Fortunately, my business gets several calls and emails per day from prospective clients, looking for services. ~90% of those calls or emails are right off the bat, not something we are interested in pursuing for several reasons. Then there are the other ~10% that are prospects we are interested in discussing business with in greater detail. Let me run down a typical prospective call...
(1) Ring Ring...
(2) I or one of the guys here may answer the sales line (extension 1)
(3) I typically will end up talking to the prospect...
(4) I ask them what they want
(5) They typically tell me, "I want a web site for my business?" (that shows something)
(6) I ask questions to get more details...
(7) I then listen as much as I can and prompt more questions until I am satisfied (few minutes...)
(8) I then ask if the person wants a ballpark figure for pricing and timing.
(9) This can go two ways:
(a) Some say that it is not important, that they want to move on and meet in person. Typically, this is a sign of a larger company who wants to get things done right and not cheaply. But not always...
(b) Some ask for the information, I give it. It scares some away and some it does not. But it saves me time with a meeting, either way.
(10) I thank them, they thank me, and I may follow up with a summary email, if they ask for it.
Today, I went through this call, it went to step 9a. Right, a ballpark figure was turned down. I figured, maybe this was worth it. So we met the same day. But before she came, I knew something was up. One of the first things that came out of this prospects mouth was, "I am a small business, I don't have much to spend..."
So for the next hour, she drilled me with questions about sites, marketing, search, etc. Of course I sat and answered them, showed her examples. But it was such a waste of time for me. She knew it. She just wanted to learn, for free - what one has to do to make her idea into a success.
I personally would never waste someone's time like that. Knowing from the onset that you cannot afford our services and making it sound like you can, to get the meeting. I feel that it is just not right. Again, my own personal opinion - I am sure some will argue.
So how do you know when prospects are wasting your time? I know there are over 200 readers, some may have an opinion?
Comments
When the prospect says "My last web designer only charged me €200"
Posted by: Mike Empuria | September 13, 2006 5:26 PM
LOL - yea, that kinda tips you off. :)
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | September 13, 2006 6:24 PM
Barry,
When she said, "I am a small business; I don't have much to spend..." I think the appropriate response should have been. "Everyone has a different definition of what's too much... What is yours? Or, in the alternative, you could have said, "My fee for a project like yours would start at $xxxxx.xx is that within your budget? In either case, if her response was less than I am willing to work for, I would let her know that I must excuse my self at this time and refer her to someone else.
Posted by: Jim Messenger | September 13, 2006 6:50 PM
Right, but that was not until she go here, to meet with me. I tried to ask her over the phone...
But once she got here, I felt bad telling her - hey - your wasting my time.
But I think she knew that...
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | September 13, 2006 6:54 PM
I go through the same thing but with vendors. They want to meet me or whatever. Some call over and over again trying to sell me. I am always nice to them and do my best to explain the situation. I also send a personal reply to every email. Sometimes I meet them at conferences and they use the opportunity to stop me in the hall and pitch to me in person. It can be awkward. I don’t want to lead them on or reject them.
On the other end... I do my best to not waste people’s time, but I am required to get several bids for every job I outsource and document details of the purchase decision process.
Not always, but sometimes, I just know which vendor will get the job before I even start the process, but it still needs to be done. I understand that detailed proposals don’t exactly create themselves. People also genuinely want to work with us. I always feel bad and even guilty when people who I contacted don’t get the work. It would upset me if I were in that situation and was rejected. (I dread the entire process.)
I don’t feel too bad when a cold-calling, wannabe-vendor is in this race because the waste of time is reciprocal.
Other times I waste people’s time when I very seriously want to work with a vendor and someone above me kills the deal. This upsets me the most because I don’t invest the time in these things without truly believing it’s worthwhile. I am usually instructed to start the dialog by the same person who kills the deal. (Projects and priorities change sometimes) Nothing personal.
I try my best to be careful with these things because I don’t want to gain a reputation of someone who just wastes people’s time. “Yeah... That guy called me too... It was a waste of time.”
Any advice?
Posted by: Hawaii SEO | September 13, 2006 11:08 PM
This is so right. I have had many a prospective client do this to me over the past few years. I decided a month or so ago to just stop doing business with small businesses. Too much stress, expectations are way too high and often they do not want to pay the bills in a reasonable amount of time.
Posted by: Chris Love | September 14, 2006 7:46 AM
Great comments guys, thanks so much!
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | September 14, 2006 8:15 AM
Can you believe she emailed me asking for more advice, I may not reply.
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | September 14, 2006 9:33 AM
Strange things happen with large companies also.
A person that I knew from a large Connecticut bank called me to work with her on a substantial project. We discussed the project in her office and I suspected typical corporate politics would be a problem. She assured me that she had BIG BUDGET for the project. We had more meetings; but I suspected she was hiding her true situation. She lied about the budget; and then was ashamed to answer my follow up calls. This is a person I knew as a straight shooter.
Then there is the person who is trying to impress the boss. It becomes obvious that they don't want to engage you - they want to milk you. They try to sueeze every bit of info from you, and then impress their boss with their knowledge.
I have a "free tip" selection on my website. I will try to answer any reasonable question with a short tip email. If the potential client asks for more without some kind of serious intent, I reply "You have already received your (1) free tip. Let's talk about your budget." This usually stops the game players....
Posted by: Leon Schwartz | September 14, 2006 3:24 PM