My worst ever experience with a prospect.
Like everybody else, I too write about only my good experiences. But the truth is that the bad experiences teach us what they don’t teach at Harvard or IIM. But still we don’t talk about it. Though the bad experiences are more in number comparatively, I still write about only the good experiences since I want to be seen as a hugely successful person on the Planet. Who doesn’t want to be? Right? 🙂
A friend of mine called me up few years ago and asked for my help. He said that they were having some trouble with their existing system. Their system was not capturing all the information required & so, he sought my help.
I suggested a CRM product [that we sell & implement] and told my friend that it can be addressed efficiently in this product.
Since he was my best friend, I gave him the solution upfront. I said that this issue can be addressed by creating a new pipeline.
He spoke about their process. I didn’t write down anything. Nor was I recording the call. After the call, I documented the whole thing. Then, I sent him a detailed email with my understanding. He accepted that my understanding was right.
He asked me for a proposal and a demo. I usually qualify a prospect before moving them to the next stage. But here I moved a prospect to the last step in the process – the proposal stage, without any qualification.
I submitted a proposal. Then, scheduled a demo. My friend and his colleague participated. The demo was so detailed, my friend said it was as good as a training / workshop. That was the last I heard from him. Post the demo, there was no response at all. End of that demo, he said that the product was good & solved their issues. So, where was the problem?
Till date, I have no clue.
If there was an issue with budget, he would have told me that prior to the demo itself.
This was a worst experience & one of its kind.
I wasted a lot of time on it. More than time & effort, I divulged too much information for nothing in return.
Normally, I turn all the prospects into my best friends before I do business with them.
But if my friends ask for help, I drop my usual process. I don’t do any prospecting. I don’t qualify them. I don’t check if they have the money, authority & need. I take everything for granted.
Learning:
- Never get overwhelmed / carried away just because the buyer is your friend.
- Follow your Sales Process always. Stick to your process. Don’t ever deviate from it for anybody or anything.
Happy Selling!!
#b2bsales #kkrocks #entrepreneurship
