Ever find yourself in a situation where you’ve been asked by an interested prospect for a price quote, a bid or simply for your rates? You quote them and then you don’t hear from them for a while?

Isn’t it crazy making, trying to figure out when and if you should follow up? And if you’ve already followed up, how long should you wait until you call again?

It reminds me of the awkwardness that comes along with dating in college!

So, how do you avoid this cycle of pursuit as a salesperson?

Here’s a success story from a recent client who discovered the beauty of presenting clients with ‘a small window of opportunity.’

Sarah’s Sales Success:

Sarah works for an HR outsourcing company, which is an external Human Resources department that small companies can use to handle their HR functions.

When I met Sarah, she would make an initial sales call to an interested prospect, work with them to obtain the detailed information she needed to present them with a bid, then give them the bid and proceed to follow up with them until she got a signed contract or became convinced they were blowing her off.

She was always in pursuer mode, constantly wondering when to make the next follow-up call or send the next e-mail. It was exhausting and not good for her morale.

With each bid she presented, she had the ability to discount an initial set-up fee of a few thousand dollars in order to close deals. After a few weeks of receiving no response from a prospect, she would call or email them with a reduced set-up fee and then go back to the waiting game that the pursuer plays.

To shift Sarah from Pursuer to Partner, we created the following approach, which she now uses very successfully:

Sarah began to present the initial bid with the full priced set-up fee and then would tell the prospect, “Because our underwriting department is running very efficiently right now, I have a small window of opportunity to offer you a substantial savings off your set-up fee. Are you interested?”

Of course, they say, “Yes.”

Then she would say, “If you are in a position to move forward today, I can get your underwriting done very quickly and save you $1,500 on your set-up fee. If today doesn’t work for you, but you can move forward by Friday, I can save you $900 on your set-up fee. What I need from you if you’d like to take advantage of this is your signature on page 1 and 3 of the Getting Started Contract and a scheduled appointment time for our New Client Orientation Meeting. Remember, there is no pressure to do this, it’s just an opportunity that came across my desk this morning and I wanted to pass it on to you. The total bid price I gave you is still very competitive and good for 30 days. What do you think will work best for you?”

Keys to moving from pursuer to partner:

• Use the words, “I have a small window of opportunity”
• Share an authentic and convincing reason that you have this window to offer them savings
• Establish a timeframe
• Communicate “What I need from you”
• Identify the next action· Apply no pressure
• The ball is in their court.

You can also use this approach for bids you have already placed and would like to close.

Call up your prospect and say, “Hi, Mr. Roberts. This is Lisa from XYZ Company. I gave you an HR outsourcing bid a few weeks ago. I have a small window of opportunity to offer you substantial savings on your project, but I need to hear back from you by tomorrow at 3:00 pm. Please give me a call at xxx-xxx-xxxx if you’re interested in the details. In your case, it could mean thousands of dollars.”

To learn more about Lisa, her products and consulting services, visit www.theinvisibleclose.com.

And remember to Save the Date on September 11th. I’ve got something great in store for you!

Tags: closing the sale, Lisa Sasevich, sales nuggets, The Invisible Close, window of opportunity

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 6:00 pm and is filed under sales nuggets. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.