Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there in sales that promise the world to their prospect, then either under-deliver, or charge more than they claimed they would. It's amazing how you can set yourself apart simply by doing what you say you'll do, and not over-promising.
One of my clients was recently working with a prospect. The prospect was looking at two different providers, my client being one of them. But the other provider they were looking at was promising them all sorts of crazy things.
My client, on the other hand, took a much more realistic approach. They talked the prospect through the compromises they would need to make in order to come even close to the budget they wanted.
Finally, the prospect got an actual investment amount from both providers. My client came in right where they said they would, where the other provider was way out of the prospect's budget.
Who do you think that prospect went with?
Unfortunately, there are many companies and salespeople that will say, "Oh, we can do that," but then surprise their customers with extra charges on the back-end.
I was recently sitting by an executive director of an association. We struck up a conversation, and I asked what he actually spent his time doing.
"Unfortunately, a huge portion of my job is babysitting."
I asked, "What do you mean by babysitting?"
He responded, "Well, the majority of the calls we get are from our members' customers that are now unhappy. If our members would just follow through with what they tell people they'll do, my job would be very, very easy."
You can set yourself and your organization apart by simply having an honest conversation about the investment, then doing what you actually say you're going to do. And depending on your industry, that may make a huge difference.
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