Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Wow thanks everyone for the great answers. Well, the point I most agree with is that I probably am giving them too much information, so they can either get a competitor to "underbid" me and so on. My question is, when these potentials ask for a pricing proposal, what do I do, say no? There has to be a way from discouraging them to not share this info or use it against me.

Of course you are going to give them a proposal. In fac t youa re going to close them. And why the fear? So what if someone underbids you-- my saying is "pay peanuts get monkeys".

there will always be someone that underbids you. Bring it on. You can handle the objections and make sure you are never the lowest price, because you have the highest value.

Thanks! That makes me feel a bit better. I just went through losing a potential to a "lower bidder" and it really hit home. I said the same thing, they are going to get sub-par service or no service at all for the low ball prices.

So, in short, I should spend less time calling and emailing these non-responsive potentials?

I always thought it never hurt to keep trying to communicate with them, but I don't want to seem desparate..and annoying!

If you went to Sandler's School-- they would tell you "yes:". They call it the milk run.

But in my experience, there is no straight up answer to that. Feel your gut. There are certainly those just in the milk run. I truly do not believe any credible sales person needs coaching on this. But, some sales people do equate being busy with being successful. And for that-- you know in your gut those your product or service is a match. And you know-- those you are just filling time with because they love to chat and give you lip service.

Walk the line-- if they are ignoring you, put them on a longer call back schedule. Find out why though they stopped. Things and situations change.

If you are convinced in your heart you can benefit this company-- call them until they say yes. Don't call them every day. You have other things to do. And make sure your called don't say "hey just checkin in" which is a huge peeve of mine. Every call must have a reason.

My biggest sale was over $300K -- to me, my commission-- not net sale. $300K in my pocket (till the IRS). It took them a year to return my call to acknowledge me I didn't' call them everyday. I had them on my call schedule and watched every piece of news they let out. Because in my heart, I knew I was a match for them. It took them a year to return the call, and a year to close the deal-- but really, wasn't that good time spent. I had and have day to day biz to more than maintain my lifestyle. So remember-- don't bet the farm on any one account. And having been in straight performance based sales my adult life- I will tell you-- You'll get one "over the top" job that makes your retirement-- every year. One a year. Trust me on this. Spend it wisely.

Great discussion. Thanks again. I totally agree. I believe in my service and know that it can benefit these potentials. It makes it a bit more difficult, because I am working with large companies that often have "busy" schedules to adhere to. Also, I may not be reaching the decision maker. However, I do my best to reach someone in the organization that will at least pass my information along.

Funny you say "Hey just checking in" line...I don't use that ... however I do like to say "This is Ryan from xyz company just following up to see how your company is coming along with the process" perhaps that's not the best follow up line?

To me, a 300k account, is definitely worth the time spent on trying to pursue them. I was working with an account that was worth a similar figure, however they went with the "peanut" price. I did follow up with them and let them know that in the future, if they are dissatisfied with their choice, they can revisit my company and services for another round. Hopefully they take it!

if you feel you lost over the peanut price-- revisit that thought. Consider you didn't establish the value.

In the project I spoke about-- my first meeting started with "what is your price". I told them I hadn't a clue because I don't know what they needed. Then steered them into a conversation about value. While anyone can beat my price-- I am confident I am competitive and I always refer to understanding the blended price. Know what I provide and others do not and ask more $ for. This is the value I add.

I guess my last question would be what is a good follow method? Phone call? Email? If so, what is the best approach to this? How do I spark their attention again or at least coax them to give me an answer? Thanks again for your input.

First answer is by phone call. Every call must have a reason. So you are calling because of a new service. You wrote an article about a company with similar problems and will forward (then email). You are working with a client with a similar problem and want to tell you the unique solution. You feel they are uncomfortable with the process and thought of another way. How about, you'd like to know why the silence?

Carol is on target with the phone call, and as the number of attempts goes up, the resistance to (all) your contact attempts goes up.

They screen calls by caller ID or use the gatekeeper.
Try calling from another phone number they wouldn't recognize and catch them off guard.

