Proposer don)t quote

By James Olsen

been selling well. How many l6's are you going to need today?"

The second opener shows the customer that we are thinking about and anticipating their needs. If we go into business with a (supposed) partner and every morning he asks us, "What do I do today?" how long will it take us to dissolve the partnership? Not long, right? The same can be said of our potential customers.

Many sellers come to customers on every call saying, "What are you looking for today?" These same sellers will complain that customers treat them badly. The bottom line is this: If we approach our customers as service agents or unprepared employees, they will treat us as such. If we approach them with ideas, proposals, deals, etc., they will treat us like a partner.

The Math

All else being equal (closing percentages, markets, etc.), the seller who proposes will always make more money than the seller who chases inquiry. Proposals are unique, exclusive and have margin built into them by design. Inquiries are hypercompetitive, commodity-like, low margin business by definition.

Proposals: How To

Proposals are easier and faster to construct than many salespeople think. Like anything, they become easier and better the more we do them. Below find simple steps to writing and selling proposals.

. Write down all the positive points of our product or proposal. If possible, construct a "similar story" about how this proposal has worked for another customer. (If we don't have a story of our own, we can use a victory of a co-worker using the "we form." ("We just sold a block of these to...")

. Know the details. If we have a good proposal. many times a customer may have interest but will test our knowledge of the details to derail or stall us from closing. Knowing the details will make it easier for our customers to buy.

. Go Big. Propose for the whole year, half-year or quarter.

Ask for the order five times

. Have a plan B, C, D, E and F. If we "Go Big" to start with, our fallback plan can be smaller by increments. Continue to ask for the order (five times) at each fall-back step. Many sellers feel they cannot ask for the order five times. Thank goodness they feel this way; it makes it easier for us who do ask for the order five times.

. Set a date for further discussion. Do we always get the order when we propose to our customers? No. Does it change our customer's perception of us even when we do fail? Yes. Do we make more money per close when proposing versus chasing inquiry? Absolutely !

When we spend our time proposing versus chasing inquiry we are taking control of our own sales lives and careers. We are not leaving our earning potential up to the whim and whimsy of customer inquiry. Working up proposals for our customers and giving them a quality sales call is more work than calling up and saying, "Do you need anything today?" But it is work that pays. Chasing low-closing-percentage inquiry is work also, but work that doesn't pay. Propose. don't quote.

- James Olsen, ReaLity Sales Training, specialiT.es in sales tainingfor the lumher industry. Reach him at james@realitysalestraining.com or (503 ) 544-3 572.