This is a true scenario.
A very large prospect called and told us they had $75K to spend and needed to reach a deal now!
Most salespeople would die for this scenario, right? Especially, when our average ticket is $30K. But what if the price for this particular prospect should be $500K based on your pricing model? And what if taking this deal would get in the way of getting to where the deal size should be? Would you take the money and run or try to negotiate a better deal, turn it down…What would you do?
The statement I have heard many many times – $75K, $60K, or $10K or whatever the number is…it’s better than $0 – that is just not true and is the sign of a weak salesperson! Get rid of that thinking if you want to be a great rain maker.
We ended up making a deal but we limited the usage and functionality to make the numbers work and ensured we were not giving away our valuable asset for a quick win and we preserved the rest of the upside.
What would you have done?
Brick
I can’t agree with this comment more. I have been on both sides of this issue. Many companies, when they are either new, or have been struggling for a long time find it very very difficult to take this sort of stance. They are looking at the business with a very short term view, and very often the salesperson is looked on in scorn for “walking away from a deal”. This sort of business view needs to permeate throughout an entire organization, because if anyone on the “team” is not abiding by this philosophy, it undermines everyone else’s efforts. If you have the strongest offering, best product/service, then taking the big picture perspective becomes much easier. If you are “schlocky” or the cheaper alternative, then you’ll take any deal that comes your way.
Another important note that every deal/sale that you make that is significantly lower than your market prices, is an slap in the face to every long term client that you have. And more often than not they will find out, and you will be forced to give them the same discounts that you have been offering elsewhere. Stand firm, keep selling a solution, and paint a picture how your product/service will make them ore productive, efficient and competitive. You will get your price.