What To Do Next (WTDN) Situations
What you see below represents just a partial list of the situations you’ll have access to 24/7 as an active member of the What To Do Next program. In addition, the list will undoubtedly grow from requests and the solutions brought by fellow members.
Getting in/Lead Gen
- What to do when you don' a return phone call when following up on a lead
- How to qualify prospects at a trade show or conference
- How to increase your number of LinkedIn connections
- How to access key stakeholders when blocked by gatekeepers
- How to overcome call reluctance
- How to respond to, “We’re happy with our current situation”
- What to do when their evaluation is well underway and they don’t want to add another vendor
- What to do when you receive an unexpected RFP and it’s wired for your competitor
- How to get into your competitor’s big account
- What to say on prospecting voicemail messages
- Your best strategy when the incumbent supplier and key stakeholder are personal friends
- How to handle brushoffs like, “Call me in a week” or “Let’s talk again in a month”
- Plus a bunch more
In Process Competitive Strategy
- What to focus on during a first call
- What to do when the time allowed on a first call is really short
- What to do when what they want is not what they need
- How to uncover pain you can do something about
- How to quantify the impact of the problems you help uncover
- How to develop a coach during the call
- What to do when you’ve been referred to someone and you don’t hit it off with that person
- The best way to provide references when asked for them
- What to do when you have weak references or no references
- How to neutralize the competition
- What to do when your close rate is too low (under 50%)
- How to respond when a client executive asks for your opinion on their people (and they’re not good)
- What to do when a prospect asks for something for free that you normally charge for (e.g. detailed audit, detailed needs analysis)
- How to handle no budget
- How to handle a too-small budget
- What to do when the client’s consultant is biased against us
- What to do when the client isn’t comfortable with the partner organization we brought in
- What to do when the main contact wants all contact to be through him/her
- Strategy for making the first cut when there will be multiple rounds
- What to do when your team member makes a huge mistake in a client/prospect meeting
- How to follow-up on a proposal without being a pest
- What to do when you’re presenting first
- What to do when you’re presenting last
- When to and how to shorten the prospect/client's decision process
- When to and how to lengthen the prospect/client's decision process
- What to do when you’re leading in the decision process
- What to do when you’re trailing in the decision process
- What to do when you feel you’re just “column fodder” (they want you to stay in it but they’ve mentally chosen your competitor)
- How to ask your prospect to commit to the next step
- How to uncover personal needs of key stakeholders
- What to do when the deal goes quiet and they’re not returning phone calls
- How to respond when you’ve been eliminated because your price wasn’t deemed competitive
- How to respond when your client/prospect tells you they want to look at other options before going forward (or that they’re doing due diligence)
- What to do when the competition has access to the C-suite & you don’t
- How to handle when a key contact tells you that they’re the decision maker but you have serious doubts
- How to position your solution when financial justification (ROI) is really difficult, and they insist on it
- What to do when a key player cancels your meeting at the last minute or doesn't show
- What to do when your main contact (and not you) has to present the recommendation to their senior execs
- How to handle a stakeholder who is an anti-coach (helps your competitor)
- Strategies for a committee that’s split (some want you and others want your competitor)
- How to influence decision criteria
- What to do when competition offers a low-ball price or free trials
- What do you do when you’ve been told that you’ve lost
- How to uncover who else they’re looking at (competition) for this deal
- How to work with a competitor when the client wants you to
- What to do when you uncover opportunities that you don’t have solutions for
- Plus, many more
Presenting
- What to present when you know nothing about those attending your presentation
- How to rehearse when you have little time to do so
- What to do if you're called in to present & you haven’t done a needs analysis
- How to make your presentation more interactive
- How to handle attendees who dominate Q & A
- How to recover when your demo or presentation bombs
- How to create your team presentation strategy
- Best way to introduce everyone in a team presentation
- How to make the biggest impact when demoing your software
- How to explain technical concepts to non-technical attendees
- What to do when the decision maker is unable to attend your presentation
- Plus, dozens more
Negotiating
- What to do when a key player won’t share his/her needs
- How to get the other side to brainstorm options in a negotiation
- How to respond to, "Let's split the difference"
- What to do when a new person has been brought in at last minute
- How to deal with a prospect/client who doesn’t want contractors used on their project
- How to handle pushback on contract terms (e.g. like limitation of liability)
- How to handle internal pushback (from your side) on resources used and when
- What role you should play when the prospect/client is having internal battles on priorities (e.g. competing objectives)
- How to handle a prospect/client setting an unrealistic timeline for implementation
- How to handle last-minute new requirements or a change of scope
- How to handle dominant personalities
- How to respond when the client has sticker shock over your proposal
- What to do when they keep insisting that lowest price is their main criterion
- Plus, so much more
Relationship Management
- How to deal with clients who complain about missing functionality but it’s in the software
- How to handle a client who keeps bringing up baggage (negative history) from years ago
- How to select the best candidates to be betas for a new product
- Best strategy when replacing a well-liked relationship manager
- What’s the best way to balance prospecting for new business with account management when you do both
- How to get a client strategic planning meeting when they push back
- What to do when your client has been acquired
- What to do when your client acquires another organization
- How to handle changes at the top of your client organization
- What are signals that your client relationship is at risk
- How to bring up uncomfortable topics in a client meeting (e.g. weak staff)
- How to let the client save face when they do something or say something that's flat-out wrong
- How to overcome the client seeing you as too young or too new
- How to get your client to see you as a strategic advisor instead of as a service provider
- How to get agreement on success measurements with your client
- How to create a nurturing plan for all client stakeholders
- How to keep the discussion strategic when the client wants to talk tactics
- How to keep update meetings focused, efficient and perceived as valuable
- And much more, of course
Internal Situations
- What to do when your boss is micromanaging you
- How to give criticism to a team member after a bad client interaction
- How to ask for a raise
- How to position yourself for promotion
- What to do when you’re getting a new boss
- How to get internal commitment to the sales strategy from your team
- How to propose resource allocation to your management team
- Plus, more if you'd like more
Sales Management
- How to stop being a micromanager
- How to keep meetings short & focused
- How to discuss performance expectations with your team
- How to handle those underperforming
- How to give feedback after a joint sales call
- How to delegate
- How to let the team know how you best operate
- Plus so much more
Take me back to the What To Do Next page.
