Lesson Learned: Prospect Integrity

I've been involved in hi-tech sales since 1986. With that much sales experience you begin to think you've seen it all. And then a large company surprises you and not in a good way.

I'd like to state the company's name right here but I won't compromise my own sales professional code of conduct just to make a point.

Suffice it to say, I wasted a lot of time pursuing a prospect this quarter that is never going to generate any revenue. And had they been honest with me to begin with or at least ethical with me to begin with; I never would have wasted any time with them at all.

Mere sour grapes over a lost sale?

Hardly.

This company approached me at the end of last quarter after downloading our mobile device management software. After trying unsuccesfully for several weeks to get onsite and set up a pilot I was asked for pricing.

My gut told me not to quote.

I discussed my reluctance to quote with the purchaser. He brushed aside my candid concerns about being "column fodder" and explained to me that he needed our pricing for budgetary purposes only at this point. We would still be invited onsite to set up a pilot before the decision would be made.

I ignored my gut. I quoted. I didn't want to lose my shot at a six figure deal.

The day after I quoted I promptly followed up, only to be told to give them a call back in two weeks. Classic. They had their pricing and now they didn't need me for anything else. What else could I do but call back in two weeks?

When I called back my main point of contact refused to speak with me and informed me I would be hearing from his boss. My stomach knotted. This was not good news.

Later the email I received from his boss simply stated that "after careful review" they would not be selecting our product. There was nothing else I could do at this point but put a call into the "boss" and hopefully get some explanation.

He called me back about 10 minutes later. He explained to me that this fortune 1000 account had acquired a systems integration company in Q4 of last year that was a reseller for one of our competitors' products. There was no way they were ever going to purchase from us.

I wanted to ask him to define the word "ethics" for me.

I wanted to see if it was alright for our technical people to bill him for the "free consulting" we gave his firm as part of what we thought was an open sales process.

I wanted to ask him if he would be willing to prepare an indepth quotation for us?

Instead, I just thanked him for the opportunity of quoting their business, wished him good luck with the project and reminded him to keep us in mind if the technology they just purchased didn't meet their expectations.

When that phone conversation ended; at least one of us still had some integrity left.


James Gingerich
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesg2006
http://softwareindustryrant.blogspot.com/

Integrity in the Marketplace

Why don't people just tell the truth anymore?

Prospects who've downloaded your software, say they are interested but never, ever buy from you. Do they think they are doing one a favour by not just admitting they are never going to buy? Please. The extra time a salesperson wastes with a tire kicker could be better spent on real potential clients. As a sales rep make sure to limit your time spent on tire kickers as much as possible. Only provide them information on a "quid pro quo" basis. Make frequent use of the phrase "I'll do this for you if you do this for me."

Worse than tire-kickers are those professional purchasers who need "column fodder" for their next large purchase. They begin an entire make-believe sales cycle for the sole purpose of compelling you to spend hours of time preparing an RFP response that you never had a chance at winning in the first place. Some firms require their purchasers to get three bids before being allowed to confirm the order with the company they were going to do business with anyway. Since an RFP is something of value and takes a lot of time to prepare shouldn't software vendors charge a fee for these?

Here's a hint; if you didn't help your prospect put the RFP together chances are you are not going to win. If the prospect hasn't fully evaluated your software technically; chances are you are not going to win. And hey if your prospect needs a quote by the end of the month and today is the fifteenth and this is the first you've heard from them; chances are you are not going to win!

James Gingerich

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesg2006
http://softwareindustryrant.blogspot.com