Is That The Best You Can Do?

Many times as we are starting out in sales we are asked the question " Is that the best you can do?"  This can apply to price, delivery, credit terms, or something else related to the sale.  This can be pretty stressful as we are thinking we may be losing the business.

This episode talks about some of the things you should not do when asked this question as well as suggestions on how to best handle this question.

Most importantly though, being asked this question could be a good thing!

Listen to find out!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Is that the best you can do? How would you handle that question? And B2B sales, we run into that all the time. Is that the best you can do? It's funny, a number of years ago, 20, 25 years ago, I was working with my old boss and he used to always role play with me. He would train me with that question. Is that the is that the best you can do? I couldn't tell you how many times he would ask me that question and I would freeze. I honestly did not know the answer. I was like crazy. I would stutter and stumble, and he would laugh as the training was tough, but it was fun. It was a lot of fun. Most of the time the question centers around price. However, it can also involve other things like credit terms and delivery. I'll tell you a lot of buyers take pride in going back to upper management and pounding on their chest that they got extended terms. In a transactional sale, it could be delivery. You know, now I will say when you first start out in sales, when you hear that question, is that the best you can do? You tend to freeze and get defensive. It's only natural to feel that way. You're thinking, hey, this is going great, everything's going fine. But you're thinking now with that question is my price too high? Did someone gundercut me? Or my credit terms are or delivery is unreasonable. And you're going to lose the order. Also, the other thing is you have people in your company, these people that are like right here, da-da-da-da. And they and they they tell you that if you're being asked that question, you've not properly sold the value piece if they're asking you that question. And I'll tell you, you know what? That usually comes from people who have never sold before, ever. So what people don't understand, especially not in sales, is that buyers are trained to ask that question in the same way a lawyer is trained to redline agreements. If a buyer or a lawyer never pushed back on a sales rep or agreement, then they would create a perception that they're not needed. Guys, the buyer or lawyer is just doing their job. Probably have sold the value piece, but they're just testing you. But wait, let's just think about it for just a second. Going back to this, is that the best you can do on my on the price? If my price was that bad or my delivery or credit terms were unreasonable, the buyer wouldn't have given the buyer would have given the order to somebody else and we wouldn't be even talking about this. So let's think about it. If the buyer is coming back to ask that question, they must want to give you the order. The buyer either just wants to get something extra from you, or you're a little worse than the other players, and the buyer wants to narrow the gap between you and the other players, as the buyer would prefer to give you the order based on previous dealings. They want to work with you. That's why they're coming back and asking you that question. Either way, this is an opportunity for you to close. This question, ladies and gentlemen, is a buying question. Be thankful they are coming back to you. Don't be stressed out. The worst thing you can do, though, when you're asked that question is immediately just cave. Give them whatever they want, whatever they want, whatever it takes. Yeah. This is what an order taker does. You got to get something in return. You got to get feedback. So when you're in this six situation, the next worst thing you can do is hang up the phone or stop talking to your client after it's over. And you go to your boss or credit manager or operations manager and say, This client is asking, is this the best we can do on the price? Firms or delivery. Now, when you do this, you're not empowering your boss or teammate to help you. If you go into their office with something weak like that, so you can't do that. You can't just say, Oh, is this the best we can do? You can't ask the same question that the buyer asked you to your teammates. You're not going to be able to help you. So you have to communicate with your client to bring something back to these people that want to help you. We'll touch on that a little bit later, but you need to be thinking most importantly, this is an opportunity for you to close. For me, I kind of when I'm in this situation, I kind of think back to when I was a child and I wanted something from my parents, right? So I would say, you know, I would be my mindset was is if I do my homework and wash the dishes, can I watch that TV show that's past my bedtime? Dad, hey, if I put gas in the car and cut the grass, can I borrow the car? Same thing here. You have to walk away with something, kind of in that same type of manner when it comes being asked by the buyer, is that the best you can do on the price? You want to first of all just take a deep breath when the buyer asks you if that's the best you can do and say, I hear that a lot based on what I'm bringing to the table. However, I do want to work with you. But before we talk about price, am I good on the rest of the factors that you are considering for