Want to be happier, make more money, and grow your company? Of course you do — that’s success in business. We all want it… and we want it fast. As a consultant, I’ve seen a ton of AV companies try out all sorts of shortcuts to grow their businesses overnight. One of those shortcuts is hiring a salesperson with their own accounts. The truth is, it’s never that simple.

Reaching a deal with a new client is challenging enough. But getting a new client to actually sign the contract they’ve already agreed to can be even more difficult. We’ve all been there: We complete the proposal and send it over for approval. They respond, “It looks great!” We ask them to sign it and send it back, and then... We don't hear back from them. For some reason, they drag their feet. How do we move from verbal agreement to written confirmation? Once we understand why they’re not signing, we can implement a process that makes it simple.

Customers don’t like change. No salesperson will dispute this claim. It comes up nearly every time we talk about raising prices, increasing profit margins, changing crew routes, or even offering different technology. When these topics surface, inevitably someone says, “We can’t do that. Our customers won’t let us! They don’t like change!” While this idea tends to creep into nearly every sales meeting, customers’ resistance to change doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the changes necessary for our business to succeed — even when that means raising prices.

Why didn’t you close the deal? You worked hard to go beyond meet the customer’s requests. You added all the bells and whistles. You delivered far more than they could have hoped for... at a competitive price, nonetheless. Or maybe you offered exactly what they wanted (so you thought). You delivered their requests and came in well below the other competitors. With such great service or such a great deal, why didn’t you win the bid?

Negotiation is nothing new in the AV industry. While these conversations are seldom simple, sometimes they present an especially complex issue that’s harder to unpack. In negotiation challenges where the customer is asking about specific line-item pricing and wanting more transparency in the proposal, there’s typically an underlying issue that needs to be addressed: Are they really concerned with price… or are they looking for a deal?

Are you a widget salesperson? Are products an important part of what you sell? For anyone in the AV industry, widgets are a part of your life. Whether you specialize in permanent installation or live events, you use widgets all the time. Your customers may even call you specifically asking for a widget. But widgets aren’t what sells. Service sells.