B2B Phone Sales Question:

"I gave my prospect a pricing incentive with a deadline in order to close a deal but the deadline passed and I haven’t gotten the order from them yet… What should I do?"

Answer:

This is a perfectly timed question as this just happened to me as well. Before I answer it, let’s confirm a few assumptions first:

• We have "problem recognition" (need) on the prospects part;
• You are speaking with someone who has authority in the purchasing process;
• They can afford your solution to their problem;
• They like and want your solution.

If you don’t have at least these things covered, offering a “pricing incentive” will most likely be futile.

So assuming you had all of these areas covered (as was the case with a deal I recently was working) here’s my recommendation:

First, the typical scenario is you are in negotiations and a better deal needs to be struck in order for both parties to move forward.

So the salesperson offers what they can and puts a date on when the deal must happen by. Sometimes it’s on the spot and other times it’s more like the last day of the month, as was the case with my deal. We worked out the final agreements on Monday, had a new proposal in their hands by Tuesday, did a “temperature” check on Wednesday and heard nothing from them on Friday, which was the deadline or the incentive was off the table.

Now I did send an email mid-morning on Friday (the deadline date) and when I didn’t hear back by Noon I picked up the phone to call the prospect directly (my contact had a habit of always emailing me or calling me back very promptly, so when I didn’t get a response from my email, I decided to make the call)

I was informed that my contact was out of the office and would be back but only for a short time before leaving early for good in order to take a long weekend.

Now this is where most salespeople panic (I’ve been guilty of this more times than I want to admit) and decide to reach higher and start blowing up everyone’s phone who will listen and just create havoc in order to get the prospect to get the deal done before they leave.

What usually happens when the salesperson behaves this way is they blow a deal they otherwise would have had, albeit maybe passed the deadline.

So instead of going down that road, I opted for this…

I simply asked to be put in my prospects voicemail, left a well-strategized voicemail message specific for this situation and went about the rest of my day without given that deal a second thought.

Guess what?!? End of Friday came but the deal never did.

So here we are, back to the original question…

What do you do when a prospect misses your incentive deadline?

Here’s what I did…

First, I was going to email the prospect their new proposal (without the incentive) on Monday, letting them know I was sorry the timing may not have been right for them now but if that changes, here’s the pricing they could expect (again, minus the incentive)

But as I thought about it, I decided to wait a day. Why?

Because up to this point, the courting process between the prospect and I has been pretty solid. If they missed the deadline it’s only because one of two reasons:

1. Something came up that delayed this coming over Friday but they still want to move forward and will be sending it over as soon as they can; Or…
2. We hit a road-block.

So I opted to wait a day (Monday) to see if the “reach” came. Sure enough it did. An apology that they got tied up with last minute interruptions and the fax was coming over in the next few minutes. Crisis adverted and everyone is happy and I didn't complicate matters by sending a new proposal or act desperate.

OK but what if you don’t hear from them 24 hours after the deadline?

Well then, in my case, come Tuesday my prospect would have received an updated proposal (minus the incentive) and they would have had to work awfully hard on me to get that incentive back. And there's a very good chance that they would not have gotten it as I don't throw "incentives" around lightly.

Too many salespeople offer “pretend” incentives and say things like “this is only good to XYZ date” but then call the prospect a week after that date expired and say; “what if I could still get you that deal?” and it devalues what you offer.

So what I have found that works best for me is this… If they missed a deadline (especially one that I control) I give it 24 hours and wait and see if they reach back out. If they don’t make a reach, I resend the proposal minus the incentive.

I’ve found this method generates more calls backs and restarts the negotiation / objection handling process at a higher rate Vs. calling them directly and trying to open them up on why they missed the deadline.

Hope this helps.

Michael Pedone
CSS: Chief Sales Scientist
SalesBuzz.com (A 2011 Sales Training Company Watch List Award Winner!)

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Sales Question:

"Is That Your Best Price?"

"I received a call back from my prospect (whom is the info gatherer) regarding a proposal we've been working on. She said her boss (read: decision maker) was interested in setting up a meeting with me to discuss the project further, and then she asked me if what I sent her was my "best" price… I wanted to get the meeting and was afraid if I said "Yes, that is my best price" that they would not agree to meet with me and would go with one of my cheaper competitors… So I said we could offer a little more off… Did I answer it correctly?"

Answer:

The "is that your best price?" question can have many different responses. There isn't a one size fits all rebuttal. You must consider the situation and understand the facts before selecting the response that would give you the highest % of achieving your desired outcome.

With that said, based on the information provided for this scenario of not dealing with the decision makers but rather the "information gatherer" here's how you may want to responded the next time this scenario happens in order to make sure you aren't leaving money on the table:

PROSPECT: We've reviewed your proposal and we're interested in setting up a meeting with you and our (decision makers) however just a quick question for you… Is this your best price?

YOU: (Prospect Name) I'm glad your company is interested in setting up a meeting and I appreciate your question regarding price… Let me ask you this… Other than price, is there anything else standing in our way?

PROSPECT: No! We really liked (____, ____ and ____)

YOU: Great… And just so I understand, what would we be hoping to accomplish at this meeting?

PROSPECT: Select start dates and agreement of milestones.

YOU: OK so let's do this… let's have the meeting and once all the details are worked out, we can circle back and see what options may be available to us regarding the final price, fair enough?

PROSPECT: Yes. Can you meet with us on…

So What Did We Do Here?

1) We identified what the meeting would be about;
2) We secured the meeting;
3) We avoided negotiating with a non-decision maker;

Why Is This Response Better?

1) The danger with agreeing to a lower price up front is that you committed to offering a better price and received nothing in return other than a meeting. That's not "negotiating" that's "surrendering".

2) For all you know, they were going to move ahead with your proposal at the current price and now you've left money on the table.

Michael Pedone
CSS: Chief Sales Scientist
SalesBuzz.com (A 2011 Sales Training Company Watch List Award Winner!)

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3. Ask Engaging Questions Instead of Probing
4. Improve your Qualifying Skills
5. Give Stellar Presentations & Handle Objections
6. Close Follow-up Calls and Get Targeted Referrals
7. How to Set & Achieve Your Toughest Sales Goals
8. Improve Your Time Management Skills

Duration: 1 hour per week for 8 weeks
Where: Online @ your desk, conference room or home
Presenters: Michael Pedone

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