Customer Collaboration

How CIO's are Effectively Aligning

2009-07-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Recently I read with interest, a CIO Insight article involving Jeff Kubacki from Kroll Inc. He reviews a few tricks he's learned over the years about collaboration and getting projects approved by all key stakeholders.

Is Jeff getting it right with his peers? Is Jeff getting it right with his vendors? His teams? Are collaborative standards far behind? What are your thoughts? Here is the link:

http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Expert-Voices/Melding-of-the-Minds-395227/

Back To Basics

2009-06-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

The best of the best recognized brands of consultants purport to always provide value to their customers. Yet when times are tough the advisors to consultants reminds the best brands to go back to the fundamentals… be provocative, take risks, step in front of the brands….

Priceless advice… Are you doing the same… Let us know what is working…”

http://www.consultingmag.com/article/ART632518?C=8d8JmBNKfojokJWq

Agitate or Collaborate? How can you tell?

2009-06-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

A shepherd was herding his flocks in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand new Jeep Cherokee advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Armani suit, Gucci shoes, Oakley sunglasses and a Polo tie leaned out of the window and asked our shepherd: "If I can tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?"

The shepherd looks at the yuppie, then at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answers "sure!"

The yuppie parks the car, whips out his notebook, connects to the net through a cellular card, surfs to a NASA page on the Internet where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system, scans the area, opens up a database and some 60 Excel spreadsheets with complex formulas.

Finally, he prints out a 150 page report on his hi-tech miniaturized printer, turns around to the shepherd and says: "You have here exactly 1,586 sheep!" "That is correct, take one of the sheep" says the shepherd. He watches the young man select an animal and bundle it into his Cherokee.

Then the shepherd says: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me my sheep back?" "Okay, why not!" answers the young man.

"You are a consultant" says the shepherd.

"That is correct" says the yuppie. "How did you guess that?"

"Easy" answers the shepherd. "You turn up here although nobody called you, you want to be paid for the answer to a question I already knew the solution of, and you don't know anything about my business because you took my dog."

Author unknown...

Marketing and Sales Coming Together

2009-05-27T14:03:00.001-07:00

Most of the executives I speak with are unhappy with their efforts to get marketing and sales on the same page. Intuitively, they know how important it is. Heretofore it is difficult to measure the real "costs" of not closing the GAP.

New SiriusDecisions research indicates that companies that are able to report closed-loop metrics on their sales and marketing integration efforts have demonstrated more than 20 percent higher revenue and profit growth over a three-year period vs. those companies that cannot.

Now that is what I call closing the GAP!

So, take the words of William Penn to heart when he said "Humility and knowledge in poor clothes excel pride and ignorance in costly attire." Put thy differences aside and build a bridge between marketing and sales and soon your customers will follow.

Does this still work in 2009?

2009-05-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

Recently I read a post about how to "sell to the C-level". Here it is with some words changed to protect the author's identity.

"Hello Ed, this is XXXXXXXX with YYYYYY. Ed, I just saw a news article come across the wire that mentioned your new product release of the XYMHY banana security software. On May 24th we're holding an online Banana Summit which is a day of back to back webcasts from thought leaders and niche solution providers from around the country. I was calling to see if you'd be interested in showcasing this product at that event. **Now the customer engages and begins to ask questions ******
The cost is $7500 for a sponsorship spot."

Does this still resonate with buyers?

Stop Selling and Start Engaging

2009-05-07T04:57:00.000-07:00

Curious if anyone has used a simple "scripted" outline for making an introductory call on a "C-level" executive where you are reasonably sure there is an opportunity to help solve a business problem worth solving. (I consider the outline to minimally include: 1) Pre call preparation, 2) Making the introductory appointment, 3) Framing what you do/say in front of the client to OPEN the conversation to show value and 4) Closing for the next action.)

The goals are: 1) qualify 2) build value in "me" and my company enough to be asked back for a second meeting if qualified. Sales Leaders tell me that when they are brought in on calls with their reps, they use this to immediately engage with the client and refrain from "selling" their solution up front.

Buyer and Seller BEWARE!

2009-05-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

All too often I hear from sales people that the buyer (under a tremendous amount of time pressure) forces the seller to "show me your solution".

We in sales are partly to blame. With all the "SOLUTION and CONSULTATIVE selling training, we are taught to sell "everything in the warehouse because that proves we "have the total package".

