I am sourcing vendors for a client company who has a rather large project to complete. Each vendor wants to make the sale, obviously.
2 out of 4 vendors took the "Get the group together and I'll sell ya!" approach.
Bad idea.
A better idea is to ask one simple question. "Tell me how you go about making a decision like this when selecting a vendor."
You are not going to make a sale until you tell me:
What I need to know about you. Trust
What you're going to do for me that puts money in my pocket. Interest
Who have you done this for before and how well did it work. Credibility
What's in it for me. Projected ROI
All packaged in a way the company I'm working with wants to see this information.
Without interest, trust credibility and a reasonable ROI there is no sale. Trying to jump over me to get to someone you think has more authority is a huge mistake ...
... unless you understand exactly how the decision will be made.
