Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

To Steve - Yuda man! And you make it fun! That too could be a whole separate topic. Question, if I can`t have Tom Cruz for $5K to $20K, could I have Penelope Cruz instead (smile)?

Vincent,

Were all my/our clients as forward thinking as you. You do your homework, level the playing field, and set realistic expectations for sales people to compete from in the process of "earning your buisness" (another dedicated topic). And you identify the "sellers" from the "problem solvers". And you recognize the value of time/effort including yours. What a novel approach (smile).

Thanks for pitching in from the "buyer" standpoint!

Craig

-------------------------

Craig M. Jamieson
Sales Results LLC
NetWorks! Boise
http://www.networksboise.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/craigjamieson

I`ve found that by using the word "intend," it ends up being very much like what Vincent`s talking about. For example, if I`m buying, I`ll tell the seller, "Here`s what I intend to accomplish. I have no idea how much that would cost, but I`m hoping it`ll be around"....whatever number.

If I`m the seller, I`ll ask someone, "What are you hoping to accomplish? What`s your basic intent...the thing you`d like to see when we`re all done?" People seem to feel pretty comfortable at least explaining what they see in their mind. That helps in the tact and diplomacy department, where I can say, I think that could be done for "dollar amount."

People like to have a way to save face---to have an escape route. They want to be able to say out loud or in their mind, okay....we`re not yet serious, so I don`t have to stand by this number yet. When they list an actual budget number, and someone says that`s unrealistic, they tend to want to defend it.

So maybe there`s a compromise in asking flat out for a budget? What about asking for an "approximate" budget?