Confusing Exit Signs With Buying Signs

When a customer asks a salesperson for a quote are they really interested in doing business them? 

How many times has a sales professional walked out of a sales meeting all excited about this new prospect who needs a quote right away?  Then, how many times has that “interested customer” dragged the process on, made no decision, or decided not to do anything?  The asnwer to both questions is “all the time.”  It happens too often!

The reason this happens is the sales professional was mistaking the request for pricing as interest.   From the customer perspective they knew the fastest and easiest way to get the salesperson out of his office was to ask him for a quote.  Once a customer asks for a quote, the meeting is over and the salesperson is out the door and on his way to right another proposal. 

Don’t confuse an “exit sign” with a “buying sign.” 

When someone simply asks for a proposal early in the conversation it is a red flag.  They are either shopping or disinterested.  I do not write proposals.  When I am comfortable that the customer and I have properly discovered an area where I can add value, I engage in a discussion as to how we can begin to form a productive business relationship.  Their are two levels of information I expect sales professionals to provide before we engage in a “proposal like” activity:

1. Qualifying information: Project scope, decision making timing, decision making process, decision making team, and budget. 
2. The Solution:  What they need, why they need it, what problem we are solving, and why this is so critical or important to them.

Both groups of information require a much deeper conversation than simply the pitch and propose dance.  It requires the salesperson to engage in an extended business discussion with the customer and it requires the customer to demonstrate a sincere interest in engage the representative’s organization in addressing an issue.  Simply asking for and delivering a proposal is a huge time waster for everyone.  It is neither a measure of a qualified opportunity or of real buyer interest.  Avoiding being shown the exit sign, engage real prospects in real conversations about their very real business challenges and deliver solutions not proposals.