It was an interesting day today, to say the least. I find myself in the last three selling days of both the month and the quarter. Looking at opportunities that could close in the next 72 hours, I’m down to about six clients.
Could they all close? Possibly, but I've had times when none did. I haven’t hit my quarterly quota yet (which is quite high for SMB accounts), though I'm very close. There’s a path to reach the additional $20K in revenue I need.
When I assess who might place an order and who might not, I can see it’s going to be tight. The last thing I want is to lose a potential order.
But today, I made the decision to do just that.
I asked a client to delay their buying decision, offering to provide a loaner MFP for a few weeks until the new model arrives. In the end, this will save the client a few thousand dollars. It was the right thing to do, and doing the right thing is what we’re taught to do. It’s not about the bonus or the cash—it’s about treating clients the way you’d want to be treated.
The client's needs didn’t match up with the MFP devices I currently had available, which would have meant "overselling" just to get the order. That didn’t sit right with me. I also didn’t want to risk a competitor swooping in and stealing the deal. While I’m not saying the client would have shopped around, you never know.