“I’m bummed.”
That’s how I started a meeting with a prospective customer we had been pursuing. After several meetings the prospect balked at our price and made a counter offer that wasn’t reasonable (we would have lost money). So the next week after hearing nothing I made a surprise visit to their office and told them I was excited about the project and bummed it wasn’t going to happen.
To my utter surprise they eventually made a deal with us and we went on to get the client. A business deal that looked like it would never happen, actually did.
About two years ago I hired a sales coach to help me sell better and get more business (and the right kind of business). It was an amazing experience and I learned so much useful information and completely changed my outlook on sales.
After working with my sales coach for a few months I was able to even amaze myself. I was making cold calls and bringing in new prospects which was quite an exciting thing. It gives you a feeling of having some control over your business (when in all reality I probably had none).
Oh, the reason for this post is because X-Plane founder Dave Gray has a blog and recently published a short post called How to win a deal after it’s already been lost. Do check it out.
5 responses to “Here’s how I started meeting #3 with a prospect”
chris, it’s inspiring to hear your story of how you made a weakness become a strength and furthermore that you took that strength and turned a loss into a victory. cool story. thanks for sharing.
Ward, thanks! Yah, and the other thing I forgot to mention was that we didn’t budge on price and later on the client told us that we were the first company they had ever worked with that hadn’t.
Great story. I firmly believe in being realistic with your estimates and costing. You’ve got to be able to say “no” to the client too. There’s no point in selling yourself short. And who knows, honesty will sometimes get you the deal. 🙂
Ara: That’s some good advice (and good article you linked to as well on your site). Thanks.
I’ve been reading Jeffrey Gitomer‘s Little Red Book of Selling and I’ve got to say that I like his approach. The writing’s excessive in its exuberance, but it’s worth a read.