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Confirmation Document

Most prospective clients today want to get down to business quickly and with very little formal in-person dialog.  As a sales rep, it is important for you to meet your prospects' need for fast action and get to work immediately on your new opportunities. The problem is, how can you act quickly while still being certain everyone is on the same page and no one is being left behind?

One thing that I do is send out a quick email after every meeting with prospects.  My follow-up email follows what I call my D.E.A.L. outline based on the four lists of information and actions it contains: Determine requirements, Engage the client, Assume responsibility, and List the criteria for success.

Determine Requirements

One of the things every good salesperson knows is that it is essential to listen to your prospects. This involves not only actually listening, but also actively listening for needs, problems, and concerns. 

The goal of the first section of the email is to distill the key issues you discovered in the meeting into a series of succinct, well-phrased bullet points. This will demonstrate to the prospect that you understand the reason they need your help and at the same time, what they are looking to accomplish.

Engage the Client

This next section lets the prospect know exactly what they are going to have to provide you so that you can begin helping them.  Perhaps they need to give you specific information or make themselves and others available for meetings or phone conversations before you can give them a budget, proposal, price quote, or other information necessary to move forward.  Again, these bullets should be kept short and to the point.

Assume Responsibility

Now it's your turn to list what you will do in response to the information that they have provided.  Numbered bullets are best, allowing everyone concerned to see your approach and your action plan.

List the Criteria for Success

This section lists the points that you believe determine what is necessary for a successful deal to move forward.  It might involve providing a scope of work, a product list, time frames, or simply a list of next steps. In most cases, this information will be repeated for many of your deals. Therefore, much of this section can be simply copied from one email to the next.

Overall, the document should be succinct and informal.  There is a good likelihood that your prospect or your internal people will recommend quite a few changes to the document during the life cycle of the sale.  As you get better with practice, you will find it easier to summarize key concerns and identify specific actions that you and your prospect will take as you go through your qualification cycle to determine if you are a fit for this business opportunity.  Take a look at the sample here.