Is it too much to ask to talk to our salesperson?

Posted on May 12, 2005 by Dave J.

Is this bizarre behavior or this now the norm to expect from prospects?

Case 1: We had a web-lead request for a quote on 12 of smaller product, which would total over 100K, but all he left was his email address at a university. This was certainly an attention-grabbing request, but we wanted to find out what he was up to and whether the model he picked out was the best choice–exactly what a salesperson should do. So we had the local sales rep try to contact him to find out, which he did by email. The reply he got back said only this: “I’m not sure that I trust a company that won’t list prices on their web
site and also won’t give prices over e-mail.”

Case 2: We forwarded a web-lead to a sales rep to investigate before quoting one of our mid-range products, once again, to confirm the proper equipment for the application. After finally getting in touch with the prospect, his answer was “just quote the equipment as I described at your website.” Despite our reps repeated questions to find out about the application, all he learned is that they would be selecting a vendor the next morning.

Are these prospects afraid of a starting a relationship? Do they think they are smart enough to not need a salesperson? Are they overwhelmed with vendors? Our desire is to help make sure the customer has selected the right equipment, and has it configured to suit their requirements–that’s why we don’t have prices on our website. Maybe its just the old-fashioned fear of salespeople aggravated by the internet.

I’ve talked about the sales use of email before:
Is email sabotaging your sales efforts?
Using email to follow-up with prospects
Making the most of email

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  • Anonymous

    Most people, me included, move on to the next offering if there is no price listed. It’s simply a bad message to send to your prospects in every aspect imaginable. List the base prices and mention negotiation possibilities if you want, but I can assure you that you are loosing sales and setting the wrong tone by not listing your prices.

  • Anonymous

    Most people, me included, move on to the next offering if there is no price listed. It’s simply a bad message to send to your prospects in every aspect imaginable. List the base prices and mention negotiation possibilities if you want, but I can assure you that you are loosing sales and setting the wrong tone by not listing your prices.

  • Anonymous

    Most people, me included, move on to the next offering if there is no price listed. It’s simply a bad message to send to your prospects in every aspect imaginable. List the base prices and mention negotiation possibilities if you want, but I can assure you that you are loosing sales and setting the wrong tone by not listing your prices.

  • Anonymous

    Most people, me included, move on to the next offering if there is no price listed. It’s simply a bad message to send to your prospects in every aspect imaginable. List the base prices and mention negotiation possibilities if you want, but I can assure you that you are loosing sales and setting the wrong tone by not listing your prices.

  • Peter Davidson

    I think it has become the norm that people are leery of sales people fearing that they will put undue pressure on them, try to up-sell them, use them to pester others in their organization or simply waste their time. Like it or not we live in a self serve world and many people prefer to figure out their own orders.You would do well to use your website to explain in detail why you don’t offer pricing information and offer next steps for prospects to get to know your company.(i.e. newsletter sign-ups, downloadable case studies, etc.)

  • Peter Davidson

    I think it has become the norm that people are leery of sales people fearing that they will put undue pressure on them, try to up-sell them, use them to pester others in their organization or simply waste their time. Like it or not we live in a self serve world and many people prefer to figure out their own orders.You would do well to use your website to explain in detail why you don’t offer pricing information and offer next steps for prospects to get to know your company.(i.e. newsletter sign-ups, downloadable case studies, etc.)

  • Nag

    It appears to me that prospects that are driven mainly by price should be sold on value. Maybe you should be marketing your consulting expertise and instill in your market those benefits. Give them examples of the benefits of a relationship and not only the attributes of your product. I think you have to sell the people in your company along with your products.I have seen few manufacturers show bios of front line people. Lawyers do this and they are selling their expertise.

  • Nag

    It appears to me that prospects that are driven mainly by price should be sold on value. Maybe you should be marketing your consulting expertise and instill in your market those benefits. Give them examples of the benefits of a relationship and not only the attributes of your product. I think you have to sell the people in your company along with your products.I have seen few manufacturers show bios of front line people. Lawyers do this and they are selling their expertise.

  • Anonymous

    Case 1 illustrated in the post could be an example of a competitor gathering competitive intelligence. I have seen such tactics before in the equipment markets. Seems to me that if the product is not a commodity sale, that a reasonable dialogue is part of the meeting of the minds to insure that both parties gain value from the transaction.

  • Anonymous

    Case 1 illustrated in the post could be an example of a competitor gathering competitive intelligence. I have seen such tactics before in the equipment markets. Seems to me that if the product is not a commodity sale, that a reasonable dialogue is part of the meeting of the minds to insure that both parties gain value from the transaction.

  • Dave J.

    For Case 1, if he had only asked for one unit, we would have quoted it without contacting him. By saying he wants 12, he attracts our attention. And by asking for 12 he is implying he wants a healthy discount…which should also imply dealing with a nosy salesperson.A competitor using a university account…interesting thought.

  • Dave J.

    For Case 1, if he had only asked for one unit, we would have quoted it without contacting him. By saying he wants 12, he attracts our attention. And by asking for 12 he is implying he wants a healthy discount…which should also imply dealing with a nosy salesperson.A competitor using a university account…interesting thought.