If your business often receives requests for quotes via email you may want to stop and think about the strategy of fulfilling that request.

In my real estate business at MLSSoftware.com we have a complete price list that outlines our services and the associated pricing. So why would we get requests for proposals if we already have an online price? There could be many reasons, but most often the explanation is that our company is referred by someone. They are usually given our website address or given an e-mail address of one of our sales representatives. It could also be a situation where the prospect is short on time and is trying to funnel down their selection of vendors based on price, or how their handled from the beginning.

We had one that came in the other day that had all our competitors in the cc line of the e-mail. That’s cool, now we know who we are competing with. Depending on the competitor, sometimes we would be the lowest priced vendor, and sometimes were in the middle of the pricing pack, and once in a great while we’re at the high end.

So what would be the most strategic way to handle the request?

Over the years I have seen salesman just get right to the point when asked the question, “so how much is this going to cost,” long before the needs analysis is completed. The problem with giving prices like that doesn’t zero in on the prospects needs. The salesman however just starts throwing out all kinds of prices for various entry level products, upsell or upgrade solutions, etc. In the end, this approach often does nothing more than confuse the prospect on which solution is best for their needs and really doesn’t answer the how much does this cost question. Needless to say a confused mind doesn’t make buying decisions.

If you’re selling a manufactured item that doesn’t require any consultation then their really isn’t that many strategies that you could use.

Let’s say you’re selling t-shirts and you get a request for 100 Hanes t-shirts with a logo imprinted on them. That’s a pretty straight forward request. Sure there could be varying styles of imprint, two color versus one color, etc., but really not that much consulting or recommendation needed in fulfilling the request. In situations like this, you give it your best price, you try and sell the prospect on the merits of your company and you hope for the best.

If your company has products or services that normally require, or should require consultation to make sure that the product or service the prospect is requesting is a good fit, should you send off the prices first and hope to get an audience with the prospect somewhere down the road? In our case it’s an iffy proposition since we have all our prices posted on our website.

Here’s how we handled it…

We replied back to the prospect letting them know that all our prices are clearly posted on our website. We also informed them that in order to provide them the best recommendation based on their individual requirements and needs we really would like to talk to them to determine that their requirements will be fulfilled properly. We would like to engage them in a discussion of their needs to absolutely determine if what we offer is first of all a good fit, second that our pricing as posted will give them everything they are looking for. Often times, what we offer as a ‘standard’ package and what the client thinks is ‘standard’ are two different things.

Fast forward 48 hours, one of our sales reps did indeed have that conversation. We weren’t the lowest price vendor however we gained the clients business. The reason as told by the client was simply this… We were the only vendor that wanted to talk to them. The other three vendors simply quoted prices.

What message does it send to a prospect when you have their best interests at heart and the competition simply fulfills the request for pricing? Sure, you stand the chance of loosing the business by not fulfilling the request of the prospect by simply giving them a price. But isn’t it a better strategy to find out if your company can fulfill the request properly?

We could have spent a whole bunch of time trying to explain all the various options and features in the first reply e-mail and hoped the prospect understood them all, or we could say… hey, we want your business only if it’s a good fit for you and we’re capable of handling your needs.