Ian Altman discusses common mistakes in long-term sales engagements, emphasizing that sellers often focus on price concessions rather than mutual benefits. He highlights that longer engagements can attract more stable, permanent talent, benefiting both parties. Altman suggests presenting long-term deals as mutually beneficial, incorporating flexibility with rolling termination clauses. He shares a client success story where 90% of short-term clients eventually extended engagements. Altman advises sellers to align with clients' interests, reduce administrative burdens, and lock in pricing to ensure better outcomes and less hassle.
Biggest Mistakes
- Offering price discounts for longer-term deals.
- Assuming that only the seller benefits from long-term agreements.
- Not recognizing that long-term agreements can be mutually beneficial.
- Proposing something that isn't in the client's best interest.
Best Practices
- Consider how the long-term engagement benefits the client.
- Incorporate flexibility into long-term agreements, such as rolling termination clauses.
- Lock in rates for longer periods to provide stability and avoid frequent renegotiations.
- Discuss how to measure success together with the client.
- Share data on how longer-term engagements have benefited other clients.
- Focus on why longer-term agreements are beneficial to the customer, not just the seller.
- Build in comfort for the customer to address their concerns about longer-term commitments.
