When to Deliver your Sales Proposal.
The majority of participants to complete the Sales Coach on line lesson on “sales process”, felt the proposal should be delivered as quickly as possible and others suggested time lags of 24 hours through to 72 hours.
There is certainly merit in delivering a proposal quickly. It is often seen by the “selling company” as a demonstration of effective customer service and a window into the attentiveness the purchaser can expect if they proceed and confirm an order.
Conversely, we argued in the video content that “fast and first” may not always be the most strategic approach. Sometimes the first quote (or proposal) in sits in the tray until other competitive proposals arrive. The early offer is then used as a benchmark with later proposals enjoying the “top of mid” position.
Even more threatening is if your competitor actually delivers their formal offer in person. The danger now is that both proposals are compared in that meeting. Unfortunalty the comparisons are now able to be controlled by your opposition.
So when is the best time to deliver your offer? Should we be first in or last in? There is no absolute answer to that conundrum. Best practice is to deliver your quote or proposal “when the buyer is in decision mode”. It makes enormous sense, so how do we determine ‘when a prospect will be in decision mode?
There are two vital questions that must be asked in the qualifying discussion.
- How does your decision process work internally? &
- What are your thoughts around the timing for a decision?