Ideal Consulting Services header image
Become more Effective, Efficient and Profitable

Decisions – Decisions

Decisions are critical on both sides of the table in sales

How often have we all heard this expression!  Although making decisions is part of our normal every day life, some of us have more difficulty with decision making than others.  And yet decision making is critical to all our lives and businesses.

As business owners, managers or salesmen, we are faced with decisions regarding marketing, sales, staffing, scheduling and production.  When it comes to sales, there are many areas where decisions come into play.  These choices start with selecting the market segment we want to pursue through our prices and end with our client’s decision to use our products and services.

A critical area requiring careful decision making and procedures for your decision making is sales screening.  Unfortunately without such screening you can spend a lot of unproductive time and energy pursuing useless leads, or worse yet, preparing estimates for people who are not really right for you, your company or your products.  Part of your screening process should include information about your prospects’ decision making process, as well as some indication of their budget.  Yes, I realize that budget is a delicate subject, however without some sense of the budget it will be difficult to create a proposal that will lead to a successful sale.  Fortunately there are ways to get enough information from your prospects so you can decide whether the project is worth pursuing.

The other side of the decision coin is your prospects’ decision making process.  This is an area where you can help your clients really win.

An important element in decision making is a clear understanding of similarities and differences.  Without an understanding of how you and your product are different, your prospect will be forced to assume differences or will only see similarities.  Without any clear differences, they will be forced to use the only difference they see – the price.  By clearly differentiating your company and your proposal, you can help prospects make the right choice for them.