this buy? If so, if you are, if you are good on the rest, then you can confirm back to your buyer by saying, Hey, if it wasn't for price, I would have this order right now, correct? If the answer is yes, well, then you can simply come back and say, Well, if we can can agree on a price that works for you, would you give us the order? The answer from the buyer in theory should be yes. If the answer is yes, then you need to come back and ask, do you have a number in mind that would allow us to either get started doing business, if it's a new client, or continue bringing value to you as an existing client? Again, if the buyer wants to give you the business, they should come back with that number to you. If so, your response would be, hey, I if I can do that number, would you give me the order? If you know your boss will give it will approve it, take it right there. If you're unsure if your boss will approve it, immediately say, Hey, I want to make this work for us. Let me run it up the flagpole. Can I get back to you in 2010 to 20 minutes? Sometimes the buyers can be a little bit more not wanting to give you that number. So you're gonna have to come back with a price to him for what or what is known as a counteroffer. From here, I would simply come back with something I know my boss would approve right out of the gate. So if it is a new client, I know my boss is gonna give me a little bit more leeway because he would look at any reasonable discount as an investment into business development. So if it's an existing client that you've serviced well, you may not have to move quite as much. If you've done a very good job, you have past experience on your side, which will help you sell your value. And you're more leverage, you might have more leverage when you're in a negotiating standpoint. So from here, I would say to my client, hey, if I were to do this price, would you give me the order? Knowing that my boss would probably approve that price. From here, the buyer should give you feedback, hey, that works for me. Which you would say, Hey, what's your purchase order number? Or they may come back and say, Hey, you're really close. I was thinking more along this price. Okay, so you immediately take a deep breath and you say, Well, if I can do this price, would you give me the order? And the buyer should say yes. Now you say, Let me run it up the flagpole and I will be back to you in 10 to 20 minutes. Having this information, you're in a position to empower your boss. You go to your boss and you say, Hey, I have an opportunity with this client who's ready to give me an order right now for this volume for delivery on this date. But we need to be at this price. You can throw in extra content like how well they pay or how bad they pay, what the potential is, if it is a new account or if past service history, good or bad, if it is an existing account. Maybe who the other players are, with which is which would be good to add as well. Every sales manager craves salespeople that can set the stage for them to make a quick and easy decision. Now, whatever your boss comes back with, you got to bring it to the client. Your boss may tell you, hey, take the business, counter, or stay at your price depending on market conditions, profitability, profitability, their opinion of the client and the competitive landscape, et cetera. Or they may say counter at this number, but don't lose the order at the buyer's price. Now, you take this back to your client and you make it work. If they truly want to work with you, more often than not, they will figure out a way to make the price work, even if it is not exactly what they want. Whether you win or lose this order, at least you've handled it in a professional, seasoned pro type way of doing it, as opposed to just going to your boss and saying, I need a better price. So now we move on to delivery. Now, what do you do when the buyer says, is that the best you can do on delivery? This happens a lot in the manufacturing industry. In this situation, you really need to empower either your boss or the scheduler or the operations person, anyone who's handling that production schedule or delivery schedule. I don't know what it is with buyers these days, but they love to be ambiguous. Everything's ambiguous. So I'm not sure if they're trained that way, but they love to use phrases, words like ASAP or some or a few. So let's say you're quoting a client and you've given a standard lead time of seven to ten working days. Ideally, if you properly qualified this on the front end, you would have nailed down a day they want it delivered. But for the sake of this discussion, let's say you didn't and you quoted your standard lead time. Well, if the buyer comes back to you and says, hey, is that the best you can do on delivery? That means the buyer wants to give you the order, but needs help with delivery. So never just hang up the phone and go back to your boss or scheduler and say, hey, is seven to ten working days the best we could do on delivery? Your response to the client should be this. I hear what you're saying. I'm ready to go to bat for you. I value your business. What is your drop dead date for delivery? Here the client may tell you, hey, I need it in X working days. At this point, I would say, hey, if I can deliver in X working days, would you give me the order right now? And if the buyer says yes, then respond by saying, Let me see if I can put your order ahead of others in the schedule to make this work. I'll be back to you in 10 to 20 minutes. Now you're in a position to empower your boss or the schedule and say, hey, I