How to Not Be Cannon Fodder

One of my pet peeves is salespeople sending out proposals too soon. You’ve heard me talk about it before. In complex sales, proposals should never be the first thing you send, unless it’s with an existing customer who already knows you and knows they’re ready for something specific from you.

A proposal that is sent too early makes you cannon fodder. Your sales team discovers a lead, whether through an RFP, marketing lead, or outbound prospecting activities. The prospective customer thinks they know what they want, and they ask for a price. The salesperson gets excited, asks a few questions, and then - bam - sends out that proposal.

This can look good in the CRM. It’s nice to see so many proposals with that 75% chance of winning.

But from the customer’s perspective, it looks different. When they decide they need something, very often their first impulse is to ask, “How much does it cost? How will I pay for it? What features does it have?” They reach out to collect proposals, hoping for as many as possible, while making a bunch of faulty assumptions about the ability to compare the options.

When you answer these questions item by item, it tells the customer that your product is a commodity. And that they’re right to look for the cheapest option that has the features they want. In this scenario, you only win if you’re racing to the bottom… and the customer doesn’t win at all.

Imagine Buying a House This Way

Imagine you’re buying a house for your family. You know you need three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fenced backyard, and a home office. Now imagine that instead of the usual way of selling, realtors were in the habit of receiving your request and then sending you a list of homes with those features, with the expectation that you would select the cheapest one.

Let’s say you purchase one of those homes, selecting the cheapest one–or, perhaps, the second cheapest one on the list. You close the deal and prepare to move into your new, inexpensive home. You think you’ve done well, because you’ve achieved your goals without spending extra money.

A proposal sent too early makes you cannon fodder.

But when you arrive at the home, you discover that although it does have the features you requested, it also has some problems you didn’t anticipate. It’s situated next to an airport and you hear airplanes taking off all day and night. It has a fenced yard like you asked, but the yard is full of garbage that makes it unsafe for your children and pets. Worst of all, although the purchase price was low, the home’s maintenance costs are so high you could have purchased a much nicer home for what it ends up costing you.

Among those nicer homes, several of them had all of your requested features and a few you didn’t realize were a possibility. One of them has a covered deck and an outdoor kitchen. It also has arched doorways that add elegance to the home without adding cost.

Realtors lost out on this deal because they all competed to send you the cheapest possible option. And you lost out, because the cheapest possible option wasn’t actually what your family needed and wanted.

How We Actually Buy Homes Is Closer to the Mark

A good realtor operates in a way that is closer to how complex sales should work. The realtor receives your request, and instead of instantly responding with an email list of properties that match your requirements, they give you a call. They ask you discovery questions to find out what’s important to you and your family. They learn that your partner is a major stakeholder in the process, and they set up an appointment to talk to you both so they can find out  what’s important to them, as well.

They discover needs and preferences that you didn’t realize you had. Quiet matters to you, and an open floor plan. You like to be outdoors, and you prefer a home with low maintenance costs. You didn’t even know to ask these questions until the realtor brought them to your attention.

Together, you develop a shared  mental model of what the right home will be like. Then, and only then, that realtor takes you to see a home that meets all of your needs and wants. It has that outdoor kitchen and the arched entryways and, although the purchase price is a little higher, it has many energy efficient upgrades that will save more money than the extra cost of purchase.

Which house are you buying?

Great realtors already operate this way, and so should any professional B2B salesperson. Step by step, here’s what you can do differently to make more sales and have more satisfied customers.

1. Don’t React Fast
   When your team receives a lead, the last thing your team should do is rush to send pricing or a proposal. It can feel good to send out a dozen proposals in a week, but if most of them are cannon fodder, it’s wasted effort. Instead, the first thing your team should do is take a breath. Do their research. And contact the prospect.
2. Develop a shared mental model
   Don’t assume the prospect knows everything they need to know to make a good decision for themselves. You’re the expert in solving the problem, so help them solve the problem. Give your team the training and tools to conduct effective discovery, uncover key stakeholders, and design a solution that meets the customer’s true needs, while developing a shared mental model with the prospect.
3. Reinforce the Process
   Change is hard. If your sales team has been accustomed to producing cannon fodder, they need support to change the way they work. They need training, coaching and consistent, effective reinforcement.
   
   Reinforcement is the step that many companies miss. They get the training, and their managers stay on top of salespeople, but over time, everyone rubber-bands back to the old way of doing things. It was easier, and they’re used to it.
   
   Most proposal tools actually reinforce the cannon fodder approach. They’re designed to make it easy and efficient to put together a proposal that matches a customer’s stated requirements, without providing reinforcement for developing the shared mental model.
   
   Look for proposal tools that enable you to reinforce the winning process right within the sales team’s workflow. Tools that guide the salesperson through the steps and require the completion of those steps before proceeding to the proposal. Tools like Membrain’s that aren’t just a quick way to respond, but an effective way. Tools that dynamically guide salespeople through your unique Way of Selling to ensure that proposals are delivered only when the groundwork is done.
4. Deliver In Person
   The efficient way to deliver a proposal is by email. The effective way is in person, through online conferencing, or on-site. When you deliver the proposal to stakeholders in person, you can answer questions, address concerns, and navigate challenges in real time. You can help the prospect understand and guide their discussion process, instead of hoping they’ll figure it out themselves or email you with questions. More often than not, when you follow the process and deliver in person–you win.

Tell me, are your sales teams closer to cannon fodder or effectiveness? What do you think many companies are doing wrong when it comes to proposals?