No one wakes up in the morning with a plan to lose a big sale. Yet, it happens. Losing a big sale can happen even to the best salespeople. What do you do when you just lost a big sale? Here are some specific actions to take so you don’t make a bad situation worse.
Delay is not a good thing.
Some sales managers are pretty hands off. Others are the other extreme and micro managers. Either way, you have to notify your manager that you’ve lost a big sale. Your salary may depend on the business you bring in just as your manager’s salary does. Your manager is entitled to know that his salary is going to be impacted by a large planned sale that didn’t materialize.
Consider when to tell your manager that you lost the sale. It’s not the best strategy to lose a sale on Wednesday and late Friday afternoon inform your manager that you lost the sale. It’s also not wise to lose the sale on Monday and disclose it 2 weeks later. Yes, it’s OK to wait to Monday morning from a lost sale from Friday. A one-day delay is all you get on Monday through Wednesday. A lost sale on Thursday can wait until Monday. You don’t want to ruin anyone’s weekend.
The reaction you get is a result of the trust you’ve built.
Does your manager trust you? Here’s how you know if he does. Do you follow through with the promises you make? Meeting deadlines is a promise. Coming to meetings on time is a promise. Do your customers speak well of you? All of these areas contribute to your manager being able to trust you. You must have your manager’s trust before you lose a big sale.
Why? You now have a cloud over you when you’ve lost business. This should be seen as a temporary cloud, not a permanent one. You probably told your manager all you tried to do to get the business even though you didn’t get it. All you did simply didn’t work. You want your manager to believe you. You also want your manager to see this as a temporary situation. Your manager will see it as temporary when he trusts you. Without trust, it’s now the signal that your days in selling may be numbered.
Don’t make it a habit of losing business.
It’s not too many people who will hear you’ve lost a big sale and take pity on you. Business is bottom line oriented and losing business hurts the bottom line. It’s one thing to be a top performer who rarely loses a sale and has a one-off lost sale. It’s another thing to be on the losing end of every other new business proposal. Which one are you?
Salespeople who plan their sales calls with ideal prospects and work to improve their selling skills typically win business. Salespeople who randomly call on prospects, make weak proposals and don’t improve their selling skills typically lose business. It’s your job to do all you can to minimize the chance that you will lose a sale.
Selling is often an unpredictable career filled with ups and downs. Don’t let the ups go to your head. More importantly, don’t let the downs stop you from moving on to sell and win a big sale in the future.