April Tip of the Month

What should you do when your prospect or customer wants a discount?

The process is simple:

If someone asks for a discount and you are open to it (as it depends on the account), you simply ask them “what kind of discount are they looking for to move forward?”

You will get 2 responses:

a. They won’t tell you but will say “you do your best and come back”

b. They tell you

• They won’t tell you: you tell them that you don’t want to guess. You would love to do business with them so encourage them to tell you. If they don’t, then accept and do your best and hope you win (but your odds are lower).
• They Tell you: you tell them that you will try to see what you can do (unless you know on the stop that it is or is NOT possible) and that if you are able to meet that, you expect the business (said in a nicer way). If it’s not possible, tell them. No sense in discounting a $40,000 to $32,000 when someone only wants to spend $25,000.

Discounting exists but there needs to be a “reasonability” barometer. And .. you are challenging your customer to say .. “if I meet this, the biz is mine”, right? (again, said in a nicer way).

March Tip of the Month

What should you do when your prospect or customer wants a discount?

The process is simple: – If someone asks for a discount and you are open to it (as it depends on the account), you simply ask them “what kind of discount are they looking for to move forward?”

You will get 2 responses:
a. They won’t tell you but will say “you do your best and come back”
b. They tell you

• They won’t tell you: you tell them that you don’t want to guess. You would love to do business with them so encourage them to tell you. If they don’t, then accept and do your best and hope you win (but your odds are lower).
• They Tell you: you tell them that you will try to see what you can do (unless you know on the stop that it is or is NOT possible) and that if you are able to meet that, you expect the business (said in a nicer way). If it’s not possible, tell them. No sense in discounting a $40,000 to $32,000 when someone only wants to spend $25,000.

Discounting exists but there needs to be a “reasonability” barometer. And .. you are challenging your customer to say .. “if I meet this, the biz is mine”, right? (again, said in a nicer way).

February Tip of the Month

Disengaging with dead prospects. Every day I see pipelines full of opportunities that are going nowhere. But the sales rep keeps chasing & defending. Try this instead: If there has been no response to any emails or phone calls, send them a “disengage email”. Tell them that at this point you are going to assume that xyz is NOT a priority for them right now and if that changes to get in touch with you when they are interested. Those who are interested will likely feel bad and respond. Those who are NOT interested, will be glad.

January Tip of the Month

A simple answer is a balance of everything on a consistent basis. Some of your prospects respond to calls, some to emails, some to LinkedIn and some to newsletters. Everyone is different.
Never rely on one lead source. The more seeds you plant, water, fertilize and nurture; the more flowers will grow.

TIP:

To ensure I work all my leads sources & COI’s on a regular basis, my trick is to set a reoccurring task or to-do in my CRM. For some lead sources, I schedule myself a monthly task (because it’s a higher priority) … while others may only be every 3 to 6 months. When it’s time to call on my COI’s to say hello or ask a client for a referral or research 5 new contacts on LinkedIn, the task is there to drive me.