can get this order right now for this volume, for this client, if we can deliver in X working days. Never accept an answer from a buyer of, well, just tell me the best you can do. This is a complete waste of time. Complete waste of time for you, the client, and your internal teammates. You're gonna drive everybody crazy working with all of this ambiguous, just the best you can do. Trust me, they know the buyer knows what their drop dead date is because they got people in their ear. I need it, I need it, I need it. If you get an answer like that, you got to take a deep breath and simply say, I'm trying to help you. I know your operations team has a drop dead date for the product. Please tell me what it is so I can go back to my team and try to get you what you want right away. Whatever the operations uh team on your side comes back with, let the client know. If you can give them the delivery the buyer wants, you get the order. If you, if not, you go to the buyer and say, hey, I can't do X working days, but I can do Y working days. Can you make that work on your end? Then just shut up. More often than not, the buyer's gonna come back to you and work with you. They're gonna go back to their production team and say, hey, I can't get it here on this date, but I got a reliable supplier who can get it on this date. They're gonna figure out a way to make it work, especially if you've proven that you're reliable in the delivery. If you're uh, you know, reliable and you say you're gonna get it there when you're gonna get it there, they can count on it. They can they can base their production schedule around you. They just need something reliable. You need to be clear with your message on what you can or cannot do. Don't say, well, I'm gonna try to do this, but uh, no, no, no, no, no. Clear, direct, tell them what the day you're gonna deliver. Last example, as we finish up here, is credit terms. As I mentioned earlier, buyers love to negotiate credit terms. They think of it as kind of low-hanging fruit. And the crazy thing is, is they would rather spend all their time and effort on ways to remove cost through negotiating credit terms than much more impactful ways of removing cost by looking at different things in the supply chain. So they like to really hammer you on the terms. So let's say you're working with a client or a potential client and they want extended terms, basically terms outside of the standard half 10, net 30. And let's say your buyer comes back and says, Hey, is your standard terms the best you can do? Well, a lot of us cringe when we hear that question. Again, this is an opportunity to work with your buyer either to get new business or additional volume. Immediately you want to tell them you're not allowed to make any type of credit decisions. If you were allowed to make credit decisions, the company would be out of business. I kind of say that in a joking way, because you'd be just giving everybody what they want because you want the sale. So it's a funny way to say, hey, I don't get involved in credit. By the way, take it from someone who knows. Don't ever, ever, ever get involved with making credit decisions on an account. Let the credit people do that. Credit is like quicksand for salespeople. You can make suggestions on an account, but not decisions with your teammates. From here, I would go to the client when they ask me that question and say, Well, well, what type of credit terms are you looking for? And the buyer needs to declare what he's looking for, not just better terms. It just doesn't cut it. So you need to be able to walk away with what they want so you can empower your credit department to help you. Let the buyer you need to let the buyer know you need to run it up the flagpole. However, what you can do is you can let the buyer know what the criteria usually is for extended terms, kind of what's worked with other clients. Most of the time, that would be more volume. So one thing you can say to your buyer would be, hey, I think we might be able to give you the terms that you want, as long as they're not unreasonable, if you can increase your volume with us. If if I can get you the terms you want, you're talking to your buyer, how much additional volume can you give us? Typically, the buyer should be prepared to do this if all of the other buying factors, price, delivery, quality, responsiveness, et cetera, related to your company are good. Now let's say the buyer can increase the volume by 30%, which equates to another$50,000 per month in sales revenue for your company. Now you're empowering your credit department to make a good decision based on the information you're giving. If the credit department likes what you're bringing, they may say, hey, okay, we can give extended terms to XYZ client immediately as long as they the volume stays at 30% above their normal volume. However, we will analyze this in six months to see if the client is living up to their end of the bargain. Credit people love it when you set the stage with this type of communication as opposed to just going in and saying, hey, is this the best we can do on credit terms? So these are three examples you might encounter when it comes to is that the best you can do? The things I would suggest when you encounter this question are number one, don't panic. Just take a deep breath. Don't go like this. Be thankful that they're coming to you. It's a buying question, but get a clear understanding of what they want and what you want and empower your teammates to help you close. I hope you enjoyed this video. I enjoyed making it. Have a great day.