Prepositioning

I cannot stress the importance of prepositioning with people, especially clients.

While the oppotunity to close the deal may be staring you in the face, check their expectations, no really check hard. For as much as they will cover everything in paperwork, personal expectations will only be discovered by asking directly.

Why is this so important, the next sales, the next engagement is what you should be considering.

If you find out their expectations, then you can preposition the outcomes.

You do not want to hear from second hand sources that the client was not really happy with your solution, even though you provided everything ask for - on paper that is.

You do not want to hear from them directly next time you are trying to close the next deal - "I was not really happy last time, you company did not really ... I thought you would provide...."

So Preposition the outcomes and check expectations, this includes costs, solution delivery, payment terms and any other commercial requirements. If they start baulking at any of your company requirements, its best to find out up front and sort through it than at the end. A sale is not a sale until its paid for and the client is willing to provide a reference.. that's another topic.

So try it, nothing to loose, only something to gain. Let me know how it goes