Are you ever surprised by the time it takes to motivate your customers to purchase?
When selling to large corporations it can take what seems like forever due to the bureaucracy involved and sometimes games people play. Selling to individuals is usually a shorter sales cycle as you can detect whether they want to spend the money by watching their facial expressions or by their honestly saying, “that’s out of our budget.”

We were on the opposite side of the table as a contractor was selling to us. Initially we asked a contractor what he would charge for a project and were upfront with our budget. We do not game play in interest of getting the job done quickly. The estimate was one number, when we asked for it in writing, the number tripled. We were surprised and angry.

The contractor went on to demand money for the time he spent meeting with us due to the fact it was doubtful we were going to accept his bid. Again, we were stunned. The meetings were at his request so that he would have accurate information to put the bid together.

Meetings before a job are the salesperson’s preparation time. They are meant to build goodwill, get all of the facts and advance the cycle for a sale. We sincerely hope the next time this contractor willl do his homework, listen to the client, ask for the budget and stick to it. He will have a better business and a Smooth Sale!