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May 3, 2009

Six Steps to Getting More Business If You Are Sick and Tired of Doing Complicated Business Quotes and Proposals for Business

You're about to discover a powerful and unique concept called the "Discovery Contract."

This morning I had a conversation with a new member who is a sales consultant. He described the all-too-familiar problem of spending a bunch of time giving someone a business proposal and then, being totally blown off by the person he did it for. The problem was he tried but failed to get access to the real decision maker. He simply wasn't being taken seriously. Plus he felt he was seen as "just another vendor".

So what's the solution?

The solution is a discovery contract: A paid quotation for a small percentage of the final price, in which you give the customer an in-depth investigation instead of just a quotation price. Yes, you can charge for business quotes. So long as the customer clearly understands that he or she is going to get a lot more than just a quote.

This is a normal and customary part of my own fee structure and I don't do business quotes for free anymore. You shouldn't either.

When you go from quotes to discovery contracts, you'll do fewer quotes and close more business.

Now this shouldn't be blindly applied to every possible situation, but anything that involves the delivery of complex services surely deserves consideration of a discovery contract. It's gutsy and you may feel nervous pulling it off the first time, but it's a fantastic tool.

Here's a special audio bonus in MP3, discussing discovery contracts. This mp3 is about 8 minutes long:

You can (and should!) download it here and listen to it. It tells you the following:

How to position it with the customer so it makes sense and doesn't sound like you're just whacking them for a quote;

How much to charge for it;

What to deliver in it and how to present it with respect to your competition.

And more

Perry M

Posted by David at May 3, 2009 3:38 PM

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