Corporate Sales Guy

Going back to basics and an item seasoned folks will know and remember but it’s always good to refresh. So if you have a deal forecasted at any percentage the 5 things that must exist are:

1. Solution

You have what they need. If they want a small reliable foreign car with great gas mileage, you don’t have the right solution if you are selling SUV’s. It’s got to be a good fit and such a good fit that when they want to upgrade in 5 years they will come back to you unconditionally.

2. Budget

Sometimes my budget is expansive other times it’s not. You have to completely understand the budget and it’s not enough to have a customer tell you, “Based on what you give me, I will formulate my budget.” I use a Sandler technique taught to me by Steve (thanks Steve) and it’s, “would a $1000 per month send you running for the hills?” This does wonders for me and has allowed me to disqualify deals in 5 minutes that would have drawn weeks of resources just to find out it was a bad fit.

3. Decision Maker

You have to be talking to the decision maker. Your deal is not forecastable if someone needs to check with a spouse or a CFO. They don’t need to be involved in your deal day to day but they must be consulted during the sales process. I am even happy if someone confides in me and states, “look, this maybe just a pricing exercise with no real cash in it for you.” I am happy because now I am doing the person a favor, the deal is staying far from my forecast and I prioritize it as low on the list as I can without appearing to be a jerk.

4. Imminent Event

This is usually something along the lines as a lease is expiring, my contract with the incumbent expires in 2 months and we hate them or something similar. Using an automotive model, “I think my car is on its last leg.” In the IT professional services world, “we are going to be audited in the summer and we want to be prepared.”

5. Time frame

This one is obvious. I am ok with folks looking to do business with me in 2-5 years from today but in order to keep sales healthy, the priority given to these opportunities have to be determined. For some of us, deals may only close every 2-5 years. (Anyone selling satellites out there?!)

-csg

Why reinvent the wheel? Read more here.

I have tried to avoid using this blog as a place to rant however; A trend that I am noticing as I move from company to company over time is that so many companies deliver a mediocre product or service. Rather than focusing on delivering an outstanding product companies will resort to:

1. Pushing sales people harder

2. Gerrymandering territory lines

3. Increasing sales quotas

4. Firing and hiring sales people endlessly

5. Re-hiring sales folks with different acumen (we need a sales rep with a consulting background!)

6. Making term commitments on contracts that are draconian with no out clauses.

7. Playing sales folks against one another

8. Setting up inane contests for performance

9. Repackaging and combining crappy existing products to make a “new” product

My suggestion to companies; ensure that sales people have the best product on the planet to sell. If it’s not the best product on the planet then it should be:

1. The only product of its type on the planet (which would be arguably the best since no others exist right?!)

2. The cheapest product on the market

Most companies I see with just fidget and tweak but never getting to the underlying issues at hand. They will sell around the weaknesses of the product even if the weaknesses are huge. Legally binding, long term contracts ensure that once a customer catches on to the crappyness they’ve purchased it will be too late to change their minds.

As far as salespeople go, if you work for a company like this now and your livelihood depends on believing and selling a product (to everyone in your rolodex) I would suggest getting out. You’ll never be truly successful if you yourself wouldn’t buy the product if you were in similar circumstances as the customer.

A final note, early stage start ups need to release v1 of their product or service. This is normal and the product will get better and evolve over time, so this is more focused on companies out there that have been around for a bit. I am not a fan of rolling out a product after 8 years to learn that the markets passed by.