Avoid the swamp of indecision
Somehow, there's often a sense of urgency when it comes to quotes. Clients want a quote urgently. You do your best to create something beautiful, discuss with colleagues how to fill in any variables and gaps, and then send off your quote.
And then... often nothing. Radio silence. Days turn into weeks or even months. How do you avoid falling into this quagmire of indecision?
The pitfall is:
sending the quote too quickly
The tip is:
a quotation is a conversation report
A conversation report of what you discussed during the purchase meeting. It doesn't contain any new information. If you're missing any information, have another meeting first.
Customers, however, are used to requesting quotes quickly. Sometimes even when they really just want a price quote. And many suppliers are used to quickly producing quotes when a customer has a question. It's almost automatic.
And when you're in a sales conversation and you're enthusiastic, you're also eager to take the next step. A quote like that seems like a concrete step, right? It also feels decisive: "There, another quote is out the door."
Some clients also like to be surprised by a quote. They ask for your creativity and experience: Make something beautiful, surprise me, I'm curious...
If you create a quote based on just one conversation, it's tempting to come up with a solution you don't discuss first. Then your quote will likely contain surprises for the client, whether it's about the content, the process, the timing, or—and perhaps the worst of all—the price.
If you decide on the best solution yourself and put it down on paper, you have to make a number of assumptions. About the ideal solution, about the budget, about the decision-making process. If there are multiple options, you have to guess which one is best, or write down multiple options. The problem is that written communication is one-way. You don't see the other person's reaction. You can't explain sentences that don't come across as you intended.
People buy from people, not from paper. That's why you want to be there when the customer sees your solution. So you can adjust it. Or hear the investment amount. So you can respond. Or clarify. Or, if necessary, decide that a quote isn't worthwhile.
Especially in the early years of his entrepreneurial career, Maarten absolutely hated creating quotes. He often hesitated while writing them: would the client want two consecutive days, or would a period in between be preferable? So he'd write down both options, along with separate prices. As a result, his quotes were always lengthy and time-consuming.
Nowadays Maarten first discusses which option will be chosen and then sends a short order confirmation.
A classic approach is:
- You have an hour-long conversation with a customer.
- You start thinking and, sometimes with the help of colleagues, spend a few hours preparing a quote.
- You send the quote and wait a few weeks.
What we propose:
- You have a one-hour conversation with a customer, during which you use the U-model from the previous part as a checklist.
- You have a follow-up meeting, because it's often impossible to cover the entire U-model in a single appointment. You'll discuss the solution on a sheet of A4 paper.
- You may have another conversation, perhaps with other people present.
- Then you know what the question is, the Very Good Reason, the solution, the budget and the decision-making.
- And then you write your quote based on that in a short time. You will find a structure for this below. 2 The quote on paper.
That takes about the same amount of time, or less. And the chance of your quote being a hit is much greater.
If you follow the U-model, you'll get all the input for your conversation report. All the thinking has been done, and the client has already decided whether they want to do business. At least, that's the theory. In practice, things sometimes go a bit differently.
If we find ourselves in the quagmire (which thankfully happens less and less often these days), it almost always turns out that we rushed through the buying conversation. There are three moments in the U-model where there's a risk of slipping up:
- Immediately after the client's first question, when he asks What does that cost and give me a quote.
- After the initial conversation, which lasts about an hour, you'll have identified the buying arguments together. That's when a customer often says: Okay, now you know what's going on here, when can you send me a quote?
- After discussing the solution on a single page, we haven't even touched on the budget and decision-making process. Your client now wants to know how much it will cost, and then the question arises: Yes, that's the solution we need. Would you please include that in a quote?
So be alert when you have a purchase conversation, and don't promise too quickly that you will "elaborate on it further in the offer".
About thin and thick quotes
When quotes are thick, they might look imposing. But there are a few problems with thick quotes. First, they take a lot of time to create. And they also take a lot of time to read.
The biggest problem, however, is trying to convince people through paper. And paper is a one-way street. You're guessing what the other person wants, hoping you're right. We don't like guessing; we prefer to make people think.
The thicker a proposal is, the more guesswork is involved.
To prevent your customer from expecting something you won't deliver, it's useful to announce what will be included in the quote.
Okay, Ellis, so I'll briefly outline the reason in the quote, and then I'll include the list of objectives (purchase arguments) that we just drew up together.
I am including the solution we discussed on the A4 sheet as an attachment.
And I add to that the investment of €47.000 as we just discussed.
I expect that I will end up with about three pages.
You will discuss this in your management team and you expect your director, Marian, to agree with your advice to do this and to arrange the associated budget.
Is that all correct? And when should we agree to talk about this again?
If it turns out that Ellis expects something different, for example an alternative proposal, or there is still uncertainty about the budget or decision-making process, the trick is to politely stick to the principle that there will be no surprises in the quote, and first enter into discussion again.
You can create a quote. Or an offer. Or an order confirmation. We prefer the latter.
What if it turns out you're still missing information? Or what if you misjudged the price or lead time? Or what if you came up with a clever solution after the last conversation?
Then it's time to go back to your client and start a conversation. IMI is your friend again. And you can prepare that IMI with a colleague for the best result. You might end up with something like:
Introduce: Hi Ellis, I'll call you shortly about our project. I'm working on the quote, and I want to discuss something with you...
Motivate: To achieve your goals, my colleagues and I have decided that an additional workshop for the Works Council would likely be very useful and would pay for itself.
Instruct: I'd like to discuss with you whether you're comfortable with this and whether or not we should include it in the quote. Can we discuss this now?
Don't write when you can speak better
The problem is that written communication is a one-way street. You can't see the other person's reaction. You can't explain sentences that don't come across as you intended. You can't directly answer or process the other person's questions and comments. And you can't directly address the other person's emotions.
- Agree on when the customer will respond to the quote and therefore when you will contact them again. See also 11 Concrete action for yourself.
- Is your offer still stuck in the swamp of indecision?
It happens. Discuss with colleagues what you're going to do about it. Perhaps call a spade a spade. The technique from chapter 10 will help with that. 7 Naming What Is. - And finally, once again, the most important tip is not to promise to make a quote if you don't have all the input yet.
This article was written by Jan Willem van den Brink and Maarten van Os from DreamfactoryIt's based on a chapter from our book Client Wanted – Acquiring as part of your job.
If you wish to use it, we would greatly appreciate attribution.
Want to know more about this topic or how we can help your organization? Email or call us at 0348-741670.