I shudder to repeat the phrase, leaving money on the table phrase because it’s been used repeatedly over the past 20 years.
If you are new to sales or negotiation, it’s commonly referred to not being thorough enough with unpacking all the customer’s needs. Once you have identified what you think is a big deal, you prematurely conclude the meeting.
Very recently (a few hours ago) I had a meeting with an existing customer, which was going very well! I was ready to conclude the discussion. We had a very good meeting and my colleague and I felt we had been fully briefed on the customer’s requirement. I had already asked whether they had any other need to cover and the answer was “no”.
It was only when I recalled a separate conversation with a colleague who incidcated there was an additional opportunity to raise. When I raised it, the immediate reaction was that they had sourced the product/solution via a competitor. However as I indicated we could supply them immediately with their requirement, I began to get interest.
Long story short, the meeting concluded with a commitment from me to provide two proposals instead of one.
The value of the second proposal is somewhere between $50,000 and $250,000!
If it was not for the insight of a colleague, the second opportunity would have definitely been left on the table!
