The B2B sales person’s dilemma

Over the years while directly being involved in sales myself or leading a sales team, I have realized, it’s always difficult for the sales guy to ask who else is in competition in the account where he’sselling.

Most weak sales people live in this LA LA Land . I still get sales people telling me that the “customer is only talking to me”. It’s actually a dilemma because the earlier you realize that you may not get the order you are scared because you don’t know what you will put in your prospect sheet.

When I was in my early years in sales, I did not have a large enough prospect base most of the time. Now because of that I always had the feeling that I did not have the luxury to lose an order. Due to this I would try to please the customer in every which way hoping that he will not call my competitors to discuss the requirements.

Some of the smart prospects actually used to give me the assurance that they would not discuss with any other company. But when we were called for negotiations, I would realize there were so many players and I didn’t stand a chance.

These failures taught me a few lessons- the first being – never believe that only one person’s decision will be important in a B2B sale. There will Always Always be multiple people involved in a B2B sale.

The second fact is that, there can never be only one company with whom they are discussing for the solution. Due to the success of your marketing you may be the first people they call for a discussion, but be sure they will call others, if only to get you to bring your price down.

The only time when the above may not strictly hold true is when you are building something for them at your cost…..which may be rare because of compliance issues.

Which then means that you should make it a point in every meeting to check out who else is in competition. There are various ways to do it and we can have a separate post on that.

Its better to be clear about your competition in advance and plan your sales accordingly, rather being thrown a curve ball, at the order you had committed was 100% probable and blaming the prospect for underhand dealings or sudden relative of the CFO appearing.

Sales is a very methodical process and you can’t wing it. The people on the other side of the table are seasoned buyers who deal with sales people all day. They also appreciate a professional preparation.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Taking a day off from everything

Health, Rest, Uncategorized

Yesterday I had mentioned how because my wife had fever, suddenly my day went topsy-turvy but I was still able to achieve considerable outcomes because of the prioritization matrix.

Today however I was also a little under the weather and because my is still unwell I decided to take a day-off from work. Today’s post is about not doing anything and the learning from it.

Since I was also unwell, I decided to just sleep. After breakfast I went off to sleep and kept sleeping till mid afternoon . I ensured that I did not use my computer or my tablet all day so that my eyes, my body and my brain all got a respite. I also did not spend any time thinking. I just moved around lazily doing nothing

This post I am writing now towards the end of the day on my tablet and for about 30 minutes I read a Robert Kiyosaki book. That’s all the things I did on my electronic devices.

When you spend time in a lot of transactions every day, taking complete time off makes you feel guilty. Every now and then I had the fear that there would be some kind of fire somewhere which would need my attention.

Two things happened one because my team as well as peers knew that I was unwell they didn’t bother me for most part of the day. Second it also brought out the fact that the team is capable of handling most things without my intervention.

So that makes me happy because I can now delegate even more. So when I say life does things FOR us, you need to find the learning, this was my learning for today.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Reframing the assets that we have

Abundance, assets, constraints, creativity, Leverage, possibility thinking, problem solving, Uncategorized

Inspite of the fact that I write about marketing, product management, finance etc. The fact is that I am also learning every day. While I have some theories like “Riding the Elephant ” , I am actually a Work in Process.

So when I come across something which I have used earlier and I read a book in which a similar idea is written, then it becomes a validation of my ideas.

In marketing you will constantly come across constraints. Actually in life itself, you will constantly come across constraints. But in case of marketing, I have noticed that Murphy’s law decides to become applicable at the most inappropriate times.

At those times you have to be as resourceful as possible. One of the ways of becoming resourceful is to first identify all the assets at your disposal.

Next see how the same asset can be utilized in a different way.

Third “who” could benefit from the reframed asset and last

How could you benefit from the assets that person or organization has and then go about showcasing them, about how it could be of mutual benefit to both the concerned parties.

One thing which I have used very effectively is the spare technical manpower in our company. I have actually gone and spoken to partners to check if they’re facing technical problems in going to the market.

We have been able to work with partners because of just this one asset that we have and they can’t afford. Due to that they take us to the market, we help them sell and give us all the services.

Sometimes it could be the internal setup or processes or messaging that you have built, which could be repurchased for the other side, in return for something that they have.

In marketing you always need to keep looking with an abundant mindset of how you could reframe the assets you have to get what you want.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Welcoming constraints

constraints, creativity, Fear, Human Brain, possibility thinking, problem solving, Uncategorized

I have written multiple times before how I used to be scared when problems came my way.

One of the first people to influence me against being scared was the writing of Jay Abraham. One of the things that has stuck in my mind is one statement – the bigger the problems you solve, the more you can earn.

Over the years, as I have matured the ability to handle challenges has also changed but still there are times when constraints baffle me.

Realizing that its the rain which tries to create all our challenges has helped me in managing the thought process around handling constraints.

A book that I found useful with a good set of tools for welcoming constraints is A Beautiful Constraint by Adam Morgan and Mark Barden.

While a lot of people will talk about looking at the positive side of things and about, thinking out of the box etc. This book gives practical tools which if you use make your brain actually look for options and find solutions.

The more I read about the challenges that we face, the more I realize its our brain which creates mountains out of mole hills.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!