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How could I make such a mistake?

How could I make such a mistake?

“Thank you for your proposal. We have choosen a cheaper solution from another vendor this time.”

I felt chills on my back and my heart started beating. My mind was racing: I had done everything right, hadn’t I? I had worked hard to find the best solution, created a good looking solution and sent the proposal as fast as I could. And now It was lost to a competitor. I felt cheated and betrayed.


This is a story from a sales person I coached this week. He almost quit his job because of this.

I call this “Mr Nice Guy syndrome”. When a sales person tries to be nice (and expect the business in return) it will lead to disappointments for both the seller and the customer.

Let me explain why.


Business is not about being nice, it is about delivering value. No one can argue about that. The sales person must get value from selling and the customer must get value from buying. If both parties get what they want the relationship will flourish.

But if the seller forgets that the customer must always make sure they get the best deal and starts hoping that “niceness” will create the customer value and start skipping important steps in the sales process soon he or she will loose the deal.


The typical steps that Mr Nice guy (that can be a lady) skips are:

-       Involving multiple stakeholders in the sales process

-       Take the time to write summarys of the conversation so that the customer can co-create and share internally

-       Doing a proper ROI/TCO analysis

-       Letting the customer co-create the solution

-       Planning the buying process with clear steps and timelines


If a seller shortcuts the sales by sending the proposal too fast, not taking time to explain and discuss the content – the customer most likely will bring in other competing proposals. And that is when the seller looses control and the sale.


If it has not happened yet to sales people who are “Mr Nice Guy” yet, it is bound to happen.


No more Mr Nice Guy!


Selling has never been about niceness. It is about creating value. When a professional customer buy their job is to maximize the value and minimizing risks. To do that the customer will go through three distinct stages: understanding needs, developing the solution and, finally, minimizing risks.


The sales person must know this and guide the customer through each phase. Experienced sales people aways do three things, that is why they sell more and close faster:


1.     Find the real pain and need of the customer, what is really driving the customer to act?

2.     Engage the power sponsor, who will say “lets do this” and make it real?

3.     Create value, ROI, so the customer will allocate money and time to buy.


Most sales people I meet have sales that are fairly straight forward, still their sales cycles tends to drag and they spend a lot of time chasing customers.


I have two advice to give them. One thing to stop doing and one thing to start doing:

Stop being Mr Nice Guy and give away your time without commitment from the customer.

Start making a plan with the customer on what to do jointly so the customer can buy, with value and as low as possible risks.


Here is a link to a tool: the sales compass. It will help you find the weak spots in your sales case. Then you can fix them in time and close the deal safely.


Good luck

Jens Edgren, Solution Selling instructor.

+46707998800


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Jens Edgren MEDDICC MEDDPICC

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