[Orcnet] Consulting sales cycle

[Tim Wescott]

I do all my work on a first-come, first-served basis, and I let my
customers know.  Most of my work is part-time consultations instead of
full-time contracting, so it's easier to start new customers out on the
back burner and bring them forward as I finish up for other ones.  Telling
a customer "sorry, you were a day late" would be hard -- but easier than
telling my family that there's no work on the horizon.

On Mon, April 21, 2008 10:35 am, H. Joe Tabor wrote:
> Keith,
>
> My experience is similar -- one job was secured 72 hours after initial
> contact, and a good number of customers took about 3 months or more before
> they were really ready.  Here is where I messed up.  One customer took
> several months just to get me in the door and give me serious
> consideration, and then they told me that they would make up their minds
> within 2 weeks.  While I was waiting for that customer to make a decision,
> another customer, more eager and ready to go, appeared in that 2 week time
> frame.  Both jobs would have been full time, and I didn't feel I could
> take them both on, so I told the more eager customer to wait a few days.
> After a few days, the first customer decided that they didn't have
> anything for me after all, and the eager customer found someone else
> within that short time.  I got nothing out of the deal.
>
> So, for me, the moral of the story is wait as long as the prospective
> customer needs to wait, but if something else comes along, grab it
> instead, and right away.  If a customer is taking too long, you might want
> to let them know early on that you are available now, but you might not be
> so available later on.
>
> Joe
>
> -----Original Message-----
>>From: Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com>
>>Sent: Apr 21, 2008 9:19 AM
>>To: orcnet <orcnet at eeconsult.org>
>>Subject: [Orcnet] Consulting sales cycle
>>
>>
>>Gents:
>>
>>I am negotiating with a startup for a few months of work.  So
>>far it has taken three weeks of very occasional interaction,
>>almost all because of delays at their end (they are starting up,
>>after all).  This is nothing unusual for me;  sometimes the dance
>>can take a year to complete, though rarely more than 20 or 30 hours
>>of time are involved in the setup, a fraction of the billable work.
>>
>>Sometimes the dance takes less than 48 hours - one negotiation
>>was started on the phone Monday afternoon, completed at lunch in
>>Southern California on Tuesday, and I was in Boston Wednesday
>>doing the work.  But it is rarely that fast.
>>
>>What are other Orcnetter's experiences?  How long does a sale
>>take for the rest of you -- assuming a few months of well paid
>>custom design work are the result?  Do longer negotiations fail
>>more often?  Do you give up and blow off the prospect after too
>>much time elapses?  What is too much?
>>
>>Keith
>>
>>--
>>Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
>>KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
>>Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs
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-- 
Tim Wescott
Control systems and communications consulting
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Land line: 503.631.7815
Cell: 503.349.8432