Trevor Williams, the trainer was tense. This group of managers he was about to train contained Dave Webster a young manager who many thought was heading to the top. Being new to the job Trevor had never faced him before, but trainers that had said you must get him on your side quickly.
The workshop started fine, all seemed to accept the objectives for the training. At the introductions Dave and the group were positive and said they were looking forward to the session. Few other than Lilly gave much in their expectations however, but that is not unusual.
Trevor had introduced the group to the sales process and was just finishing a more detailed explanation of its stages. The stress had been building up in Trevor, mainly because the group had not asked questions, they only responded to those posed to them directly, and then their replies where short and to the point. It was Dave who broke this seeming disinterest in the group.
“Can I just get this right? You’re saying that this sales process is how our guys should go about selling from now on” enquired Dave. “Yes, absolutely’” Trevor replied assuredly, and continued, ‘”if they follow this process your salespeople can adapt their approach to match the customer’s position in their buying process” . Thoughtfully Dave replied, “And by following this they will be able to forecast more accurately because they will know where each sale is in the sales pipeline. “
“Cool Dave you’ve got it” said Trevor approaching Dave with satisfactory smile. Trevor could feel the pressure lifting. If Dave is on track the rest will follow. Trevor now standing with his back to Dave facing the rest of the group, “You see guys Dave is there. If you know where the customer is in the pipeline you will have a better idea when a decision will be made. But more to the point, as Dave is obviously aware the further a sales is along the pipeline the closer it is to the time when the sale will be made.”
“Yeh, Trevor I see it” said Lilly. “Cool Lilly, I thought you would”, replied Trevor as he headed back to the front of the class.
Dave said, ‘”So this means that if you know where the customer is on the sales process you just adapt your approach according to this chart.” “Yes Dave. Dave you really are getting into this. You see rather than taking one approach to the sale, you use the sales process to decide how best to react at each stage to achieve the sale.”
“So when a salesman reaches stage three he demonstrates the machine, right? And at stage four he presents a proposal”, checked Dave. “Yes Dave, well done, but not only salesmen Dave … not just salesman”. “Who else?” puzzled Dave. “Saleswomen Dave, we all know this is an equal opportunity company” It is doubtful that Trevor recognized the condescension in his voice, even so he was feeling pleased. He was in control.
“This is really easy, yea?” confirmed Dave. “As easy as slicing bread, it’s just about keeping to the process” replied Trevor. Lilly said “I see it. Just make sure your people take each step at a time. Keep moving the customer along”.
With a kind of summary tone Trevor said; “OK guys Lilly’s got it. Who else has” All eyes immediately focused on the desks in front of them. “Frank. What about you? Where are you on this?”. ‘”There Trevor … I am there”. “Good Frank, good to hear you are on board. Who else has it?”
Dave looked up slowly and asked, “So this means all customers follow this process when making a buying decision”. ”Yep”, replied Trevor. “All the time?” responded Dave. “Yea… well most of the time” ….there was just touch of uncertainty in Trevor’s voice. “Not always then?” probed Dave. “No, not always” - Trevor was more uncomfortable than nervous, and it showed. This discussion with Dave was monopolizing the class and time. What Trevor had not noticed, yet could certainly feel was that the eyes where no longer looking at their desks, they were fixed on him. Each member of the group was leaning forward with a look of expectancy.
Dave broke the short silence, “So sometimes they do something else when making a buying decision?”
Looking around and smiling in a way suggesting the naivety of Dave’s question, Trevor answered; “Well, yes of course. They do not follow this all the time.” “ What else do they do?” countered Dave.
Trevor trying not to show the annoyance that was creeping up inside him said “I don’t know, it depends…..” - “On what Trevor?” - “How the customer is approaching their decision”. “So it depends on the customer, this sales process” said Dave in a satisfied way.
“No Dave” countered Trevor, “the customer may think that, but it depends on your salesmen. If they approach the sale the right way, along the lines of the sales process the customer will react as expected”.
“Salespeople” said Brian. “What?” said Trevor sharply. “You said salesmen, not salespeople. Remember equal opportunity”. “You did” said Lilly with a smile. “Yes, yes sorry. I mean salesperson, people” Trevor stumbled.
“So if our people approach each sale along this sales process all customers will approach their purchases the same way” suggested Dave. With a sigh Trevor said “Yes”, and Lilly said, “Got it Trev”.
There was a pause, while Trevor considered how he can bring this back on track. At the same time he realised all were watching him, other than Dave that is, who was looking at the ceiling. Trevor announced; “OK now we have established the sales process, let’s start by looking at how we can use it to manage the sales pipeline more effectively”. He clicked to the next slide, which was a picture of a pipeline with round circles labeled ‘Sales’ running along inside it. On the top of the pipeline were the stages of the sales process they had just been discussing.
“So there is no need to pay our sales people anywhere near as much as we do” suggested Dave
“What?” asked Trevor. “I mean if it is that easy and all the salespeople need to do is keep to these steps, and change their style, we can get cheaper guys. I mean you don’t need graduates to do this. Just smartly dressed guys in suits with a semblance of a brain” explained Dave. “People, people Dave, not bloody men”, retorted Trevor. “I said guys, guys are people aren’t they”
Felix said; “Trevor, so if a sales lead resulted from an exhibition the sale would most likely go straight to the proposal stage”. To the rest of the class Felix explained “We demonstrate the machine to most customers at exhibitions, don’t we.” Dave said “Well that will save time Felix; my people currently spend a lot of time discussing what the customer is looking to gain from the purchase and what they expect to spend. This way it’s straight into presenting a proposal. What a time saver”
‘No, guys you are …” blurted Trevor before Lilly interrupted; “Yeh Trev, good. We frequently give the price at the exhibition too” . “You’re right Lilly” said Felix. “So that would place the sale automatically at the end of the process. No need for a proposal. I mean they are all given brochures at exhibitions”, said Dave and went on; “Well that suggests exhibitions are the quickest and best ways to win sales” . “But they are not” said Frank and a chorus of mumbled yeses indicated that they all agreed.
