SBA * Consulting LTDThe Dating Game
by Wayne SpivakVAR Business August 03, 1998, Issue: 1416
Not every prospect deserves to be your client. Spend time together to see whether there is enough common ground to maintain a relationship.
Some Questions To Ask Before Forming A Relationship:
- Are you listening to the prospect?
- Is the prospect listening to you?
- Are you getting "positive" vibes?
- Is the prospect making you jump through too many hoops?
- Do you truly have the expertise and the available resources to devote to this project?
- Are you able to migrate the client from the sales cycle to the consulting cycle? Or is the client using your
sales cycle as free consulting?
- Is the client willing to sign a contract or memo of understanding?
Some Danger Signs Of A Bad Client:
- The prospect tells you how bad the last VAR was.
- During your meetings, the prospect constantly interrupts you to answer the phone or deal with other issues.
- The prospect does not possess the in-house expertise that will enable them to properly use the technology
they say they need.
- The prospect isn't receptive to training.
- The prospect does not want to spend the time (and money) to properly plan the project.
- The prospect is rushing you to get everything accomplished.
- There's so much talk about price, you feel as if you're not allowed to make a profit.
You'll find that the worse the relationship, the greater the number of unfavorable results. However, great clients come back with almost all-positive responses.
-Wayne Spivak is president of SBA Consulting Inc., an IT consulting firm in Bellmore, N.Y., and SBA.NET.WEB, an Internet and Web consulting firm.
