talk about their project, not ‘only’ about your price. If someone is focusing only on price, they ring three bells in my mind. First, they really don’t have a big/good budget for this work (product or service) at this moment (which is a good acceptable and genuine reason). Second, they’re hunting for a product or service at the lowest rate (which is a poor yet prevalent buying practice) and would only give emphasis to what you have to say if your price was/is the lowest. Third, prices on this product or service vary considerably from one seller to another and the buyer is in a fix. If there’s a great focus on price, ask them politely if they’d want to share more information and get involved. It’s tough to sell them your product if only they want to buy is a lower price, but there are ways to get things moving and the best one I find is to confidently state, ‘We can offer you an amazing price, that’s not a problem.’ I’ve found that once you make this move, you find your prospect relaxed and willing to talk about the project. If this happens, it’s good for your sale.
In brief, where there is a will, there is a sale!
