Posted on: 07 December, 2001
Author: Richard Lowe
Over the last couple of months, I've been working on a major project at myday job. I have decided that it's time to replace our backup system ... called an ... backup ... This mean Over the last couple of months, I've been working on a major project at myday job. I have decided that it's time to replace our backup system withwhat's called an enterprise backup solution. This means we want to be ableto manage all of our backups from a central location.We are getting near the end of the bidding process for this project. It'sbeen very interesting what with the recession and all. A year ago, when Iasked for a price reduction on anything I was often laughed at or given justa token discount of a couple percent. Now I am getting deep cuts of thirtyto fifty percent! One thing that I am learning is that while recessions arenot good things, they do give the buyer more of an advantage than in astrong economy.Where was I? Oh yes, I've been gathering information, bids, competitive dataand lots of other things that I need to make a decision. You see, this isnot a cheap solution and the problem is complex. Thus, I want to be surethat I can honestly sell the whole thing to my boss. When he asks mequestions I want to be able to answer immediately.The salespeople are getting very frustrated with this process. They are,quite frankly, not used to selling. My staff and I have noticed thatsalespeople in the computer business are, well, fat, dumb and lazy. Eventhough we are talking about a quarter of a million dollar project, thepeople just don't want to do any work.Finally one of the salespeople came right out and told me he was veryfrustrated. He did not understand why I had not yet purchased his product.He had given me price quotes, a competitive analysis and a productspecification. In his mind, he had done everything he needed to do.I sat back in my chair for a minute, thinking about his question. It didn'ttake me long to formulate my thoughts."Tim", I said, "What I want is for you to sell me your product."Tim was very surprised by this answer. He explained that he thought he wasalready doing that."No Tim", I replied, "what you are doing is giving me canned presentations,printing prepared specifications and comparisons off your web site, andpulling numbers from your price sheet. You are not selling me anything."Tim honestly didn't understand - what was wrong with his approach?Here's what I want from a salesperson. Listen to me and my staff. Reallylisten. Don't be thinking about the sale, about your wife or yourcommission. No, listen to me. I have patiently explained what problems weare trying to resolve, and I have asked my staff to explain what they want.We are very good communicators so you should be understanding what we aretrying to say.Now if you've been listening so you should know exactly how to solve ourproblems. Go back to your office, sit down at your desk and turn off yourphone. Type on the computer exactly how your product will solve the problemsand concerns that me and my staff have presented to you.Don't tell me why people want your product and don't tell me about yourproduct. Tell me how your product solves the problems that we have explainedto you.Yes, I need to see the specifications, but you need to explain why yourproduct is better at meeting our requirements than anyone else. You sayyou've listened, okay, then prove it.We want an enterprise backup package. Why? Tell me what problem we aretrying to solve, then tell me how your product solves that problem. Is itgoing to save us time and money? Is it going to improve reliability? Is yourproduct going to make it easier to restore files? What makes your productshine?What the salespeople have been doing is telling me to buy their products.They have not been selling. I already know all about their products, theircompanies and their services. I don't need them to tell me this informationagain, especially since it already exists on their very own web sites.No, what I need to know is how are our problems and requirements are met bytheir products.Let me give you an example. A few months ago I went into the Saturn dealerto buy a new car. The salesperson came over and greeted me personally, thenasked me what I was looking for.As I explained my requirements she asked lots of questions. What kind offinancing was I looking for? What color? Did I have kids? A wife? Was Ilooking for something conservative or flashy? One thing she found out rightaway is I have a big concern about maintenance costs. Another importantissue is comfort. On the other hand, the look of the car is not all thatcritical. This question and answer period went on for over an hour. It waspleasant and not stressful by any means - in fact, it was great just tellingthe gal what I wanted from a car.Now it was her turn. She spent the next hour showing me cars which met thespecifications and qualifications that I had given her. She showed me underthe hood, and explained how Saturn cars are easier to maintain than others.She showed me how the car is dent-proof by hitting a sample automobile witha hammer.She didn't spend any time at all on the look of the car - she knew (becauseshe listened to me) that this is not very important to me. Instead, shespent the time telling me how a particular Saturn model met my needs - theneeds that I had just been telling her.Needless to say, she got the sale.What the computer salespeople have been doing is showing me pictures ofcomputers, sending me specifications and explaining to me how wonderfultheir products are.What they should have been doing is listening, then responding. Instead,they were simply presenting canned presentations. Much like the Toyotasalesperson that I visited only thirty minutes before the Saturn dealer.Needless to say, the Toyota dealer didn't get the sale.So what's the moral of this story? Computer salespeople need to get to work.The fat, lazy days of the last ten years are gone - we are entering arecession folks. Recessions are buyers markets. You've had it easy, now rollup your sleeves and really sell.The other lesson is equally simple - listen. Once you've listened, ask somequestions, then listen some more. Do this until there is nothing else tolisten to. NOW, after listening, tell me which of your products best solvesthose requirements that we have just told you and why.That's what I want from salespeople.'Nuff said. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com