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Runaway
Sales Calls
Don't
let customers take control of your meetings
Have
you ever been on a sales call where the client was
in total control? Of course you were. We all were.
And it's a real bear trying to change things when
it happens. At
some point, it becomes a runaway sales call and the
client has manipulated and controlled everything.
When this occurs, you lose all negotiating power,
your ability to identify their problems, the
chance to close, and anything else that will help
you win their business.
I was in one of those memorable events once
along with one of my resellers. Since we only sold
through the dealer channel (i.e., value-added resellers), I was there
representing the software vendor I worked for and supporting our reseller.
So I let the reseller run the meeting. Sounds innocent enough. Yea, Right!
The client had about four or five people in the room and were very polite
and cordial. And then they brought in Hans, their "technical
guru". That's when things changed for the worse.
Hans
began to tell us about how challenging their business was as one of the
leading carpet manufacturers in the industry. They sold to carpet
distributors (who sold to stores such as Home Depot), major retail outlets
(such as Home Depot), small carpet dealers, and other various distribution
channels. As a result, their challenge was forecasting future business,
since many of their clients changed or canceled their orders even after his
company started producing their requests. This caused enormous wastes when
not managed properly. So they were looking for a product that would help
them plan their business, forecast sales, manage their accounts, and
basically cure world hunger (well, not exactly, but that's what it sounded
like at the time).
Every
time my reseller tried to present how our product could potentially solve
his problem, Hans, in his heavy Bavarian accent, would shoot it down, saying
in a condescending tone, "You don't understand our business. That won't
work because..." It seemed like he kept trying to set us up with a
description of a problem, only to say that anything we proposed wouldn't
work. It was as if he already knew it wouldn't work before he opened his
mouth. And, in fact, that's exactly what was happening. You see, he told us
that every vendor he brought in had the same useless solutions and we were
no different than them. He proceeded to challenge us to solve his problem
since no one else could. He was in total control of the meeting. He made it
clear that he was bringing in vendor after vendor, only to chew them up and
spit them out. This painful episode prevailed for quite some time, that is
until I spoke.
Since
I let the reseller do all the talking so far, I noticed that he was desperately
trying to solve this guy's problem and sell him our product. I, on the other
hand, saw something else going on -- a big game that Hans was enjoying. I
think he called it "Kill the vendor". He was, in fact, trying to
find a solution since his problem was genuine. But he was using his unique
situation to challenge every vendor he could get his hands on. That is until
I realized that his problem was a process problem, not a technology issue.
In other words, his problem was systemic and had to be resolved by the way
they did business with their clients. Once that was resolved, then they
could use technology to track and manage their business. Unless they fixed
the way they handled their own customers, technology wouldn't do them much
good.
I
waited for just the right moment to initiate a well placed cough to get
their attention. I then leaned forward in my chair and said, "Excuse me
Hans, but what makes you think that technology can solve your problem."
He started to answer, but only a few half words and stutters came out. He
stared at me, then at the ceiling. After what seemed like 5 minutes of total
silence, he leaned forward and said, "No one has ever asked me that
before." So I said, "So what's the answer?" And he said,
"I don't know. But I think you are on to something. We've been looking
for a solution in the wrong place." We then had a very cordial and
intellectual discussion about business processes and how to handle customers
who screw up your business by canceling orders after you started
manufacturing them. Hans' demeanor totally changed. He started treating us
with respect and assigned himself a project to figure out how they will
change their processes to resolve their internal issues. Only after that was
done would he revisit technology.
I
have since moved on and don't know what Hans and his company ultimately
decided to do. Frankly, I don't think our product could have helped him
anyway, but it was a very interesting exercise in managing a sales call.
Wouldn't you say? With some good listening skills and asking just the right
questions, you can keep control of your sales meetings, qualify your
prospects, and arrive at the right solutions.
Good luck and
good selling!
Russ
Lombardo
PEAK
Sales Consulting
russ@peaksalesconsulting.com
(702)
655-5652
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