potential, it really isn’t going to be a win for you.”


DEAD END?


Sometimes an RFP will just show up in your inbox from a company you’ve never called on. In this case, you need to know how and why you got on that company’s list, says the expert. “Call and ask how they got your name,” he advises. “If you don’t have a history with the company and you don’t know anyone, depending on the level of work involved in answering the RFP, it might be wise to say, ‘No, thank you.’


“I see a lot of salespeople mis- step when they get a blind RFP,” he continues. “Instead of calling the company, they just look at the RFP and work on it. Then they’re shocked when they don’t win. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If handled correctly – even if it’s a blind RFP – you can turn it into an educational tool for the company that’s inquiring about your services. Use it to build a relationship with them.”


The expert says RFPs are rarely clear enough for a salesperson to re- spond with a targeted solution. That’s why he advises asking enough ques- tions so it leads to a conversation with the actual users. Questions he says to ask include: How did you hear about my company? How many providers have been asked to respond to this RFP? What is your decision making process? What criteria will you use to narrow down the list? What are the next steps?


“The better formulated (highly technical) the questions are, the greater the chance of getting to the end users,” he says. “If you still can’t talk to the end user, tell procurement that you need to meet with the end user because there are certain things needed in the solution that aren’t ad- dressed in the RFP. If they say no, you can respond with, ‘It sounds like you folks aren’t interested in our company; you are just looking for the lowest price.’ This way you lose early instead of spending countless hours and


CAN YOU DO WHAT YOU'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE?


dollars on something that isn’t even going to happen.”


On the other hand, if you’ve built


a strong relationship with a client but it’s their policy to issue RFPs, help them tailor the RFP to your company. You can even help them write the RFP questions, he says. “Typically, you aren’t working with


procurement at this stage; you’re working with an end user,” says the expert. “The end user has the chal- lenge of working with procurement to make sure their specs are met. You can provide them with an RFP tem- plate so you can build the RFP with the questions that can differentiate your company and map back to your solution.”


PLOT A COURSE


Once you’ve decided you want to go ahead with the RFP, do your research and use the RFP to educate your prospect – that includes using your references to your advantage. “I look at references as my com-


pany’s intellectual capital,” he says. “The request for references is a standard part of any buying process.” The expert’s experience with buyers has shown him that many look at the reference step of the buying process


as their opportunity to validate their decisions. “Prospects are searching to ascer- tain whether a supplier can deliver on the promises made during the RFP process,” he explains. “Can the sup- plier really handle this size account? Are they really that fast? Or that ac- curate? Is the service as good as they described? If all your competitors are going to provide good references, you have to provide the best refer- ences. Just know that ‘best’ is differ- ent for each prospect. “Ask the prospect questions around what they are hoping to learn from your references,” he says. “If you can’t do that, consider reflecting on what was learned during the needs analysis discussions. For example, if they were concerned about implementation, you can provide them with an account that your company recently imple- mented. If the decision is being made by a CFO, provide a CFO reference.” If, after all your hard work, the good news doesn’t come, you can still hope they’ve learned something about your company. Don’t forget to ask why you didn’t get the account, so you can learn, too. 


CLOSING POSTER SERIES SELLING POWER MAY 2017


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