It's all under contract - do you believe it?

TommyMac5

Fortune 500 buyers love to tell you things are under contract. What do you do when you encounter this?

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Slick

This is Greek to me. When do those buyers like to say that and what are they really saying?

TommyMac5

Typically if you are after very large deals, or long term commitments, companies go under contract with suppliers locking in favorable prices and terms. Those contracts will last one to two years.

They must have an out though, how else would you deal with a supplier thats not living up to the contract?, or someone who shifts price strategies during the contract period?.

We have a prospect that we *know* is getting hosed on the contractual work, but we still hear "it's all under contract, we can't do anything". It's my opinion that the VP that arranged the contract doesn't want to look bad trying to get out of it.

In general though, it seems that "under contract" is a convenient way of not entertaining other vendors. What do you do when you encounter that type of resistance? Anyone ever deal with this?

SalesGuy

Hiding behind a vendor isn't uncommon. I would ask a few questions along the lines of:

How often do you compare your current supplier's solutions with similar or better solutions that might be available?

TommyMac5

Good answer!