You’ve Made Me So Very Happy

February 20, 2012 at 5:32 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: business prospecting, client acquisition, negotiation

You’ve made me so very happy.

You’ve experienced it right….that very first rush of sheer joy that comes with the word “yes” spoken by a prospect that you’ve been trying to win for so very long.  They’re now a client!

Yep, it was a long haul. The proposal went out and then there was the usual waiting (and guessing) game. Calls and emails back and forth and true to your stellar sales competencies you were able to stay on their radar screen. Damn right! Stayed on the grid and yes, won the business. Okay sure, there had to be a little re-negotiation and so maybe the terms of that original proposal were changed, but what the heck you’re thinking, that client is MINE and they’ve made me so very happy.

That is until that re-negotiation on terms and budget has pretty much eaten away all of the profit in the project. In fact, you are almost losing money for every hour spent on their work and the pleasure that came from the win is starting to wan now that the economics of the situation are more evident.

Sound at all familiar?  Salespeople tend to be a pretty emotional lot and just to be safe, need to follow a few guidelines BEFORE bursting with unbridled joy about winning a new client. Here ya go:

1. Make sure that any re-negotiation is really something that you can live with financially. Don’t bend on price until you are totally certain that you can “afford” to do the program.
2. Don’t let your emotions color your business sense. Evaluate the project carefully and then determine how / if it fits into your core competencies.  Having a client say “yes” to a project that you are not fully comfortable delivering is one that should be cause for extra caution.
3. No matter how willing you are to simply give in to win the project, a successful negotiation calls for flexibility and concessions from both parties. When it’s a one-sided negotiation, the project is pretty much doomed from the beginning.

So be careful and make sure that the happiness you’re experiencing doesn’t cost you time and money in the long-run. Take your time, evaluate carefully and you’ll wind up with a more mutually advantageous project.

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