When should you say no?

I read a great post this morning on learning to say no by S. Anthony Iannarino. In his post, he points out that when a prospect calls to tell you they are disappointed in your price its often because you actually did a great job selling and they recognize your service is superior. However, what you may have failed to do is take it to the next step by helping sell the solution internally. I couldn’t agree more. More times than not, decisions about the services we sell are not left to one individual. Their are other people who influence what a company purchases. Helping empower your contact to communicate the value you bring to the table to their CEO, VPs or Boards is critical to closing the deal. I have gone so far as to create talking points and work with my prospect to prepare presentations that talk about our solutions and coach them on the deliver so they can communicate the value they will provide. Recently, I offered to show up to a shareholder meeting to communicate the exact same things I had shared with my contact.

As Anthony points out, sometimes, no matter what you do the client is always going to buy on price. While he recommends just saying no, I believe that in some instances firms should look at creative ways to get things done. This is especially true if the client will add significant value to your portfolio.  For example, a  marketing director shared with me a story about wanting to obtain a key client due to their name recognition. In order to get the deal done, they negotiated an in kind exchange for the first year with the understanding that they would bill in years 2 and 3. They did this to show investment into the relationship, but also to help eliminate and rfp process that would turn into a bidding war.

I am curious what creative things you have done to help sell your solution internally or creative approaches you have take to get the deal done.