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D.E.A.L. Example

Below is an example of a D.E.A.L. follow-up e-mail, written from the perspective of "XCRMCo," a company selling CRM implementation services.

***

Dear Riley,

As promised, this is a follow up to our meeting to determine if we are on track.  Please comment and give feedback on my assumptions so that we can start determining whether or not we are fit for your business.

As we discussed in our meeting, I'll call you this afternoon to schedule the demo.

Acme's CRM Requirements:

1. Integrate Customer Service, Sales, and Marketing to increase communications within the organization.
2. Enable Sales Reps working remotely to access CRM Data.
3. Manage Sales Reps' territories more effectively including leads, clients, and distributors.
4. Provide for more timely follow-up on new leads gained through trade shows and other sources.
5. Track activity between reps and management in one central database.

Acme's Responsibilities:

1. Offer feedback to XCRMCo on "Go or No Go" for CRM Evaluation.
2. Allocate time for Acme's Sales and Service Reps, as well as Management to take a closer look at CRM.
3. Identify decision makers and help facilitate meetings between XCRMCo and Acme.
4. Quantify budget for CRM implementation.

XCRMCo's Responsibilities:

1. Schedule a meeting to demo CRM to Acme key personnel.
2. Create detailed proposal outlining both the software and services for Phase I.

Criteria for Success:

1. Acme's users are using CRM.
2. Acme's Management has more vision on the Sales Pipeline.
3. Communication between Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, Accounting, and Management is more effective.
4. Acme becomes a reference for XCRMCo!

***

Now imagine that you sent out an email just like one that, and your prospective client calls or emails back with a comment disagreeing with one of the points you listed. Is this a bad thing?  No, it's great!  Why?  Because your client is engaged in the process!  The worst thing for salespeople in this situation is when prospects go "radio silent."  When you don't get any feedback whatsoever, you are left guessing and scrambling to find out if you missed something important.

There is another major benefit when you commit to send out a D.E.A.L. email after every first face to face call that you go on.  Let's say that you have on average four of these appointments per week, which works out to and around sixteen per month.  Which ones are you going to work on first after all those meetings?  You got it—the ones that send you a response!  We call this a "self-select mechanism."  The prospect willingly "selects" into the selling process, eliminating the horrible behavior of the rep chasing, pestering, or stalking his prospect—a very bad way to start any deal!  Now, that's not to say that you ignore the other deals.  It only means that you might choose to work on the deals where the prospect is more actively involved before you start on the others.

Also, if you walk into a meeting and promise that within twenty-four hours, you'll summarize the meeting with this type of email, what do you think will happen to the nature of your meeting itself?  What seed might be planted in the prospect's mind?  We consistently hear from clients that they truly appreciate sales reps that use this approach. They believe the sales rep is more focused right away and is asking key questions as they structures their notes for the follow-up email.  Thus, he is at work from the get go!

The D.E.A.L document and associated process can also serve as a good tool to bring your service or other fulfillment group (if it exists) into the picture after the sale.  By forwarding the final iteration of D.E.A.L, you've created a fast way to let the delivery side of the house know what's going on.  In this example, it can easily unify your three key constituents:  Client, Sales, and Service.