Take stock in sales process to avoid getting burned - bizjournals:

tenamup.wordpress.com
He spent three monthsx working onthe sale, and if he got it he would make get his bonus and finally be able to take his Michelle, on that trip to Europe he had promisec her for years. Charlie had no reason to douby the salewas his. The experienced salesmanm for ABC Corp. knew Greg, the customer’sw purchasing agent, for most of a decade. The two oftem spent long afternoons on theback nine, playingb golf and sharing stories about theifr families. Both had two kids graduatinyg fromhigh school. When they met last Thursdayh for drinks, Greg did everything but promisee Charlie that the order was inthe bag.
But when Charlie hearc the toneof Greg’s voicd on the line, he knew somethin g was terribly wrong. “Charlie, I did everythingh I could and until abouty four days ago I was sure that my recommendatio n to give you the order wasa shoo-in,” explained Greg “But the CFO and the executive vice president of marketinhg intervened and decided that the sale should go to XYZ Your price was but the sales rep at XYZ, Tom Robinson, showed us how his approacn would increase our cash flow and revenue Tom also had some good ideas that our executive vice president of marketing said would help us to differentiate our I’m really disappointed.
In I need to do a reality checkion myself: I can’t help but wondefr if I’m losing credibility in the eyes of the Greg confessed. Charlie had seen Tom Robinson more than once atthe customer’zs office talking with people Charlie had never met. “Wse had the cutting-edge technology, the loweer price and better cost savingsfor Greg’sw company,” Charlie thought to himself. “I was sure we wouldd win.
But Tom somehow beat me to the Charlie feltdeeply disappointed, but for the first time, he also felt His wife told him that the phone call seemed to age him five For the past 12 months, Charlie has been on the receivinv end of four similar callsw — all from those whom he had known and trustesd the longest. Suddenly, fear struck him to his He doubted himself in a way thathe hadn’ty for a very long time. “Haver I lost my touch?
” he He knew he had just lost his quota, his bonuse and that trip to Europe, but he didn’tg know whether he would still have his job this time next Nobody batsa thousand, but when you keep losinhg sales ­despite having great products and services, it’ws time to take a step back. You have to reconsideer what you’re trying to accomplisbh and how you’re going abouty doing it. In fact, it mightr be time to reinvent the way you Consider that the traditional salesprocess hasn’t changed much for more than a hundre years. Its roots are in a time when suppliez were tight and suppliers heldthe cards.
Orders were booked monthas in advanceand customers, anxiou s for a steady supply of material and lackintg information about availability, had little room to negotiats price. Salespeople were basically orded takers, but that now is the exception and notthe rule. As the number of suppliers has increased, salespeople have evolved from order takers to plying their social skills to learn what a customer needs and using their product knowledge to present productes and services to matchthoses needs. This is a great time to take stockl of your sales process to avoid walkinbgin Charlie’s shoes.