Monthly Archives: May 2017

Give yourself a tick for each one of these statements you’ve made in the past month:

‘Mate, I’m absolutely flat chat at the moment’

‘Sorry, I’m completely smashed for time right now’

‘I’m busier than a mosquito at a honeymooners’ nudist beach in a city that banned Citronella’

Of all the reasons why win rates don’t improve for many companies, including the perennials of ‘talking to the right level’ and ‘differentiated value propositions’, the killer is sheer, unadulterated time and focus on the client you really want to win.

I wonder how polygamists manage their week. Must be exhausting, mentally and physically to keep up with 14 spouses, 35 kids and three documentary filmmakers!

You can juggle, multi-task, fast-track, shuffle or prestidigitate (Look it up) as much as you want but nothing improves win rates on big deals more than taking the proper time to strategise, design, create and tailor a journey and a pitch that makes the client say:

‘Wow, these guys really, really understand everything about us and their solution fits like a glove’

But the interruptions seem endless – emails, forecasting, internal meetings, presentations, compliance meetings, coffees, more coffees, tenders, product updates, reviews, needy clients, needy staff, knee-deep in sh*t!

A habit is formed where a big deal is treated the same way as all the other deals except for a few more meetings – fast, cursory and lacking deep insight or creativity.

I’m more like Yogi Bear than an advocate of Yoga but breathe in, lift your left leg and consider saying the following:

‘No, I’m working on the Fudsucker Poobah deal – go away’.

‘I need everyone, the CEO, the Head of Product, the Technical Guru and the Bear Grylls Tender Response Team in a room for a day, not an hour’.

‘Please put Jaxon and Zalika (there are no John and Janes any more) on our existing accounts while we focus on Mr Fudsucker and the other senior executives right now’.

‘If it meant that our company would go under if we don’t win this deal, what would we ALL do?’

Do it.

The most excruciating sound in the world is not nails on a chalkboard, a Vuvuzela or your spouse’s snoring. It’s this:

‘Thanks for all your effort with this bid. Look, it was very close and frankly, we could’ve chosen either company, but unfortunately for you, we’ve decided to go with the other mob’.

Elliot Epstein is a leading Pitch Consultant, Keynote Speaker, Corporate Sales, Negotiation and Presentation trainer who gets sales results rapidly. He has coached and trained high profile corporates globally in presenting, selling, negotiating and pitching. He has spoken at over 1500 conferences and workshops for leading companies such as HP, SEEK, Avaya, Hitachi , Asciano, Samsung and Lend Lease

He is internationally renowned for helping clients win business without the BS.

Elliot is based in Melbourne where he is busy, but not too busy for you.

For more information on negotiating go to www.salesversusprocurement.com .