I ultimately learned that the same philosophy applies to business. If you want an order, you have to ask for it. If you do not, the chances are you will not get the order – virtually guaranteeing failure. The “ask for it” policy is easily integrated into your service agreement sales process. For the policy to be successful, the service agreement must be integrated into the base installation proposal so that it and installation are perceived as a single, inseparable package.

Let us examine the steps necessary to fully integrate the service agreement into your installation proposal. The first step is the creation of a dedicated section that specifically defines and describes your service agreement. This section should be brief (two to three pages) and should include a narrative overview outlining your approach to service and the resources available to support your plan.

The key features that we included in our service agreement were 24-hour-a-day availability, priority response of two to six hours, a fixed price with all labor and materials included (except consumables), instant loaners and preventative maintenance. The exclusions were acts of God and consumables. For one-of-a-kind items, we even excluded some products.

As the next step, throughout your proposal, insert references to the key features and benefits of your service capabilities. The strategy can be successfully deployed to leverage a key feature that you view as important to the prospect. Likely proposal sections in which to include references to your service agreement are your corporate qualifications or a section focusing on why a client should choose your company.

Next, every proposal must include a section on price – the section where you ask for it. Below the price for the installed system, insert the price for the installed system, insert the price for the service agreement, along with the term of the agreement (i.e., number of years). In the prospect’s mind, presenting these prices together inseparably links the installation project with the service agreement.

This simple step makes it easy for the prospect to purchase your service agreement by taking the path of least resistance. As a result, when the prospect agrees and signs your proposal, they are making a de facto purchase of your service agreement. It is simple, easy to do and it works. Do not present the service agreement as an option. If you place it with the options, clients will be more likely to decline its purchase.

Most commercial clients recognize the importance of service agreements because they are preconditioned by various automation trades - data processors, computer integration, copier companies - to buy them. If you ask a prospect to purchase a service agreement on the page that includes your price for the installation project, the chances are high - at my former company, they were greater than 90 percent - that the client will never question the line item for the service agreement and will sign the order for the entire package.

Also, make it easy to sign. Throughout the ‘80s, we had two distinct sets of contracts - one for installation and one for service agreements. This created problems - when clients were confronted with too many pages of legalese, they became weary and reluctant to quickly sign off on a project. Even worse, they forwarded the entire proposal to their counsel for review, delaying the project and generating legal expenses because suddenly, our lawyers and their lawyers needed to talk.

It is likely that a prospect’s attorney gets paid by the word or the hour, and he/she may be in no particular hurry to resolve the issue peacefully. Consequently, days may be spent trying to resolve insurmountable issues. I have too many painful memories about the process.

We solved this problem quickly and simply in 1991. My partner Glen handled all of the company’s contractual issues. While reviewing the two contracts, he noticed that both documents shared many similar terms. In hindsight, Glen came up with a simple, but brilliant, idea: Why not merge both contracts for installation and service into a single document? Simple, so why had we not done it before? As a result of Glen’s observation, we compressed the terms and conditions of the two contracts into a single-sheet, double-sided document, calling it our “Sales and Service Agreement.”

The benefits derived from this simple action were amazing. The number of proposals sent to prospects’ legal counsel fell dramatically. This meant that more proposals were approved quickly, and our legal costs dropped, a change that was reflected in our budget numbers. Can you imagine running a $20 million company and spending less than $10, 000 a year for all of your legal expenses?

After you incorporate the previous steps into your proposal, it is finally time to standardize the proposal process for your entire company. Distribute the proposal as a template, requiring all sales representatives to use it in presentations.

Train your sales representatives on the selling process – why clients make buy decisions and why the service agreement has to be integrated into the installation proposal as a single package. The logic is simple, and your representatives will shake their heads wondering why they did not think of it before.