The Hidden Buyer

The meeting ended with smiles and handshakes but the next day you learned the truth. You had lost the deal.

What went wrong?

One possibility is your proposal. Most of us are pretty good at selling. We do it face to face. We do it over the phone. Some of us are even fairly talented at selling in letters. But how many of us sell in our proposals?

Sell in proposals? You might have heard me lecture that proposals should contain no surprises and that they should summarize the agreement that was already reached by the parties. So where does the selling come in? It comes in with the hidden buyer….

Every sales person is trained to map out the customers’ buying process and make sure they know every person who will be influencing this deal. You ask all the right questions of all the right people. You double check what one person says against the others. You ask other reps to tell you who was involved in their deals. You’re covered.

NOT!

The hidden buyer lurks in any large company and many small ones. This is the person who has given the team you are working with “full authority” to cut the deal and write the check. This person said that there was no reason to get them involved. They are master delegators. Except when they change their mind or when the team decides that they would like this person to “give it one last look” before they sign. At that moment, the only sales person in the room is your proposal.

How scared are you now?

Pull out one of your recent proposals and let’s see what’s in there. If it is to stand on it’s own, it must contain the following sections:

Summary of need – The customer must be confident that you understand their problem. They must know that you are both starting from the same place and that you understand how they got there so you won’t dig them deeper into the same hole. This section says, “I heard you, I understood you, I believe you” to the customer.

1. Statement of Objectives

The customer wants to know what you are going to do and that it is the same list that you proposed in your meetings. They want a check list to measure your work against and something that begins to justify your price. This is the first concrete evidence that the client can see that gives them hope in a better future.

2. Task List or Methodologies

This is the path to the future and shows the client how you will connect their need with their objectives. It is the answer to the question, “What are you planning to do” and needs to be clear enough to help the client build faith in your ability to deliver.

3. Measures of Success

How will they know when you have succeeded? How will they measure the improvement? What can they see, count, measure? The easier it is for the client to see the result, the easier it is to sell the deal. If you can’t measure it, you can’t sell it.

4. Relevant Experience

You need to show that you have done this before and that it’s like falling off a log for you and your company to accomplish this or help the client reach their goals. The more specific the better, for example: “We have helped 15 pharmaceutical companies increase sales by an average of over 15% in the first year of our programs.” Think of this as your marketing kit and reference letters digested down to a few sentences.

5. Timing

Time is money and everyone is late. That means no one is worth what they are charging. You must show that you understand and can make the target dates with ease. Your client may have many times the cost of your product or service resting on this deal. They may be much less concerned about your price than your timing.

6. Value Statement

Here is the tough one. How do you articulate your value to the client in the proposal? First, you ask loads of questions. Second, you work with them to build a success scenario early in the discussions. Lastly, you use their numbers to make the case. This section should be as numeric as possible and tied directly to the client’s bottom line. Statements like, “Based on your assessment that improved information systems of this type will improve output by 10%, this system will pay back $1.9 Million in the first year and $34.5 million over the next 5 years.” Done correctly, the value dwarfs the fee and makes your price a non-issue.

The value case is the one case that hidden buyers always jump on. They ask, “Is this worth it?” and “How are we going to pay for this?” If your value case is missing, you are at the mercy of the person standing there in the room to make your sales presentation for you. If you weren’t scared before, you should be now. With a strong case in the proposal, you have a prayer of winning the day.

The Value Process is detailed in my book “The Team Selling Solution: Creating and Managing Teams That Win the Complex Sales” (McGraw-Hill, 2004). It is now available on audio CD and hardcopy at: http://www.waterhousegroup.com/books/theteamsellingsolution.html

7. The Details

Ok, somewhere in here you must detail the deliverables, the price, the terms and conditions. Once again, these should not be surprises since you worked them out long before you wrote the proposal. I love clients who say, “Send me a proposal.” I say, “How about if we talk it through right now and then I’ll send you a summary of our agreement.” No one ever objects and I get the benefit of hearing their reaction to my offerings.

So why did you lose that deal? Because you forgot that proposals need to be stand-along sale presentations, not simply pre-invoices. Think of it this way: If the proposal I outlined above was sitting next to yours, and the client had never talked with either company, who do you think has the best chance of winning?

Make your proposal sell and you’ll be building an insurance policy behind every deal you close.

For a free copy of "How to Leave a Voice Mail That Gets Results", please email article19@waterhousegroup.com and ask for article #19.

Stephen Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse Group. They specialize in helping companies increase their sales and profits. He can be reached at 1-800-57-LEARN or steve@waterhousegroup.com.

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