When you “lose” a deal or a sale what do you do?

Do you just dust yourself down and move onto the next one?

Or do you put that “lost deal” lead into a follow up system and then dust yourself down and move on?

Hopefully it will be the latter.

The fact that you lost a sale means that the prospect was interested in your services but for some reason or t’other chose another company to do business with.

Well, you should keep infront of this “lost prospect” every quarter via email or direct mail or through a telephone call just to keep an eye on the situation.

You never know what might happen.

Before we had the capability of being able to train sales people in over 8 different languages we lost a piece of business because of this fact. I was gutted as it was a worldwide programme worth in excess of £150,000 per year. Anyhow, I kept a regular dialogue with the Sales Director and the HR Director and kept them informed of our multi-lingual capability as it grew over the past 2 years and now that the contract is being renewed they called us in instead of the previous firm and we have won the next piece of business.

By keeping in regular contact with lost deals keeps you informed of their progress and of future needs.

I strongly urge you to have a “lost prospect strategy” in place to keep in regular contact with those people who slipped through the net. Out of every 100 lost deals I would bet that you could generate another 5-15 pieces of business by “being there” when the timing is right.

Happy Selling!

Sean Mc

So, you’ve got the appointment…

I recommend that you send some further information to the client BEFORE you meet with them. I’m not talking about an information pack here or a brochure.

Instead, I am talking about sending them something that will position yourself as an expert. Something that will get them to know you better.

I usually send our clients a physical sales tips newsletter full of ideas and strategies to improve their sales. I also send them my biography so they can "Get to know a little bit more about me" before I arrive. Within this are press cuttings, newspapers I’ve been featured in, my numerous TV apprearances etc.

Why and I doing this?

Well, I am positioning myself as an expert in the field and I am preselling the client on MTD and ME.

When I turn up they already have a picture of what I am like in their minds and this improves my credibility. 90% of the time they always start by asking a question about the info I sent them like "How did you get such great coverage in the Guardian?" or "What was it like to be interviewed on CNN in front of 140 million people LIVE"

This builds rapport and positions me as an expert.

QUESTION - So you may not have a lot of media credits to your name, if you have, great and you should use these, but what could you do to presell yourself and your company before you meet with your client?

By doing this you will make it a whole lot easier for yourself during your meeting.

Happy Selling!

Sean Mc