Sellers often bemoan that they find themselves deep into the sales process with a new prospect, only to discover there isn't much budget available.
It happens, right? It happens to everyone in sales, but often it happens because the seller was not positioned properly and did not nail down the biggest and best assignment.
If you position yourself right from the start as someone who can help in just one area or a narrow range of areas, it's not likely you'll hear about bigger problems and opportunities. And, beyond the proper positioning from the start, you need to nail down a clear assignment, (the biggest and best one available), based on the capabilities you have.
That means right at the beginning of the sales process you need to share some examples of how you have helped past customers, and talk about your broad range of capabilities. Then, as you complete your needs analysis work, probe across a broad range of topics and then narrow to a specific assignment.
If you do all this well, you will put yourself in a position to take the largest amount of money and to do the most good for the prospect.
Now you can see why we like to say that the budget is set as much by the seller as it is by the buyer.
For more information on our Hourglass Needs Analysis Method, click here.
Mike Anderson is VP of Consumer Insights and Communication at
The Center for Sales Strategy
