5 Simple Steps to Help Break a Sales Slump

If you’re in a security sales slump, with bid after bid getting turned down, there are a few things you can do to change the game, break the cycle and close more deals.

Of course, there isn’t a magic wand here. Sales is hard work and you’ll have to earn everything you win. But you can use these five steps to take a hard look at your existing approach and calibrate it moving forward. Several of them get easier when your operation already produces proof of performance in TrackTik.

1. Really Look at Yourself

Don’t point the finger at the customer, the market or the competition, because you cannot change any of those things. What you can change is the way you approach the customer, the market and the competition.

Ask yourself: What can be done to drive the proposal and increase my chances of winning? Then write these things down, make a plan and execute. It’s easy to get discouraged when sales aren’t rolling in. Ultimately, you have to look in the mirror and decide that you’re going to improve. These tips on gaining the upper hand in the sales process are a good place to start.

Questions to Ask After a Lost Bid

• Did we understand why the client was changing vendors?
• Did our proposal lead with the client’s problem or with our company history?
• Did we show evidence of performance, or only make promises?
• Was price the real reason, or the only reason the client gave us?
• Should we have bid on this opportunity at all?

2. Be the Expert

Start by making sure you’re not just submitting bids. You don’t want to waste your time on proposals that won’t be a good fit for your company.

When you find a security contract worth pursuing, start by asking the client about their reasons for reviewing the current vendor and when they’d like to have a new vendor in place. A property walk is one of the best settings for that conversation. Use those answers to tailor your proposal and become a trusted advisor. You can’t always be the lowest price (nor do you always want to be), so you’ve got to be better at delivering value and communicating it through a clear security value proposition.

3. Be Selective in the Bids

If there’s a qualifying process the customer has to go through to get to the proposal, it helps you judge how likely they are to follow through. This could be as simple as a lead form on your website. If they don’t want to fill out the entire questionnaire, you’ll know how serious they are about making a purchasing decision.

A Simple Bid Qualification Scorecard

Criteria	Strong fit	Consider passing
Reason for change	A clear service problem you can solve	“Just checking prices”
Decision maker	You can speak with them directly	Proposal goes into a portal with no contact
Timeline	A defined start date	No timeline or repeated delays
Scope	Matches your services and coverage area	Requires services you don’t offer
Evaluation	Service quality is weighed alongside price	Lowest bid wins, full stop

If an opportunity lands mostly in the right-hand column, your time is usually better spent on a stronger lead. For more on choosing the right opportunities, see our guide to winning the best security contracts.

4. Use Acknowledgments

Acknowledge that it’s a competitive environment. Let the prospect know they’re going to receive many bids (if they’re going out for bid), help them understand how the process works, and make it clear that it’s okay to say no to you or your competitors. By making it safe to say no, you earn the prospect’s trust, gain the upper hand and stand out as an expert in the industry.

5. Ask for the Last Look

Schedule a follow-up with the client and ask if they will give you the last look. Most of the time they will say yes, which is a huge benefit, because it gives you an opportunity to respond if your proposal isn’t currently the top choice. Here’s more on how getting the last look helps you win more bids.

Sell With Proof, Not Promises

Every competitor in the room will promise reliable officers and great communication. The fastest way to break a slump is to show prospects what that looks like in practice. TrackTik, the security workforce management platform from Trackforce, turns your daily operations into sales material. Bring these to your next meeting:

• A sample tour report. Show checkpoint scans with GPS and time stamps from the TrackTik guard tour system, with client details removed.
• A real incident report. Walk through a time-stamped report with photos from TrackTik incident reporting so prospects see how quickly they would be informed.
• A client dashboard. Demonstrate the reporting and trends clients can view through the Client Portal and TrackTik business intelligence.
• A reference with results. A current client who can speak to the difference your reporting made.

Strong reporting does double duty: it wins new accounts and protects the ones you have. Learn how to turn your reports into a contract-closing machine.

Track the Numbers That Signal a Slump

Slumps are easier to break when you spot them early. Review these numbers every month:

Metric	What it tells you
Win rate	Whether your proposals are landing with the right buyers
Bids submitted	Whether you have enough qualified opportunities in the pipeline
Reasons lost	Whether price, fit or proof is holding you back
Average contract value	Whether you are winning the work you actually want
Renewal rate	Whether current clients see enough value to stay and refer you

Make the Five Steps a Habit

While these five steps cannot guarantee a new client every time, they will lead to future sales. Get in the habit of practicing them every time you prepare a proposal to be sure you’re putting your best effort forward. Pair them with the low-cost ways to improve your security marketing strategy to keep your pipeline full.

Want to see how TrackTik gives your sales team proof that wins contracts? Book a TrackTik demo.