Email is as equally annoying with increased attempts and you may even get a open reply but never hear from them.

Asking why communications went cold is something we tactfully and professionally do and the response rate is minimal. Trying to offer something new may shake a few responses loose, but generally they've made up their mind that they aren't expecting to work with your company under any circumstances. If they expected to in the future, they would keep the lines open.

There is a line between following up and communicating in a professional manner-- and being a pest. So remember what I said about putting them on a longer call back schedule. Don't assume that they are just avoiding you. Don't assume they've made up their mind not to do biz with you. That is typical in order taking, not sales. Its very limited thinking. Its being subservant.

You have a product or service that provides real value. They just don't understand that yet. Maybe a smaller project will let you prove yourself. That is how I got started with a lot of my long term clients. (Not the $4mil job I mentioned above-- they just jumped in -- so fast my factory was scared!)

No matter what good job you've done in preselling, the client has no concrete evidence you can do what you have said you can do. You have to earn their business and their trust. The only way you do that is demonstration. Consistant communication is one way of doing that.

Great words of advice here - but, here's another perspective. This hasn't ever worked for me. I have a business as a consultant where all of my clients are from referral only. I control how much business I have by regulating the input - meetings with referral partners and clients to extract referrals. All my referrals are either "personal introductions" (90%+ closure rate) or warm referrals - the referral partner sings praises about me specific to the prospect's needs (50% closure rate). My closure rate with prospects is about 50% to 75% - on the FIRST meeting. I control this too. I tell my clients that the outcome of the meeting is 1) we do business or 2) we agree to NOT do business. I do very few "proposals" - I don't have to. Because I get the client to answer "yes" or "no" - I do no follow-up and instead spend my energy on prospecting for the next prospects. When I go into a prospect meeting, I have a little game I play with myself. I see how quickly I can get to a "no." I win if I: 1) Close, 2) Get a "no" 3) Learn a lesson (even if painful), or 4) Define a clear, concise "next step."

Because my brand is a confident, competent business adviser, follow-up and "chasing" clients is counter to my brand. This attitude and stance reinforces itself because not needing to "beg and chase" is counter and because I don't, I come off as more confident and competent. I tell my prospects that I don't do business with everyone. I select my clients.

That being said, not everyone has my brand nor does this work for every business model. However, I advise my business owners to look at their time as valuable. You can 1) Work for a client and bill them, 2) Prospect and win new clients, or 3) Chase resistant clients. Obviously, item 1 is much more valuable to your business. Item 2) and 3) are about the same value and probably about the same probability of closing (item 3 may be a little better because prospects in item 2 haven't bought into you - are probably negatively slanted, but item 3 prospects might be at neutral.) I'm not saying that there aren't ways to close resistant prospects. There are. But, for the most part, the way to do this is to drive them to a "yes" or "no" directly versus keep calling on them and hoping that they will relent some day. If there is a reason they are delaying their decision versus just avoiding saying "no," then find out what that is and address it. Otherwise, tell them that you are assuming they are not interested and you will stop calling. If you are assuming incorrectly, they will argue with you and then you have them. Then, from a business viewpoint, you can move on and spend your energy prospecting versus wasting time following up on clients that are dry holes.

Wayde

Excellent responses. I'm sure I can take away something useful from each one.

How does everyone feel about leaving voice messages these days? It is almost impossible to actually reach decision makers on their office phones as I'm sure most of you know.

I've been leaving voice messages when I can't reach them, just something short and sweet that outlining the value or my service and wanting to discuss it with them at their convenience.

There are ways to leaving voice mails that yield as high as 90% return call. It takes conviction and technique. This involves leaving a compelling message versus just the average of "here's why I'm calling" kind of thing. The real key to leaving messages and selling in general is to appear different from every other salesman. The more you look like everyone else, the more you will get screened out and the less response you will get. Rent Glenn Gary Glenn Ross and do NOTHING from that film. It's old timie sales and doesn't work any more.

Wayde