I give a lot of advice. As someone who trains salespeople, it's kinda my job.
This week I had to take a dose of my own medicine and, unsurprisingly, it still sucks.
I'd been doing some work for a company and a new CRO came in shaking things up. Big contract to deliver a programme of sales training. This was a perfect opportunity for me. I mean perfect.
One problem.
The new CRO had another company he'd worked with before. But a number of the managers were in my corner and lobbied for me.
His reply: "Get him to send me a proposal for our requirement."
I looked at the document and it was like a mini-RFP. And here I was, facing off against a rival that had the advantage of a previous relationship with the decision-maker, and being asked to respond to their requirements.
After 26 years selling, I know how this plays out. You send a document blind, without access to the decision-maker, and you're just going to end up column fodder for a decision that's already been made.
So I sent the CRO a personal message:
"Hi XXXX,
I read the brief on your sales training requirement, and I'd like 30-45 minutes of your time in London.
Hopefully you'll agree that any sales trainer willing to send a proposal blind, without validating the requirement with the economic decision-maker, wouldn't be worth his salt.
So here's what I'd suggest: let's lock in a date, and I'll send a short discussion doc the night before setting out my understanding so far and how I'd approach it. That gives you time to gather your thoughts, so we can have a structured conversation and see whether we're aligned.
Let me know if that works, and your PA can match our diaries.
Best,
James"
The response came back from his assistant...
"Thanks, but XXXXXX isn't able to meet with you."
It stung. I genuinely thought my response would draw the buyer out. But it confirmed something my gut already told me.
The game was done.
It had already been played behind closed doors, and I wasn't even in with a chance.
I was right to test him.
But I'd also lost.
Perhaps I should have responded to the RFP? Maybe I'd have won.
It's easy to look at it as lost revenue, but that's wrong. Here's the reality: I hadn't lost money, I'd won back the time I would have wasted chasing a deal I was very unlikely to win.
And that's the trick in sales.
We know what we should do, but we don't because we lack the courage of our convictions. We waste countless hours chasing deals that were already won by someone else, because the alternative is a fresh round of prospecting.
So, next time a buyer asks you for a proposal, test whether they'll give you their time. My test is simple: no meeting, no proposal.
Don't waste hours writing a proposal for someone who won't give you minutes to discuss it. If they won't, do what needs to be done and declare: "I'm out."