If you’re a salesperson you’ve been in the place I’m about to describe.  You’ve presented, what you know to be, competitive prices.   You’ve shown your prospect what an outstanding job your organization can do for them and they agree.  You’ve explained how you have the resources to get the job done in a timely fashion.

Then your prospect starts to press for lower prices, faster delivery and talk of their need for uncompromising quality.  You’ve invested time and energy into this prospect and hate to lose out now.  You begin to feel the pressure to make concessions.

To my way of thinking concessions are similar to eating potato chips.  Who can have just one?  And where does it stop?   Maybe it’s time to have the “The Magic Triangle” conversation with your prospect?

The Magic Triangle is a technique I learned years ago to help qualify prospects, set realistic expectations, put a stop to endless requests for concessions and establish myself as a sales professional.   I bet if you try this you’ll be impressed with the results.

Take out some paper and draw a triangle.  Label the sides of your triangle “Time”, “Quality*” and “Price”.  Explain that to be successful a project must be completed on time, satisfy the need for quality and be affordable.  Ask for confirmation from your prospect on this point.  Explain that your proposal provides all three without compromise.  Further explain that you understand that, in the real world, sometimes compromises must be made.

*I have also used “Services” to better describe some solutions.

Look your prospect in the eye and explain that making a concession in one aspect of the project always impacts the other aspects of the project just like changing the length of one line in a triangle always impacts the angle of the other lines.  Explain further that it may be possible to make some concession in one aspect of the project but more than that would put the project’s success in jeopardy.  Add that your projects are successful and that this is one of the reasons why.  Then ask the prospect where they are the most comfortable making a compromise; on the completion date, the quality or the price?

To put it simply you’ve just asked your prospect where they are most willing to make a compromise in exchange for you making a compromise.  You can lower your price but they will have to accept some concession in quality, or completion date or perhaps payment terms.  Often you can make a small concession without impacting any of the three aspects of the project but you have put them on notice that there are limits to what you can do and that any compromises in project outcome will have to be their decision.

You may get a dumbfounded look at this point.  However I suspect your prospect will quickly understand that they are dealing with a knowledgeable professional.  If they’re good they’ll appreciate that you’re willing to work with them without jeopardizing the success of the project.  Or you may just have qualified your prospect and discovered this is one you’re better off keeping away from.   Either way you win.

On a good day an honest and realistic conversation, or negotiation, about how you can provide a successful project or service will ensue.  Congratulations, you’ve started the process of setting realistic expectations for a successful solution for your prospect, you and your company!

Next blog: how talking about risk can add to setting achievable expectations and help you protect your profit margins.

Professional salespeople and business people know how important it is to properly set expectations with a prospect or client.  Doing this well is critical to the long term success of the business.  Incorrectly setting expectations is an expensive lesson that can undermine an otherwise successful business.

The fine line we walk is between getting the prospect interested in and excited about the outcome we can provide without setting expectations so high that they later can’t be fulfilled leaving the prospect disappointed or even angry.  Yes setting sales expectations is a two sided sword.

How do you keep yourself in the running for new business without giving away the store and creating “No win” expectations for you, your company and your client?  There’s a way to use the often difficult conversations about Price, Quality, Delivery Date and Risk to your advantage and to help you set realistic expectations.

In my next two blog posts I’ll outline two tactics that can help set expectations (and more).  Imagine a tool that will assist you in setting realistic expectations, help you qualify prospects, establish you as a professional and set you up to handle price objections later.

Sound good?  Stay tuned for two proven tactics, The Magic Triangle & Your Risk or Mine?, that can stand alone or be used together.

Recently I had a conversation with a consultant and expert on software development about proposing solutions to our clients.

We discussed the need to understand the client’s goals, and situation to determine if our solutions are viable.  We talked about the importance of giving the client options.  About making sure they understand the options, the costs, and the value of each option.

My experience has been that most consultants, coaches and experts do this quite well.  However, I believe the real consultant does more than offer and explain options.

The real consultant commits.  Understanding and offering options is not enough.  The real consultant has a very strong sense of conviction about which option is the best for their client and throws the full weight of their recommendation behind that option.

When I offer sales or business coaching advice I’m careful to provide options.  Explaining the options allows me to provide context and insight as to why I’m making the recommendation I’m making.   It’s a way for me to both teach and give advice.  My clients hire me, in large part, for this type of committed recommendation.

To better serve your clients give more than options, have the conviction to provide a committed recommendation.   Committing to your convictions, in sales, business and in life, is a good thing.

I recently joined the fitness center at a local state university.  When I got my student parking permit I noticed something that made me wonder.

After parking I had to walk through the large, mostly empty, “facility & staff” parking lot to get to where I was going.  I checked some of the other lots on campus and in each case student parking is the furthest away from anyplace you would want to get to.

It seems to me that if the university exists to serve the student, if the student is the university’s customer, than shouldn’t student parking be right next to the handicapped and visitor parking by the front door?  I wonder how this subtle point plays on the subconscious of students, staff and instructors?

More importantly for this blog I’m encouraging you to think about what “student parking” may be going unnoticed in your business or organization?  How might you be unconsciously keeping your customers away from your front door?  Put yourself in your customer’s shoes, park in their spot and be aware of how that feels.  It could be important.

Welcome. You’ve reached the personal blog of Tom Hughes; business & sales coach, entrepreneur, salesperson, husband, father, grandfather, sibling, runner, endurance athlete, seeker and more.

This is a place where I will share my experiences, thoughts, ideas, feelings, suggestions and possibly a few rants on a variety of topics.  You’re welcome to comment. It’s fine to challenge, doubt, and debate. I only ask that you do so respectfully of other’s beliefs, traditions and ideas.

I hope you learn something, think, are surprised, get spurred to action or, are in some way, moved by what you read here. Enjoy and engage.