|
|
| Author | Comment | Confused consultant
Unregistered User
(3/8/00 10:27:44 am)
Reply | Edit | Del All | Closing deals blues
To all,
I am a training consultant and I have recently been to a few business meetings and they all seemed to go very well. Let me tell you the results of the last 3 or 4 sales:
1. After 2 months of back and forth and much client employee enthusiasm, the managersays "OK, I have 9 people for you to train. We will be their at 8AM on Feb 5th. Can you resend the proposal because the front ofice seems to have lost it." He also adds "can we change the time on the second group from 8 to 9?". This is with 10 days to go prior to the scheduled training. After this verbal and email discussion, I can't get the guy in the phone, nor will he return emails. I pass on another deal because we're good to go. The days pass and I find out later that this guy didn't have the authority to make the commitment. My fault for not saying " Get a purchase order over here today or I have to go with a new offer I just got" I went broke because of this.
2. A guy contacts me and asks about my services. He is very anxious to get a proposal from me and calls me 3 times in 2 hours one day saying " where is the proposal?" I tell him I am still working on it and it will be to him in 15 minutes. He says we'll get back with you this week to schedule. I hear nothing even after sending email and calling.
3. I have a business meeting with a woman who is the boss. Her position definitely allows her to make decisions about spending money. We have lunch. It goes well. She discusses me doing a good 50 to 100K worth of custom training for her and her group ( She oversees 290 people who all need training) She tentatively schedules a meeting for 3 days later with 2 other managers who may also benefit from my services. The meeting gets cancelled because "not everybody can make it" She says that she will call in a week to reschedule becuase she is going out of town on business. After her return, nothing. I give her a few days to settle in and then I send email. No response. Three days after that voicemail, Nothing. Nada. Zip.
What am I doing wrong? If anybody would consider looking at what I present to potential clients offline and maybe critiquing my proposal, I would be forever in your debt. Sorry for the length of the post. I confused and not feeling real hot about myself right now. This is my livelyhood. Any help would be very very appreciated.
| TomDratler 
Global user
(3/8/00 11:53:12 am)
Reply | Edit | Del | Re: Closing deals blues
Unfortunately, what you're running into is typical.
Managers always play games with vendors. Even relatively ethical managers.
Other possibilities:
Vendors are being played off against each other as leverage.
The manager suffers buyer’s remorse right before the close and the deal dies.
The manager never really had spending authority or was overruled by the next level manager.
Manager plans to use your proposal for internal political BS. (perhaps to influence their internal trainers).
Manager is going to "shop" your proposal to try to get a better deal somewhere else.
Manager moves on.
New corporate direction.
Budget cut (training is one of the first things to go) because latest quarterly results are down.
The list goes on and on.
Just keep it in all in perspective. Sales is a numbers game. Just keep plugging away (it sounds like you're actually doing quite well) or as others have put it: You've got to kiss lots of frogs.
Good luck !
| tinyd
Global user
(3/8/00 12:00:40 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del | Re: Closing deals blues
I've done training, too. It may not be your proposal.
In my experience, the guy who wants the proposal in 15 minutes is trolling for prices, or has already bagged the gig for a friend and wants a second proposal to make it look good.
I once had a group at a Really Big Company - the kind that goes by its initials - put the squeeze on me for four proposals in one day. Friends on the inside told me none of the projects ever happened. None. The guy needed to show activity, I guess.
Training is one of those things that managers find it easy to think about. They can gather information about training until hell freezes over without spending a dime. It looks good on their part.
Training, especially employee training, is the first thing that gets cut when the quarterly numbers look shaky or the budget need massaging. Customer training can be a source of revenue, but employee training is just a cost. I don't spend the time to do proposals for employee training projects anymore unless it's for someone I've already dealt with and I know he really has a project. I'll gladly meet with and talk to potential clients, but I'm not blowing billable hours on proposals for fantasy projects. A hard-nosed conversation with a prospect often reveals the extent of the fantasy.
If they don't respond to your proposal and your follow-up, move on. They probably weren't serious.
| JeremyB
Local user
(3/8/00 12:27:28 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del | The wierd world of Training
I'd second all these points.
I do programmer/DBA training pretty much full-time now.
The 'mortality rate' for training classes is probably 50% or more.
I find it a lot different from contracting, where there's (usually) a Job Order behind it, and the client's gonna hire SOMEONE. Training needs are a 'shoot from the hip' idea sometimes, and many things can go wrong. Budget and student availability usually.
And yes - the more Urgent the request - the more fragile the class will be.
I know it's rough, and I know you have to commit to deals that fall apart, or disappear into the void. I haven't found a way to get clients to commit. I tried retainers/deposits (clients wouldn't agree), guilt (clients didn't care), overbooking myself (didn't feel comfortable with the ethics of that).
One suggestion - hook-up with a Training company or Training Broker (NOT a regular Broker...). They'll take a cut (of course) but usually have more reliable clients...
At least this could give you a base of income, and market yourself as well for the remainder of your time.
Don't worry, eventually you'll find a Prince/Princess in the frog-pile !
| DBAGuy 
Local user
(3/8/00 1:12:55 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del | My thoughts...
It seems pretty obvious to me that someone insisting on a proposal (a price quote) in fifteen minutes is shopping around for the lowest price deal.
My observation is that managers love to waste people's time. And they try to get stuff for free. I see it a lot.
I could not believe it when I accompanied a VP at one of those start-up companies a few years ago as we made a visit to EDS regarding hosting our web site. The VP avoided all mention of money in the two hour meeting with EDS marketing people, and repeatedly suggested obliquely that EDS should host us for free because of who we were and how associating their company with us would enhance their prestige.
Well, the start-up company is no longer in existance. It changed names, had a couple of failed mergers, and eventually was bought and the management sacked deservedly.
| David Randolph
Global user
(3/8/00 1:14:39 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del | Re: Closing deals blues
Yeah, this happened to me recently. I had a prospect talk real excited about needing to get the project started. So, I turned down some other work to have the resources available. That was back in September. The downpayment check to start the work didn't arrive till mid January. One more time: the client is not serious until the check arrives!
|
|
