Unpaid consulting. What else can you call it? If your people are creating a plan for a prospect, running it past the credit committee and then not getting the deal, the expense has been hideously high and you feel a little… well… cheap. Don’t you?

Why? Because you’re doing unpaid consulting. That’s fine if you’re working for a planned non-profit. But if it’s profit you’re hoping for, it’s extremely expensive. And chasing your own tail doesn’t count as exercise.

So, how do you stop it? By following the profit-rich sales process by making sure your prospect is clearly following YOUR process… NOT their own. Your process requires that they commit to move ahead before you lift a finger.

Just because you haven’t done it doesn’t mean that you can’t. What’s the first step in the seven-step process? Getting the prospect to agree that they will follow your process. Then get ready to take them down the next six steps in sequence and keep the competitors from matching your price EVER again.