With more eyes on budgeting and more strict procurement processes, it seems like we're all seeing major increases to the length of our sales cycles.
Personally, I don't think there's much we can do to shrink them. There's just going to be more scrutiny moving forward.
However, has anyone been doing anything differently in terms of post proposal activities that you've found to help keep yourself top of mind and make any internal conversations for your champion easier?
"Customer, it's been awesome working with you and the transparency has been refreshing. To keep that momentum, can we agree to have XYZ answered by ABC date to proceed so our team can meet your deadline?"
If you choose to include discount in the proposal for any reason, then tie it to some kind of give from the customer - whether it's a signature date, or a reference, or something tangible. They could negotiate those items, but they're talking to you at that point about what's important to them so you can adjust accordingly to make your offer attractive, as it responds to their needs. But yeah, the whole "if you don't sign by the end of our Q1, things will magically change overnight and pricing will triple and we'll have to start from scratch" is not my favorite sales tactic for many reasons.
We win an RFP, prospect takes FOR EVER on next steps, next thing you know its been 9 months. If you have a timeframe on quotes its an easy way to keep things moving.
The best RFPs call out their plans - including go live.
The worst have nothing - no idea what's next after the RFP. Leaving the rep to push on procurement to sort out what the business wants.
It needs to be mutually beneficial. Win win is great, but I want no lose scenarios with built in safe guards to keep everyone safe.
All comes back to communication.
I'd love to scrub the document of revealing details and hand it out to every prospect who thinks being coy about processes is a win for their side, because no, no it isn't. The gold standard is out there and benefits everyone when processes are shared and clear.