This is the continuation of the previous post.

Now that we’ve addressed the basics of the buying-selling process, let’s get down to working on the business case for this project. Your foresight in requesting that sales people work on business issues and not spend time spouting buzzwords will save us both time.

This flowchart (download the PDF (58.2K)) will help us get started. The document details the process I would like us to use when evaluating a sales opportunity. It starts with the definition of a business problem, issue, or result you’d like to achieve.

We want to get real about the business case. Pretend we’re old friends, close relatives, whatever it takes to quickly determine that if I can solve your business problem in the time, people, and budget ranges you determine, we’ll move forward together.

This doesn’t mean you are going to write a check today. What it does mean is that we agree there is a problem and we want to solve it together.

We’ll follow the flowchart and work through it together to make sure we on the same page at all times. I need to meet all the decision makers and interview them so I can make sure I know everyone’s expectations for the project.

By the time you and I review a proposal, the deal should already be done. A proposal should contain no surprises for you and only be used to link our agreement to our signatures and help anyone on our team understand the reasons for the project and the projected outcome.

After the deal is complete, I agree to provide excellent service if you agree to centralize support requests and provide detail about any problems with the products/services. Only with this detail can my team help you.

If we find problems in our products/services at another client, we will notify you if it could affect you.

I would like to know at least three other businesses who you believe should work with us. A recommendation from you directly to them is the best way to help me. It keeps my firm in business and you gain some leverage as a preferred client.

One of the elements you requested to be able to do is get someone on the phone who knows what he/she is talking about. I will let you know now that I did not engineer the product, but I can get to the people who did. And I will if we need to.

Another element you requested is that I acknowledge and take responsibility for any faults in our products or services. I will do so if you provide ideas on how to make my product/service better and pay your invoices on time. Making our products/services better is good for both of us.

If you have other ideas about our relationship, please let me know.

Thank you,

Your Sales Person

In my last post, I wrote about the NWC Reader Survey and how a Sales Manager could use it to train his/her sales people. To switch sides, here’s a letter to buyer explaining what Sales needs in order to meet the request and help buyers. This is part one of the letter.

Dear Buyer:

Recently, my Sales Manager and I reviewed the list of behaviors and attributes that make up an ideal sales person. I want to realize that vision because I know if I do, you’ll reward me with your business. In this way, everyone wins.

Before beginning the business justification process, could we lay down a few rules?

First, let’s agree we’re both human. We have feelings and needs and what I’m selling and what you are buying isn’t going to stop the world from rotating.

Second, it is in everyone’s best interest that we acknowledge there are personal outcomes of our decisions. You could be praised for solving a business problem. Maybe given a raise…I could gain a commission and add a recurring client to my list of accounts. All these things affect not only our firms, but our home lives and sense of self. Everyone wants to succeed.

Third, we agree that we want to stay in our positions and we want our companies to stay in business. This means we will not bargain. We will negotiate instead. Instead of slicing up a pie, we agree to make a bigger pie together.

Fourth, we agree we do not make every decision for our firms. Other people are involved. Should we prove the business case for this project, we will fight for it internally even if others say there is no time, budget, etc. We will convince them of the project’s merit if we have to stay late, skip lunch, or travel to make the point.

Fifth, I will supply you with marketing material (swag) if it will help our project move forward. Some people who have decision-making authority are swayed by shiny objects.

Sixth, we agree that if I deliver as promised, you will pay as promised. Also, there are costs to selling. I can build them into the project fee or charge them separately (for analysis, for example). Either way, they will be factored in — just tell me how you want it.

Seventh, at the contracting phase, if Legal is required, we’ll have all decision makers meet at one time to finalize negotiated terms. We will not go through the process of you reviewing my proposal then passing it to your boss, then legal with required revisions at every step. We want to save time, not use a process that increase our time at the office.

Eighth, we will return one another’s calls within two days at the latest. We both call for reasons. I’m a little paranoid and if I do not hear from you, I may invent a problem that doesn’t really exist.Your calls mean you need something and I want to help.

Ninth, if the project involves a warranty or maintenance package, you will buy it if you want us to provide those services. It will put a strain on our relationship if you wait until two years to upgrade and/or call for an emergency fix while my engineers are working on another client’s project. We want to be proactive, not reactive.

Tenth, and finally, we will meet no less than once a quarter, face to face, to discuss the past and future activities. Once we begin this relationship, it is costly to change. Neither of us want change, but if it occurs, it will not be a surprise.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. As a sales person, spending this amount of time on a letter means its very important to me. I hope you feel the same.

on to part 2…

The 2007 NWC Reader Survey is a great tool for IT Services and VARs to learn from. Often I wonder if I will have the opportunity to read an article from buyers directed at sales people. Now I have.

The article details the things IT buyers wish sales reps would stop doing and at the top of the list is promising features or functions that do not exist. In other words, the top No-No says “don’t lie”.

Guess the number one wish IT buyer have in a sales person: knowledge of what they are selling. Funny how that works out, huh?

Rounding out the rest of the top five No-No’s: misrepresenting integration issues, ignoring you after you get paid, low-balling deployment costs, and shipping beta products.

Let’s step back for a second and think about a sales team — invoke Pareto’s principle (the 80/20 rule). A Sales Manager’s top 20 people bring in 80% of the revenue. The top 20 probably have better relationships with their buyers and do not commit these “selling sins” as often as the other 80% of the sales team. That 80% is made up of people who are still learning the basics, don’t care, and are looking for the quick commission check.

The smart Sales Manager can use the Survey to help train. In fact, I recommend that a sales person take the survey to sales meetings. Bring the often unspoken concerns of your buyer front and center. Talk about them. If you plan on committing the sins, tell your buyer so he/she knows in advance. (I don’t advocate committing them, by the way.)

Let’s turn back to the survey and look at the top 5 buyer wishes. They would like to be able to get someone on the phone who knows what they are talking about, address business problems (not use buzzwords), be up front about problems, take responsibility for problems, and deliver capabilities that are listed on the data sheet.

Sales can achieve all of the wishes through relationships or self-action. If I change the desires around, I make them into this:

The ideal sales person communicates openly with his/her buyer, knows the ins and outs of the product or service, makes personalized marketing material and proposals, and puts helping the buyer’s business in front of a commission.

Presumably, the buyer is going to reward such an honest, hard-working sales person with long term business at a better than average margin!

If you are the buyer, my next post has a request from the ideal sales person to you…