Converting Quotes into Orders

Sorry to hear of your problems, but these things do happen . I have some bad news for you : I have encountered potential clients who asked my former employers for all sorts of details, such as estimated plant costs, drawings, process specifications, and then in the end we didn't get the order because they have a preferred vendor who quoted for less because they didn't need to do all the tough technical work such as process design & calculation and drawings . And the reason why the preferred vendor didn't need to do the tough engineering part of the job was because the client took my hard work and passed it to them !!!! It sucks majorly I know, but short of a costly lawsuit you are likely to lose because you can't prove it's your unpaid work they're using, there's not a whole lot you can do about such unethical clients .

The best I can say is that you have to explain the situation to your superiors and persuade them to accept slighly lower profit margins in order to gain market share, at least until the economy picks up again . Disclaimer : this is just my personal opinion ; I am not a marketing expert, so I can't tell you if this is a good idea or not, only that it is one possible temporary solution .

One of my friend on LinkedIn said :

I hear you!!

I have faced similar situations but the services were different i.e I was dealing with setting up corporate communications networks.
The case with us was, after discussing the initial designs the client use to request changes or ask for other options.
The sales cycle went upto 1 year without any order coming out and after 14 months they are still not decided on this.

This can be really frustrating and de motivating because you are investing a lot of your time and resources .

The key I realized to deal with such a situation is focus on basics and get customers to answer some imp questions like...

a) Is the budget already approved?
b) What are the timelines to implement this?( they will always say it was yesterday and trust me if they answer that then its a sure shot hint that they have no idea when they need it. If they were clear on this part, they will give a realistic time-frame)
c) What are the other process/depts that will get affected by this new technology, have they approved the changes?

Once you have answers for these from your target group, i.e in my case IT folks then try and reach out to other depts...for ex. if the IT team told me that the budget is already approved then I would definitely check up with finance/procurement to confirm this bit, and don't be surprised if you come across different versions of answers.

Likewise check with users, have they been informed of new technology change, are they ready. If the answer is in negative then probably the team you are interacting with is still in fishing mode and have not really freeze on the requirement.

Long sales cycle can be very challenging and it is very normal to loose drive.

Here I would say, treat this situation to your advantage. Build the relationship. Never stop the follow up. Always keep the engagement active.

Importantly from sales perspective, I think that if you don't get the answers to the above basic questions, then never put such opportunities in your funnel as immediate closure. Put them as cold pursuits, even if client says they are closing next day.

This will help you to focus on more prospecting, after all the success of sales starts from prospecting, prospecting and more prospecting. Be sure you don't loose out on this part, just because couple of deals sounded exciting.

Best Luck

Long sales cycle can be very challenging and it is very normal to loose drive.

he success of sales starts from prospecting, prospecting and more prospecting.

Let's waiting for other more discussions and advices .

<...The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect....>

Businesses survive by exceeding their customers' expectations!

It is not profitable to offer more than the client is ready to pay for. Any value you give for free is a lost value. If you suggest more than expected the client will not be willing to pay more for your efforts.

The only way to protect own work against those all over the world stealing practices is to give to the client the information in such a form that it cannot be used without an important effort from an other person. No computations, only results, no dimensions if possible or even drawings not at scale if principles are requested then only rough indications. If not all clients are such many are and many use in side to promote themselves what they harvest from suppliers.

No , The clients supply the 3D drawing to us , we design mold according to their 3D , they have their own R&D Dept .

Like Dell , Apple , 3M ,and etc .

Under those circumstances the only way to success is to provide the parts to best price and under tight schedule. respect quality and delays and maintain a constant quality level. Also the personal relationship with clients plays a non unimportant role. They have their mentality try to understand their way of thinking and you will make better business.

Make them appreciate your services.

You are on a market where the price is the competition not the knowhow.

But , you know new market , they even didn't negotiate with the price , just no news , let alone the chance to judge our quality , our service willing .

Some are big companies , in Automotive Industry , when I talked to him , he always said he is very busy , will discuss later , this from April till now .

Another said will have a meeting with their marketing dept . , no reply again .

And the Moxico company ....

so many ,

Do buyers today become price killer ? Leave No Trace ？

Greetings niya2000007 - I am across the table from you asking for these RFP responses...relative to your questions

Generally what you are saying is what I am hearing from my Supply Base across several commodities - very active quote activity using a lot of resources answering a deluge of requests..

It seems that right now everyone is quoting everything for various reasons

1. down-time is the perfect time to benchmark costs

2. Their Customers have downtime too - they are costing new/existing products

3. Right now there is a total lack of forecasting, nobody wants inventory, so these quotes may go forward with production, they may not

These are just a few notes from feedback I have received. Suppliers should try to rationalize the opportunity before they quote, if your potential Customer has not relayed this to you already

Also, your RFP sources by all means should provide some type of feedback to you on your results in the RFP process - this is a requirement in my mind always - if you take the time & resource to quote - you are due some responses. These are your most valuable Intel - in that this is the only way you can benchmark your Enterprise in the market - providing you get intelligent responses from your potential Customers

Good Luck!

Excellent point.

I did something similar a few years back with a new design I was working on.

I sought out some government funding, just passed on basics with a lot of fluff to the agency.

Well, I got a call, they wanted to make a deal and fund me, but give the real money and meat to a political connection.

I said no, and the connection proceeded to build the thing without all of the detail and ended up spending millions before they abandoned it and filed for bankruptcy.

What goes around comes around, Fate was in play throughout the whole thing.

Still chuckle when I think about it.

I always thought that people are "correct" till I noticed that they are not. Several times I was asked by "friends", from companies I had very good connections, for a participation at a project and instead of getting the order my ideas were used by others for their promotion. So that now I lost all confidence in cooperation, either there is an order -valid of course- or they get NOTHING.

I so agree, I would love to share, but I also am tired of getting the shaft.

Sometimes even Co-Credit would have appeased me.

Well said and GA.

I spent so many years with folks who would settle for 'good enough' rather than excellence. It is and has been my greatest challenge.

Without a doubt, do more than is expected and you win a good business partner (customer). In this competitive market (it's always been competitive), it is this attitude more than anything that can make and keep these relationships.

Kind regards ...

Thank you DCaD.

I see you are in China .

We are selling a service (design then manufacture) , and we keep in mind that make sure of the definition as much as possible before we go too far.

We do like CR4 ,help us a lot .

B.R.

Amelia

CN Mould & Plastic Limited

Niya,

I agree with everything said so far and would add...

Do you have a market lead over your (many) competitors? Buyers changing to a new supplier have to have a reason to change. Are you better on price; delivery, quality; service? If so, make the most of your attributes or else you become just another company being asked for competitive quotes.

There is nothing a buyer likes more than telling his boss he can get something cheaper (or better for the same price) somewhere else.

Hello Niya,

I'm in the process of getting quotes for some Acetal cleated belt and intermediate.

I've sent for a quote through a branch of my company called MAF Industries, located in Yantai, P.R. China.

I can send you PDF and a DXF drawings for the parts.

If you can provide me with an email address, I can send you quote request.

Dear all :

Thanks for all your kind help , right now , I have received more than 70 public advices and 10 private messages on LinkedIn .

To share with these ideas , please go to my box.net to download the PDF :

http://www.box.net/shared/xejzj6eqmj

B.R.

Amelia, niya2000007@gmail.com

CN Mould & Plastic Limited