He was an Operations executive from the Logistics & Supply Chain Domain. His company does “business and advisory consulting for transformation, growth, cost reduction across manufacturing, logistics and supply chain space.”
He sent me an invite to connect on LinkedIn. There was no introductory note. But I still looked at his profile and accepted the invite.
Soon as I accepted, he sent me a message that read:
Thanks for the connect here. Am trying to take a software product of ours, in the advanced planning and scheduling space ideal for discrete manufacturing industries as a SaaS product globally. How can you help us in this initiative please?”
He had given me a YouTube link that talks about his product.
A quick background: This is not a genuine enquiry. Don’t ask me how I figured that out. I know who sent this person and what for. They thought I will do free consulting work. But I don’t. Now, read my reply to him below.
My reply to him was:
Thank you very much for reaching out to me & choosing Zignalytics for your marketing needs.
I am thrilled to receive your enquiry.
You have a great product in the Adv planning & optimization area. Before we start a proper engagement for Go-To-Market strategy, we do a pre-engagement paid study that will help us iron out all issues and help us move forward.
Normally, we charge a nominal fee of Rs.5 Lakhs for this study. But for start-ups like yours, our fee for this study would be only Rs. 1 Lakh.
Once we receive your payment, we will start our study and provide you the GTM strategy in pdf format in 15 days time frame.
Let me know your thoughts on this.”
It is two weeks since I sent that reply. I am yet to hear from him. I sincerely hope he is considering my proposal and will get back to me once he has the money.
If you need any training in Prospecting for your Sales team, get in touch with me. [Provided you have the money too and not just the need.] I specialize on Prospecting & Negotiation. You won’t regret it. I guarantee.
As I have always said,
1. Stick to your sales process. Don’t deviate from it.
2. Qualify the prospect at each level.
3. Do not be afraid to drop the prospect if they don’t qualify.
4. Sale has to happen before submitting the Proposal not after. You know what I mean!
Happy Learning!
Happy Selling!