“Look guys you are missing the…..” . This time Frank interrupted, “ I have another problem; how does an existing customer fit into this? They already know the machine so there is no need to demonstrate, they know what it will do for them, and they know the price. Looking at this sales process there seems nothing we need to do with them”.
Trevor started to respond with; “You see Frank you are ….” , but never finished because Dave said, “That’s it Frank with this approach there is no need to sell to existing customers they just buy from us. Easy isn’t it Frank?” Frank replied, “Yeh” and Lilly said, “But that means there is no need for my Major Accounts team”. All looked at Lilly and most nodded. Felix said, “ I guess your people will have to take their customers through the sales process anyway Lilly, because how else will you get them in the pipeline.”. “Well that’s right” said Lilly smiling , “for a minute I thought I was out of a job”. “No just bore your customers by telling what they already know” said Frank.
Kevin said, “Trevor this is such a simple idea and you believe it is effective. Who came up with it?” . “I don’t Know” said Trevor. “That’s odd Trevor considering the impact you say this will have, you would have thought the guy, sorry person, who came up with it would have been well known to all you sales experts. How long has it been known?” “I don’t know, some time”. “Well is it months or years?”. “Well years, I guess”. “How long have you personally known about it Trevor?”. “I don’t know. A year or two maybe”. Lilly said she had seen it is a book by Keith Eads. Jack, the old man of the team, thought he had known about it for years but could not remember why. Janet, who rarely said anything at these events piped up and said; “I think it goes back to the turn of the last century. I read this in the Birth of a Salesman”. This was followed by a chorus of “Salespeople”.
“Hold it, Hold it, let’s get a sense of reality into all this” shouted Trevor. “Let’s do” said Dave, and all waited expectantly.
Trevor said in as calm a voice as he could muster, “You see it is all a matter of degrees and judgment. You do not follow it verbatim, but in principle as a kind of guide”. All were quite, so he continued, “You see sometimes you skip stages if that is the way of the customer. You may even go back a stage or two”
Dave said, “So the fact that a sale is at the proposal stage does not mean it is closer to a sale, in respect of time or decision, than one at the demonstration stage”. “That is right” said Trevor. More silence, while all waited for Dave to continue, which he did, “So it is the actions and intents of the customer that dictates the position and timing of a sale through this sales pipeline Trevor”. “Yes Dave you’re right”. “So in reality this is a customer buying or decision process rather than a sales process”
“It is Dave, but you must remember that this sales process mirrors the customer’s buying process” said Trevor. He knew this to be the given answer, but he was feeling uncomfortable, and did not want to go down this road.
Dave said, “It seems to me that we are imposing sales activities on a customer decision process and in doing so attempting to mechanize something that is largely intuitive and dependent of a variety of circumstance. I mean a customer may see a demonstration as a means of proof that our machines will address their buying requirements, or alternatively a means to keep up to date with new developments in the market”. “Like so many do at exhibitions” said Frank. “Precisely, or maybe before they have decided their buying criteria, by simply using the demonstration to help them establish what they should buy”, said Dave. Lilly said she had used demonstrations to do just that with customers. Dave continued; “A proposal may be towards the end of a customer’s decision, but it could be right near the beginning, when they are looking to decide if such a purchase fits into their overall strategy or whether they could afford to buy.” Janet said almost thinking aloud “So it is not that there are fixed sales steps, or even a sales process, but variations in customer decision processes, and the key is establishing where the customer is in their specific decision.” “That’s how I see it, Janet” said Kevin, and went on, “And there are not specific sales tools at each stage in the customer’s decision, but a whole bag full that our sales guys select as when required, and there are no two sales exactly alike”. “That is why we pay our guys, to make those judgments about which sales tool to use and when, not conforming to a set of steps that only occasionally match reality”. “May be we should make sure our people know all the tools available” said Kevin. “
“You know what Trevor”, announced Dave, “I think a better idea would be to ask the customer where they , and the rest of the DMU, are in their buying decision rather than trying to follow this sales process” “How we have always gone about establishing the position of a sale, you mean” said Felix. “Yes Felix, but more how we should have, would be a better description. Our people have never been that good at asking and clarifying these questions” said Dave. “You’re right there” said George.
Trevor, who was now sitting down, said, “This all makes sense, but it does not get away from the problem, I mean fact, that from next week all managers must report the sales pipeline using this sales process. And this is a dictate from Bill Wright the new CSO” .
Dave said in an upbeat way, “Trevor thanks for reminding us, now how many sales opportunities does he want to see at each stage. You said there was a preferred shape. Have you any idea on the ratios between each stage to illustrate that shape. It would help us decide what to enter into the pipeline on the CRM system”. “We must make sure we do not all enter the same numbers”, said Frank. All seemed to agree, except Lilly that is who was still trying to figure out if her job was on the line.
Trevor looked to clock at the back of the room and felt despondent knowing it was at least an hour before he could break for lunch.