I was sitting alongside the MD of a European MNC’s
operations in India. We were meeting a team representing a major American
software company. The salesperson in-charge of the account walked in with his
Country Manager, and a technology expert. The Country Manager simply hijacked
the meeting by virtue of his seniority. He had a few things to ‘tell’ us about
the product, and those chosen features were faithfully elaborated upon by his
Techie Product Expert.
The salesperson had walked in, greeted us, and introduced
his two colleagues. After 35 minutes of non-stop verbal assault from his
colleagues, when they ran out of all their points or energy or maybe both, the
salesperson spoke up again to thank us for our time. Those were the only two
occasions when we got to hear the salesman’s voice. During the rest of the
call, he was as much a spectator to the proceedings as the two of us on the
other side of the table were.
After they left, the MD just let out his breath deeply,
shook his head, and went back to doing his work. I happened to step out on to
the lift lobby as they were leaving, and I was amused to see the Country
Manager pat the Techie’s back in appreciation, and actually say, “That was
great!” Really? I was very disappointed
with the salesperson’s role in all this. I would lay all the blame at his
doorstep for this fiasco. Here are my Ten Commandments for the salesperson:
1.
Thou shall protect your territory at all
costs. A Customer /Prospect /Account
given to you is your territory. Un-authorised entry/presence into your territory
should never go unpunished. Those who do enter your territory shall perform at
your pleasure.
2.
Thou shall take the call on introducing the
right person(s) at the right time from your company, to the customer. No body shall visit the customer without
informing you, or without your prior approval. Everybody inside/outside the
company is a resource for you to use, as appropriate, to make the sale happen.
3.
Thou shall compile all questions that are being
raised by the customer during all your conversations, right from the first
call. When the list becomes
substantive, set up meeting(s) with the customer for the questions to be
addressed by (picking) the right people. Be careful about bringing in a
Technical person or a senior manager too late in the sales cycle, or too early.
4.
Thou shall brief and prepare all colleagues who
come along and/or go to meet your customer.
The call objectives and the points to be made will all be decided by
you. Those who deviate from your brief must be given strong feedback – even
your CEO.
5.
Thou shall control and conduct the meeting. State the objective, explain the choice of
your colleagues at the meeting, and then begin with the customer questions,
one-by-one.
6.
Thou shall allocate the responsibility of
answering each question to the colleague best prepared to answer that question.
7.
Thou shall summarize the answer given to each
question, confirm that the customer is happy with the answer, and only then
move on to the next question on the list.
8.
Thou shall stay attentive to your colleague(s)
being long-winded, irrelevant, or over-enthusiastic. You will jump in to ensure that your
colleague (even if it is your CEO) keeps it crisp, and follows the planned brief.
9.
Thou shall summarize all the questions answered,
key points made, and agree on the next few actions before thanking everyone,
and closing the meeting.
10.
Thou shall maintain your self-esteem and
relevance all through the sales cycle.
The customer must realize that all the relevant questions were well
answered only because you were present to ensure that.
Source: Ramesh Srinivasan (LinkedIn Pulse)
0 comments:
Post a Comment