Especially in a highly commoditized market space like computers, networks, storage, security, etc., sellers must be prepared to ask the buyer to "slow down". Of course, you ask, "How?".

I do not make a practice of this, but I will give you the answer here:
http://www.knowledge-advantage.com/podcast/napkin/

ENJOY!

The BEST Customers Don't Need Sales or Sellers

2009-04-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

What makes a good customer? One who can align the priorities of their key internal stakeholders, one who can fully uncover and then articulate what is required for an initiative to be successful and one who then can show the WIFM to all three categories of stakeholder HOW SUCCESS WILL BE MEASURED.

Unfortunatly, most customers can't align priorities, understand requirements or establish criteria. And that is one of the primary reasons that Gartner reports that less that one percent (.8) of all major IT initiatives deliver to the original intended value (scope/time/resources).

So, I have to chuckle when I read "... through questioning, the best sales people are able to empower their buyers by giving them a vision to achieve goals, solve problems, and satisfy needs if they had the sellers offering."

Isn't it awfully presumptive that a seller is going to 1) get the appointment/audience with a buyer (will questioning get the appointment?), 2) earn the right to ask a series of questions, and 3) receive the "correct" answers to the questions? Going in with a "give to get" approach works 99.9% of the time to earn the right to the most productive collaboration with your "less than able" buyers.

Remeber, customers want and need your help to improve their odds of success beyond .8%. Initially going in with a series of open ended probing questions does little to help you stand out from the crowd. After all, your questions are not unique.... just like everyone else.

Balancing Sales and Helping the Buyer Buy

2009-04-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

Today I was interviewing a 30-year sales veteran and he told me that had he tried to help the buyer be more successful with the buyers project rather than trying to "sell his solution", he would have gotten both a sale and he would have helped the buyer simultaneously. And he might not be looking for a job today.

What?

We have all heard stories of how we manipulate the questioning techniques we've read in books to get at the problems and implications and the pain etc. etc. etc.; do you realy think the buyers are not "on to you" with that approach?

Instead, go in realizing that the buyer wants and needs your help to make the buyers project as successful as possible (with or without you). In so doing, you wll be rewarded. That means helping the buyer align priorities with the three categories of stakeholder, (bet you didn't know that the buyer is really three distictly different buyers in a high dollar matrix-buying sale), understand requirements and establish success criteria. Tell me your experience when you've done this effectively for the buyer.

Figures lie and Liars Figure

2009-04-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

Remember that saying? There is an ongoing debate about the use and importance of EBITDA in valuing a company. Here is a wonderful short article about the pros and cons to help you better prepare for for Customer Collaborations.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/analyst/020602.asp

Collaborating with Customers when interviewing

2009-04-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

HOW TO MAKE COMMON SENSE COMMON PRACTICE-
The job market for high tech sales professionals is tough, you don't need me to tell you that but why are we making it even tougher to get hired?

Consider this; prospective employers know that if you were the top performer at your past company you would still be there. Period. If you have been out of work for a while they are wondering why you are still looking. So you better have the answers to these two basic questions going in. Here are some other common sense ideas to consider.

1) A prospective employer will only hire you if you can add value in the form of something they don't have now and need/want. How do you go about finding out what they need and want other than traditional notes from job boards or a recruiters spec sheet?

2) Using social networks and introductions from friends and colleagues does not mean that you can lob in a call to the CEO and expect her/him to automatically take your call. What are you doing to get the attention of the key individual(s) you need to impress to get the job? How do you prep? What do you look for to position yourself in the best light?

3) Graying hair can be a plus or a minus! The reality is the person interviewing you is most likely younger than you. How will you be able to relate to a younger person? A younger person is going to question (non-verbally of course) your stamina. Your intentions. Your longevity. Your desperation factor! What can you do to make all of these "concerns/question" a non-issue?

All these and more are common sense. Right? But in my part-time role helping folks interview better, I recently witnessed poor preparation, defensiveness, going in without a plan, inability to understand the buyers 1) priorities, 2) their requirements to add the next hire and 3) success criteria that will be measured to know that they made a good decision.

While I have only scratched the surface, these were top of mind today. I'd love to hear your thoughts around common practice and common sense.

Without a simple set of methods and tools making common sense common practice defaults to intuition. Intuition is very difficult to teach and the key reason that change managment is so daunting for sales professionals.