Sales Opportunity Evaluation Scorecard

Nancy is a sales rep for a company that sells office furnishings. They include chairs, desks, couches, conference tables and any other such items needed. Nancy’s company generally qualifies opportunities with this data: the target company is in the market for new furnishings; there is a budget that will accommodate her offerings; she has a contact within the target company that can influence the buying decision; and the target company is looking to make this purchase sooner than later.

Using this data, Nancy evaluates an opportunity with Company X and finds it meets the criteria. She meets with her contact: a vice president at Company X. She works up a quote that fits in with this budget, and forwards it onto Company X. All looks pretty good. Nancy’s sales management is hopeful, as is Nancy.

The vice president tells Nancy that the purchase has been written up and submitted to the president of the company, who is the final authority. Nancy periodically checks with him to see how it’s going. The Vice President reports back that all is good. This goes on for a few months. Then suddenly the Vice President at Company X isn’t answering Nancy’s emails. Nancy calls, but can’t get the VP on the phone.

So Nancy decides to finally goes out and pays Company X a visit. When she arrives there she discovers that the whole place has been furnished with someone else’s products. Vice president sheepishly tells her that the president and the two other vice presidents were very skittish about buying new furniture. They had always leased furniture from one particular company and in the end felt safest going back through that route for the new furniture. For Nancy and her company, the deal has been lost.