Meet Your Prospect Where They Are

We’re all tempted to rush proposals to prospects so we can beat the competition. It’s only natural. Every prospect is a potential buyer, so we tend to send proposals the very first chance we get, in hope of closing the deal quickly.

From a sales management perspective, proposals represent progress. We reward reps for writing them. However, there is no reward for writing a premature proposal.

Handing a prospect a premature proposal is like handing a five-year-old a kitchen knife to make a sandwich. It can work, but it risks creating problems by bypassing better solutions.

Relationship-Building Should Drive the Sales Process

When prospects first approach you (and by “prospects,” I mean people who may potentially do business with us, not people who’ve already agreed to do business with us), you lack established relationships or agreed-upon business plans.

Rushing to write a proposal as soon as a prospect crosses your path bypasses essential relationship building , which is the foundation of sales success. The proposal becomes a one-time document reviewed in passing rather than a series of insightful conversations. Even prospects directly asking for proposals likely aren’t ready for them.

The backbone of successful sales is a strong relationship. To forge one, you must first reconcile differences between you and your prospect’s buying processes.

Buyers Have an Existing — and Different — Buying Process

Too often, sellers (owners like us) assume prospects understand and have bought into their sales process . They haven’t.

Buyers enter sales discussions with established approaches that reflect their unique needs, which includes everything they know and everything they don’t. They make assumptions about how you operate — including the assumption that you’ll send them a fast proposal.

Take control of the situation. As the expert on your offerings, the onus falls on you to guide buyers through the initial conversations. Start by explaining how your company approaches new deals, including why you build relationships before proposing detailed solutions.

Then, let the buyer explain their existing process. The sooner you understand the buyer’s process, the sooner you can connect them to your process. You’re simply reconciling the differences between where you are and where your buyer is. Now, you can move forward.

How Common Entry Points Reveal Next Steps

Go into every sales conversation planning the next five conversations — and remember that the goal of every call is to schedule the next one. Sometimes, you can consolidate those five calls into three or four if you develop a relationship quickly, but never assume that will be the outcome.

When engaging new prospects, document their very first question — it reveals their entry point into your process. Common questions include:

• “What do you do?” In this case, make a mutual introduction, explain your process, and schedule the next call.
• “What questions should I ask you?” Sometimes, a prospect won’t know enough about your process to know what questions to ask. Share helpful lead magnets (a pamphlet titled “Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Event Supplier” would be great) and schedule a discovery call.
• “What are your prices?” Ask the buyer about their budget, walk through your pricing, and schedule a follow-up call.
• “Can I see some design ideas?” This request is bold — the buyer is essentially asking you to work for free. Decide whether you need to sell them a design or solution, introduce your process, and schedule another call.
• “Can I get a proposal?” At this point, the buyer already knows what they want. Learn about their buying process and decide whether it’s adaptable to yours. If not, they’re not a good fit.

Most entry points mandate follow-up conversations, so avoid setting expectations of immediate resolutions.

The 5 Conversations of Every Prospect Development Process

While timelines vary based on need, your sales process should involve five pivotal conversations:

1. Assessment: Make a mutual introduction and assess priorities.
2. Discovery Call: Explore potential projects, scope of work, and budgets.
3. Solution Call: Present a baseline solution, budget, and enhancement ideas while reconciling priorities.
4. Proposal Review Call: Review the proposal before sending it over to be signed. Assume the buyer is going to move forward and start the proposal review call by scheduling the project kickoff call.
5. Kickoff Call: Introduce the buyer to the rest of your team, and ensure the buyer understands all the steps in your process.

This isn’t a hard-and-fast framework. It may take only three conversations before you and your buyer arrive at the kickoff call. Just keep scheduling the next call, and focus each conversation on answering the prospect’s most pressing questions.

Remember, a rushed proposal often leads to a generic solution, but carefully coordinated efforts win lucrative long-term partnerships.