Don't Let "Done Deals" Come Undone!
Ever had a deal "close" and then find out that the deal isn't going to go through? Maybe the customer had budget issues. Or maybe the person who said "YES" didn't have authority to commit funds. Whatever the reason, your done deal got undone -- and that's bad news for you and your firm.
To prevent this from happening, you should work with your customer contacts to create a "buying process document" describes what needs to happen for the transaction to actually take place, according to Julie Thomas, CEO of ValueSelling Associates.
Such a document should describe the process and procedures by which the purchase will take place, and identify stakeholders, potential veto-ers, and any possible roadblocks. This document serves the following purposes:
- It makes the sale more predictable. Because you know what might happen to scuttle the deal, you can take actions to ensure that potential problems are handled well before they become deal-killers.
- It makes forecasting more predictable. A byproduct of the undone-deal is that it inevitably messes up the sales forecast. Knowing what might go wrong, and having the bases covered, makes the forecast more likely to come true as planned.
- It helps you sell more to that customer. The more you understand how you customer buys, the more easily you can find decision-makers and help them work through the process of buying more.
- It keeps sales support on target. Your entire firm better understand events that take place at the customer's end and know what needs to take place in order to ensure that the relationship proceeds smoothly.
UPDATE: Some world-class advice on this issue from the legendary Dave Stein in THIS COMMENT to this post.