"Selling Your House?"

Eleven Reasons Up-front Contracts Help You and the Buyer

1. Up-front contracts give both you and the buyer the opportunity to ask questions.

"Pat, lets set some ground rules for our meeting.  I'd like to be able to ask you some questions about your business, and I want you to be able to ask me anything you'd like about my service.  Is that fair?"

2. They give both you and the buyer the right to say no if there isn't a fit.

"As we ask and answer each other's questions, we may decide there isn't a fit between what you need and my service.  We may realize it doesn't make sense to spend any more time together.  If we reach that point, are you comfortable with telling me that?"

3. They enable the buyer to say yes if there is a fit.

"On the other hand, if you see that my service makes sense to you, we can decide to move forward. OK?"

4. They provide an end result to your sales call.

"And when we finish today we'll agree to a plan as to how you and I will proceed.  Does that make sense?"  You want to come away from every sales call with a clear and concise agreement as to what happens next.  If this is one-call close, you want agreement to keep moving in your selling process.  If you're in a multiple-call cycle, you want to be invited back for another meeting after outlining your selling cycle to the buyer.

5. Up-front contracts allow for enough time.

"How much time have you set aside for this meeting?  Your time and mine are valuable, and I want to make sure we make the best use of it."  You've undoubtedly been on a sales call where you bonded instantly with a buyer.  You talked about everything but buisness and suddenly the buyer said, "Look, sorry to rush you, but I have only five minutes left.  What do you have for me to look at?"

6. They make sure there are no interruptions.

"Pat, I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but there have been times when right in the middle of an important issue a phone will ring or people start walking in and out of the office.  This can be very distracting.  Can we make sure this will not happen during our visit?"

7. They establish an agenda for the meeting.

"Pat, what are some of the things you would like to accomplish today?" or "Pat, when we were on the telephone, I asked you to write down three of the biggest problems you were having in the areas we discussed.  Can you share those with me?" or "Pat, I've been in sales long enough to know there are no accidents.  I believe there is a purpose for us being together.  What motivated you to invite me in?"

8. Up-fron contracts give you the opportunity to manage your biggest weaknesses up front.

Use this step only for genuine fears you have about how you sell.  For purpose of illustration, assume you have difficulty dealing with money.  "Pat, before I tell you about my service, let me share something with you.  My concern is that when we get to the end of my presentation, you're going to like what you see and hear, and I'm going to have difficulty asking you for money.  This has always been a problem for me.  So that I can give your problem my full attention, are you OK dealing with the money up front?"

9. They enable you to be "invited" in to a meeting set up by a telephone call.

Have you ever arranged a meeting on the telephone, but were caught off guard by the buyer's defensiveness or antagonism when you met?  Buyers will say one thing over the telephone and another thing when they get you face-to-face.  You enable that to happen when you fail to use appropriate ideas form this list to establish an up-front contract during your telephone call.

10. They help you handle the dreaded request for literature.

• A time-proven way to get rid of a salesperson is for the buyer to say, "Send me some literature." Next time, use this response: "Pat, I"ll be happy to send literature, but before I can do that, I need to ask you a question, OK?  Sometimes when people ask for literature, as opposed to meeting with me, what they are really saying is that they just don't have any interest, but are too nice to tell me because they dont' want to hurt my feelings.  Is that the case here, Pat?"
• If you decide to send the literature, ask a question that ensures you will send the right material and that allows you to try again for an appointment.  Say this:  "Pat , I have a tremendous amount of literature, which may or may not be of interest to you.  Do you mind if I ask you a few questions to make sure you will be receiving the right material before I send it?"
• Before you actually send material, get agreement on what will happen next. "Pat, I"m going to send you the literature.  Its probably going to get there Thursday.  How much time are you going to need to review it?" [Buyer responds.] "Let's assume you've gone over it by next Tuesday.  I'll call you on wednesday, and here's what I would like to have happen, if you can be comfortable.  I'd like for you to be able to say you have some questions or that you see absolutely nothing in the literature you can use.  If you have some interest, I would like you to invite me in for a face-to-face meeting.  Is that fair?"

11. They help you control the proposal process.

Here are four up-front contracts to set when you do a proposal:

• The Rough Draft.  Ask to do a rough draft for the buyer's review based on what you know now, with a commitment to sit down with the buyer to make revisions before you submit the final proposal.
• The Last Look. If you're in a competitive situation, you want to be the last person in front of the buyer.  Try to get a "last look" promise.
• The Confidentiality Commitment.  How many times have you lost a bid only to learn that the winning proposal had incorporated some of your ideas?  Submit proposals with a stated agreement from the buyer that none of the information in your proposal will be revealed to any of your competitors.
• The Price Promise.  When you suspect you won't be the low bidder on a proposal, say this: "Pat, just so you understand, we're never the low bidder.  In putting this proposal together for you, I'm assuming you're looking for the highest value and not the lowest price.  Am I right on that, or will you be forced to choose the least expensive supplier regardless of quality?"

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