Sales Tips: A Strong Qualifier for Proposals
By John Holland, Chief Content Officer, CustomerCentric Selling® – The Sales Training Company
When asked in a word to describe the difference between A Players and B/C Players I would say:
Patience.
By that I mean they avoid prematurely talking about offerings that helps them avoid early pricing decisions. Top performers also understand how much control sellers give up after issuing proposals.
I believe proposals should document and confirm discussions with buyers and provide a buyer) or buying committee everything that is needed to make decisions. Premature proposals often hang in seller’s pipelines and often wind up being removed months later after no decision has been reached.
A Strong Qualifier
If and when proposals must be issued, most sellers miss out on a strong qualifying step. My suggestion is they ask a buyer or the buying committee to review a draft copy of what will be in the final proposal.
- The advantage to buyers is there will be no surprises in the proposal.
- The advantage to sellers is the ability to get it right the first time.
I suppose it’s a pink, if not a red flag, if sellers can’t get agreement to review a draft and may be a potential sign that sellers are not Column A.
After a review of the content and after buyers have approved the content, the seller has a great opportunity at that point to ask for the business. I feel it’s the perfect time to close because it is the first time the seller has earned the right to close. Even if you choose not to close it offers the chance to get in front of buyers a week before decisions will be made.
