Failed to make the shortlist, again?
Published July 2007
Selling is a tough business; you put in major effort over many weeks to build relationships, understand the customer's needs and demonstrate your ability to meet them. Everything seems to be going well. But then you don't make the shortlist. It’s a major blow to lose out when you have got so far, have invested so much, and you still have targets to meet.
So where did it all go wrong?
You were probably told you didn't make the shortlist because you were too expensive, or perhaps they told you a competitor's solution had a better fit with their needs. But our research suggests the problem lies elsewhere and that the customer's feedback is just a gentle way of giving you the bad news without implying the fault lies with you personally.
Let's consider the way in which decisions to shortlist suppliers are made. In most cases the decision will be taken by a group of people rather than one individual. So what influences their perceptions of the best supplier to fit their needs? More specifically, what influences their perceptions of your capability to meet their needs?
Did you influence all the decision-makers?
You will probably have met some of the people on the decision-making group during your sales calls, so this will have given you a chance to influence them in your favour. But what about the people you didn't meet? What do they know about your organisation's capability? Did you leave it to the people you did meet, to influence them on your behalf, or did you take some steps to ensure clear messages were passed on? Our research shows that planning a strategy to influence all the decision-makers is crucial to winning major sales.
Proposals can be sales winning documents.
You probably submitted a proposal. This can be an excellent vehicle for influencing the people you didn't get to talk to face-to-face, if they read it and if its persuasive. Unfortunately our work shows that few people have the skills to produce sales winning proposals. Over 50% of sales people attending our programmes admit the arguments presented in their own proposals wouldn't convince them to buy. Even worse, over 75% admit that some sections of their proposals are so boring even they can't be bothered to read them!
Test the persuasiveness of your proposal.
So why not take some time now to consider your strategy for influencing all the decision-makers you aren't able to meet and to take a close look at the proposal you submitted for your failed sale? To help you, why not download our proposal analysis document to test the strengths and weaknesses of your proposal or read about our course overview for Effective Proposals? A few minutes of your time could give you some insights into the areas that are letting you down so hopefully, next time, you'll be sure to make the shortlist, again and again and again!
