sketchysales

Sales Manager

Managing Customers Expectations

Is this maybe the most important part of any deal that is about to close? If a prospect is pushing you for deadlines, price levels or something else that will apparently make or break a deal, do you promise on it even if you know it will be incredibly difficult to fulfill? How do you manage peoples expectations like this?

Managing expectations, do you:

Attached poll

Say, it is what it is. Take it or leave it. Agree to something that nigh on impossible and hope for the best

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

🔎 Prospecting

👑 Sales Strategy

📈 Closing

23 comments

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funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Always under promise and over deliver.

sketchysales

Politicker

Sales Manager

100% agree. However what if a client prospect says, meet this deadline or the deals off and you know it miiiiggghhhtt just be possible but high chance of failure, is it still take it or leave it?

CoorsKing

WR Officer

Retired King of the Coors Knights

Just be honest, you don't want to say "yeah we can definitely do that" and then miss. I would rather be honest, have them walk now but maintain a good relationship then sign them and have them be pissed for the duration of the contract.

I had to kill a deal last quarter due to timelines but we are still in consideration for future projects because we took the high road.

sketchysales

Politicker

Sales Manager

Yes I agree with this, need to have the strength to follow it through to, thanks for your input

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Yep, exactly this. If you overpromise and underdeliver or straight up lie, you risk burning the bridge forever. If you're honest, you might not get the deal that time but the prospect will respect you and the door will be open down the road.

SADNES5

Politicker

down voters are marketing spies

If it's a timeline or terms issue, ask what's more important. The timeline or the terms?
Timeline - no wiggle room, no way we can turn the corp gears fast enough to make that happen. If you need a solution today, commit to the 6mo/1 yr. Let us do some work in the background, then we can iron out the long term.
Terms - extend the timeline. So you can work on the terms.

Ace

Arsonist

CEO

Can't stress this enough

JuicyKlay

Celebrated Contributor

That's textbook expectation setting

paddy

WR Officer

Director of Business Development

Chances are if they're pushing you that early (not even as a client yet) they will be a nightmare to work with and could end up costing your company more in resources than they're paying. So depends on the deal size really.

SADNES5

Politicker

down voters are marketing spies

Steer it back into something manageable.

Frank: We need to make that number better, we don't have the capital to make that happen.
Me: You know what, this is the best I can do on our 3 year terms, I think that number can work, but we need to extend the commit. I think the 5 yr mark can come in close, and the 7 year deal, can come under. Were you talking about fixed costs? We can lock in with the 7 and you're going to look like a hero, underbudget, a solution that fixes 'pain points' and you don't have to think about shopping around for a better product, because no one can come close to this level of service/product.

Accidental_Sales_Guy

Politicker

Account Executive

Explain expectations over the phone, so you can influence their interpretation (keep them focused on value). Then back up your expectation with an email so you have a paper trail (protect yourself if they accuse you of overselling).

Delivering hard news over the phone is critical; don't let them interpret your email differently than you intend.

sketchysales

Politicker

Sales Manager

This is key, fully agree RE the phone vs email thing, emails are so easy to misinterpret. thanks

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

Our selling team carries the contract negotiation steps as well so there's no place to hide if you over promised. Being honest pays off in the end. If they end things right then and there it saves wasted time and effort on your part.

CCP

Opinionated

VP, Business Development

Over time, your reputation gets increasingly important. Gotta protect that deliberately and consistently. No deal is worth risking your name for.

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

Clashingsoulsspell

Politicker

ISR

Just be honest, you don't want to say "yeah we can definitely do that" and then miss.

Tres

Politicker

Account Executive

I sometimes directly ask them before we start "what are your expectations for this call/deal/etc?"

sketchysales

Politicker

Sales Manager

Good point, i should do this more.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

every sales person talks but few deliver on the promise. better to loose a deal instead of "exciting" the prospect in the presales stage and screwing it up after the deal lands.

sketchysales

Politicker

Sales Manager

I feel i have learnt this very much the hard way

SidFarkus

Politicker

Corporate Sales Account Executive

I always pitch transparency and I've found, more often than not, when they want the world, only 1 or 2 things will really make or break the deal. They're just trying to see what they can get away with.

I also always make sure to get a guarantee in return. "If I do x for you, the only way I'm going to be able to make that happen is if I can bring my side something in return." e.g. "Legal will be more inclined to accept your redlines if I can ensure them we're getting the business, if we do this, can I expect the PO at the end of the week?" Gives you leverage when they say yes.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

been burned too many times on even alluding to something we don't do and clawbacks really suck

MR.StretchISR

Politicker

ISR

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sketchysales

Managing Customers Expectations

Managing expectations, do you:

23 comments

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