Investing Sales Time in a Project - Q&A for Salespeople

by Dave Kahle

Q: In regards to working on a big new project with a prospect, we showed huge savings and better operation. The customer gave all our information to the current supplier and they matched it.  Is it ok to go above the buyer’s head?

Q: One of my salespeople just spent a great deal of time convincing a prospective school system to change the way they used the product we sell. The buyer decided to make those changes, and ask the current vendor for a price.  All my sales person’s efforts went for nothing, as the customer, instead of rewarding him for his efforts with a purchase order, took the program out to bid.  Is there anything he could have done differently to prevent this?

A: I’m going to make a lot of sales managers uncomfortable with this answer. This is not going to be what you expect to hear.

First, it is important to note some of the common, and important, factors in these two situations.  In both of these examples, the account in question was a prospect – someone who has not bought from you in the past.  The deal was a “big deal.”  Not some small routine order – the deal required new behaviors and a new order of things on the part of the account.  In both cases, there was an established vendor who had an existing relationship with the account.   And, in both cases, the salespeople were selling basically the same thing that the established vendor was selling.  Every single one of these factors is important.

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Prospects and Predictability

I think every salesperson who has more than a year or so of B2B experience under his belt has a similar story to tell – you put in a lot of time on a “prospect,” showing them a better way to do something, and when it came time to make the decision, instead of being rewarded for your efforts,  the established vendor was given preferential treatment.  In some cases, they are provided with a copy of your work, in others, they are just asked to deliver something similar, or match your price.  It just doesn’t seem fair.  And, yet, it is so common as to be predictable.

When all four of those factors are at play in a situation, you almost never get an equal chance at the business.

The Customer’s Perspective

Let’s look at the situation from the customer’s point of view.  From his perspective, giving your information to the established vendor is a wise choice.  They don’t have any real experience with you, so deciding to do business with you is always a higher risk.  They know the current vendor.  They have a history together.  They know how that vendor will react if something goes wrong.

Think about what happens to that purchasing agent or decision-maker if he decides to take a chance with a company he doesn’t know, with whom he has no personal experience, and you don’t perform?  It could mean his job.  So, while your work may have been helpful, and your proposal creative and insightful, you are still the high-risk choice.  This is particularly true if it is a ... READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE