There was an old adage, "Close early and often?" Has that ever really worked for you, that after the first call you got a significant size deal? I am betting not. The truth of the matter is that you should be qualifying early and often, mainly so you don't get sucked into a resource drain rat hole that goes on for a millineum. The steps to close a deal have never really changed, who is the buyer with the money, what is the need, what is the urgency, can your product/service fit the need, is your price competitive, and are there major contract showstoppers? The earlier you find the accurate answers to those questions (and many more), the sooner you can go for the real close.
In the technology world, we have created a set of technology buyers who are very savvy to the ways of the tech salesman. They will get every piece of flesh they can. But, sometimes they forget that if they weasle down the price to the point of little or no profitability, then how important of a customer will they be to your company? Many times you are not competing against another company, you are competing against doing nothing. That is the worst scenario because the value of the equation is lost on the buyer. Some times it is better to know when to fold em, not close them.
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