Funny how some prospects think they are doing me a favor by giving me the honor of being one of three required bids.
I had a prospect lately who asked me to provide them a bid for some product and services even though they had just renewed with their past 4 year provider, he said they were happy with the support they provided as well.
The bid was for some add-on work around the same application area and he needed to get three bids as a corporate requirement before purchasing. He stated over and over again how there was a real opportunity. I didn't believe him.
Preparing the bid would have taken about 8 person-hours of time, he would not let us do an accurate functional spec on the new functionality, this was an easy 'Thanks but No Thanks" response.
I know the buyer has power in today's market but not the power to waste my time.
I do know that he will get his 3 bidders, at least 3 organizations will have 'HOPE' as their strategy. (The secret is we had done several bids for him over the past years)
My suggestion in these scenarios is to listen to what your gut is telling you, it is usually accurate. Be authentic, tell the customer, "Thanks Maybe Next Time."
Good insight, Steve. Equally applicable to small, medium and even tiny businesses. I've read many posts saying that not all business is worth the effort, but you have a great point to apply the same screen to bids.
ReplyDeleteSteve - I can sum this up in one word: Amen!
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling it like it is - great blog - keep up the great content!
Caroline
I also agree that not all business is worth the effort. Some customers are just too hard to please.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of the comments, good to know my experience and instinct may be accurate.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. The last time I wrote a proposal, it took 12 hours and the client said yes, so I figured it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteThen the client called the next day and say they had chosen another vendor, who was cheaper.
I vowed that day never to spend a lot of time writing proposals, and, in fact, rarely write any at all. I usually tell clients that I don't do proposals, and several thought that was great!
I can relate to Amanda's comment. There are times when you have to wonder just how much of your effort is worth the sale? However, we must keep word of mouth in mind, right :-)
ReplyDelete