The Four Phases of A Sale and Proposals Accepted Every Time
The four phases of a sale, within an hour, to create a proposal that’s accepted every time:
- Building trust: Exchange insights about the business, the market, prevailing conditions, etc. Demonstrate that you are an astute business person and can talk on a wide variety of subjects.
- Identifying issues: What are the major opportunities extant from the other’s perspective, and how can progress be best accelerated? (I don’t talk in terms of “problems” because excellent companies willing to invest money are looking to improve, not merely “fix.”)
- Create conceptual agreement around key issues: What are the objectives (business outcomes), metrics, (measures of progress and success), and the value of meeting the objectives (ROI)?
- Pour cement: Ask, “Other than fees (which will be in my proposal) is there anything else we haven’t discussed which might prevent you from accepting one of my options? If so, let’s discuss it while we’re together.”
Send the proposal within 24 hours of this meeting. If you’re asked about fees, state, “It wouldn’t be fair to you for me to guess at them now, I need to consider what’s involved to be giving you the best arrangements.”
The “hit rate” in my community with this approach is over 80%, and the meeting takes 45-60 minutes if you don’t digress and don’t allow the buyer to digress. If you’re not dealing with a buyer, you might as well be playing Angry Birds.
