Three Reasons Why You Should Not Deal with a Prospect

Would you like the ability to time travel?
Dr. Who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary. His ability to zip forwards and backwards in time appears to have saved our universe quite frequently.

Most of us will have had a project where time travel would have been useful. The ability to move back in time to put things right would have saved me a lot of trouble on more than a few print jobs!

However, sometimes we shouldn’t need time travel to get us out of a problem
Sometimes the signs of trouble are right there at the beginning of a project. Usually, it’s the people involved that are the cause of all the problems.

This is something that salespeople should bear in mind. Often the most difficult buyers can be easy to spot within a few minutes of meeting them.

Here are three signs that a prospect will turn out to be a nightmare client
Firstly, these people often tell you all about the problems that they have encountered with other suppliers. They are quick to highlight all the issues that they have had with previous relationships. But you don’t hear them talking about supplier relationships that have gone well.

If you hear a lot of stories like this you should be cautious. The chances are you’ll end up as a problem story told to another supplier if you start working with them.

Another sign of a problem client is that you have to work really hard to win a job. They make you jump through all sorts of hoops. You have endless meetings. At the end of all this, you are rewarded with a tiny job. Was it really worth all that hard work for such a small payback?

Sometimes problem prospects are even more obvious. They start telling you about everything they expect from their suppliers. Many of these demands are pretty unreasonable. However, suppliers are expected to keep to them: they are not negotiable.