No sales person likes to make the decision to no bid on an opportunity but sometimes making that choice can save you time and energy that could be better invested in other opportunities. So make the decision and stick with it but don't close any doors after you - successful sales is all about relationships and these 3 key points can help you use your no bid decision to help strengthen that relationship with the client or prospect.
In my experience it can often be a brave decision to no bid on a sales opportunity. But, as long as you've come to that decision as the result of a consistent process I guarantee that it will save you and your company lots of time and money and move you away from the "quoting and hoping" mentality that many companies I have come across have.
If you haven't got a consistent process for qualifying opportunities and making the call to pass with a no bid or whether to go for it, then have a search for my other article on this topic and learn the 10 key questions you should be asking yourself before committing your time and energy.
If you do no bid there are still useful activities you can do to make the most of the situation. The following 3 key points will help you build a constructive strategy to help you move forward with a prospect you are targeting.
1) Be open with your prospect:
I have often found that making the offer to no bid can help you strengthen your relationship with a client or prospect because they have to commit time energy and resources to assessing all bids and this could save them time.
2) Explain why you're not bidding:
Explaining your reasons to no bid can often lead to some additional information that could help you in the future. On one occasion I can remember no bidding a communications solution to a large financial institution because we could only offer 75% of the specification - we were then asked by the prospect to partner with another specialist company and do a joint bid, which we ultimately won together.
3) Position yourself for the next opportunity:
Look for valuable inside information to help position you for the next opportunity. It's very easy to just ignore the potential client after no bidding, but I urge you to stay in contact and keep a watchful eye on what happens with the project. Keep asking awkward questions for the competition. I've remember decisions being altered even after letters of intent had been agreed, both in my favour and against me, sometimes in favour of competitors who seemed to appear from nowhere at the last minute. So, be professional at all times, but do what you can to rock the boat.
No sales person likes to make the decision to no bid on a potential opportunity but making that difficult choice on the basis of reasoned and consistent criteria can save you time and energy that could be better invested in other opportunities. So make the decision and stick with it but don't burn any bridges or close any doors after you - successful sales is all about relationships and the 3 key points above can help you use your no bid decision to help strengthen that relationship with the client or prospect.
15 Questions That You Should Be Challenging Your Team With As an Successful Sales Manager
As a sales manager I've found that no sales person likes to pass up on any opportunity that could result in business for the company and commission for themselves. This hunger is great and is one of the traits of truly successful sales professional, but sometimes as sales managers we need to challenge this enthusiasm and get the team to focus on the opportunities that we're most likely to win. Here's 15 Power Questions to help you do just that.
How to qualify your sales opportunity - Bid or No Bid?
This has got to be the number 1, top question in sales 'as a salesperson I had to ask myself this daily; and when I was a sales manager, I was certainly asking my team often enough to keep them on their toes. In sales the most valuable resource we have is our time, and our biggest and most important decision is how we use our time most efficiently.
How to Make a Great First Impression in Sales
We've all heard that you don't get a second chance to make a first impression, but do you know what you really must do to create that great first impression that will set you up to make the sale? Sales Expert Phil Smithers gives you some simple, proven and easy to apply tips and tricks you can use today in your next prospect meeting.
