Quoting for work - it's like playing marbles.
Have you ever played marbles?
That's that game with a circle drawn on the ground, where you attempt to knock as many of your other competitor's marbles outside the circle.
Playing for keeps.
In serious games of marbles, you get to keep all those marbles you pushed out of the circle, and the one with the most marbles, WINS !
Why is winning a quote, like playing marbles?
Well, just like in marbles, you have to knock as many of your opponent's marbles out of the ring.
When quoting for work . . .
You win those quotes, that you knock as many benefits of your competitor, out of the customer's circle.
Every competitor's benefit you knock out of the circle, you get to keep.
The one with the most benefits to the customer, wins the job.
It's that simple !
So, when quoting for work, what do the marbles that win quotes, look like?
There are only 6 of them that matter to the customer.
Here they are:
1. Being courteous and polite
2. Satisfying their needs
3. A good past experience of you
4. Other people's recommendations of you
5. Promptness and
6. Price
That's it.
Nothing else matters.
When you are quoting for work . . .
Are you trying to win quotes, on price alone?
Why not knock out ALL 6 marbles?
Price alone is not going to win you the customer.
You've got to end up with a fist full of marbles to win.
In fact, a recent Gallup Survey for the American Society for Quality Control, RANKED what customers said was good quality service.
The most important one was:
1. Courteous and polite treatment
Then
2. Having their needs satisfied
3. A good past experience of you
4. What others recommended about you
5. Your promptness
And then way down the list came
6. Price
Could it be, that constantly focusing on price, is actually costing you jobs?
Playing for keeps, means knocking as many of their marbles out of the ring -
before focusing on price.
Quoting for work is playing for keeps.
Till next time,
© Paul Johnson 2013
