by Hank Trisler
"So what's the biggest mistake salespeople make with you, Chat?" I was talking to a tennis partner during a break in the hostilities this morning. Chat Forbes is the purchasing manager for a respected manufacturer in Silicon Valley.
I had expected him to say they talk too much, as that would have reinforced my long-held belief, but it didn't go that easily.
"They call on me too often," Chat said. "Some of them call me every week and they drive me nuts. I can't get anything done when I'm always talking to salespeople."
"How often should a salesperson call on you?" I asked.
"Well, there's a fine line they need to walk," Chat said. "They need to call often enough to find out when I need something, but not so often as to become a pest."
"How often is that?"
"There's the problem. I don't know. That's the fine line."
"How can they determine how often is too often without talking to you?"
"There's the problem," Chat said.
Now you may find this very unsatisfying. I certainly did, but there you have the problem in the real world with real buyers and sellers.
Here's the question I pose to you for your consideration and discussion: How often should a salesperson call on a customer and how is that frequency arrived at?
I'll be waiting for the fruits of your thinking.
Posts
Hank
ReplyDeleteAs you and Chat established this is really tricky. I think it's something that the best sales people develop a feel for. It's probably "non-verbal", it's not often someone will plain tell you to off but you can just sense it. It helps if you know the person and it helps if you've got good empathy.
Without that feel you run the risk of pestering the purchasing manager, in which case you may suddenly find you have problems getting hold of them... or backing off so that your competition gets the latest news before you do.
As with most things, if you're not sure sometimes it's best just to ask. Saying something like "I know you're really busy, but you're my #1 account and I'm keen to do a good job. Just let me know if I'm in your face too much." This will probably raise a laugh and break the ice... also shows you are thinking of things from his perspective.
--
Cheers
Mark
I don't think there is one right answer except "It Depends" ;)
ReplyDeleteOne lesson I learned early in my sales career from a more seasoned sales exec was to never let a qualified call/meeting end without defining a mutually agreed next step time and objective.
So isn't the answer that during a first discussion, if there is interest but no immediate need to mutually agree to an acceptable followup call and purpose? If agreed to then the followup would not be considered pestering.
I like to ask the prospect about the steps and timing of their internal decision making process and then simply suggest what seems to me to be an appropriate interval for a call back...
ReplyDeleteIn other words, "So, it sounds like it would be appropriate for me to call back after November 30, when you're next budget meeting occurs. Does that sound OK to you?"
I just LOVE your line near the end. That's exactly the sort of thing I wish I had the presence of mind to say when this situation arises.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your thoughts.
Hank
Eric, your thought on always getting agreement on the next step before you terminate the conversation is pure gold, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder you're so widely known as a sales thought leader.
Hank
Thanks, Craig. That's solid, useful info. I'll bet you know of a CRM product called SalesNexus that might be useful in keeping track of those callbacks.
ReplyDeleteHank
Chat apparently is a purchasing 'agent' buying items to fill a bill of materials. He views the purchases for piece parts of his products as routine.
ReplyDeleteFor the past 42 years I have worked with resellers of my brand (retail trade, VAR's, installers etc). I have not had the pleasure of working with buyers like Chat. BUT our purchasing agents are in the same building as my sales group. Purchasing agents are receptive to solutions to their problems. The biggest mistake sales people make is not realizing buyers have problems. Most purchasing agents are incentivized to reduce cost of component purchases. The sales rep that offers higher performance parts at better value is always welcomed by purchasing agents. The sales rep can call every other day if the buyer knows the sales rep usually has a proposed solution to an unstated problem.
I recently saw
an episode of “Mad Men” where one
key sales person’s relationships with his
clients was concluded inferior to his his internal counterpart,
and therefore his counterpart got
the opportunity to handle the new
“mega” account. This was further
explained to sales rep (who got the account): “You make the client
feel like you have a solution to his
problems, which is good, but your counterpart
makes the client feel like he
doesn’t have any problems.”
Solution selling usually wins. Value added solution selling is usually welcome without limitation to the number of calls.
Cheers
Ernie Lanford
Excellent points, Ernie. In a way, it comes back to buyer motivation. You just can't call on a motivated buyer too much. They love it that you're working for them and want to hear about it. If they feel you're calling too much/too often, it just means they're not motivated at the moment. Best to call infrequently until they become motivated again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the benefit of your experience.
Hank
Your comments are well received, Hank. It is our responsibility (sales people) to keep the buyer motived to buy with our knowledge of their 'problems' and offering solutions. Just taking orders for commodity products is nothing more than clerking. Buyers easily become commodity buyers if they go by the letter of the bill of materials. The informed sales person understands how the buyers company uses his/her products (and competitive products) and "sells" solutions to improve his/her top line sales and the buyers bottom line number. Here is an Ernie-ism..."We can clerk for pennies or sell for dollars....the choice is ours". In my opinion solution selling always receives an open door. My personal moto "Customer success is my mission, most valued vendor my goal" keeps me focused on solution selling.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Ernie
WOW. Thanks, Ernie.
ReplyDeletePart I:
ReplyDeleteI'm the Chat of this conversation thread. I will clarify some things as the conversation between tennis games was fairly limited and the subject somewhat complex.
I have been a purchasing agent for 30 years. I am a purchasing supervisor of three purchasing agents and also handle the machine shop/sheet metal shop commodity. I work closely with the representatives of two machine shops and one sheet metal shop who have worked in close relationship with our company for years (in two of the cases, the relationships had to be renewed). In addition, I have begun working with a sheet metal shop we brought on three months ago and hope to build a similar strong relationship. Also to be noted: three of the representatives are the owners of the companies and one is a sales representative, although in the past I have dealt with mainly sales representatives.
I am in constant contact with the representatives of these companies and sincerely enjoy the individual relationships that have been built over the past three years I have worked for my present company. Their input is invaluable and without strong daily contact I would not be able to procure the quality items we need to manufacture our product line.
The fine line I was talking about was mostly concerned with sales representatives trying to get business with our company.
Part II
ReplyDeleteInitial inquiries: These inquiries have the potential of being extremely irritating, particularly as the quantity of inquiries has increased, as expected, during the current economic downturn. I try to be straight with representatives and not string them along with false promises of a future business relationship if I have no need of their services. At the present time, I have no need of additional suppliers, I need two machine shops - I have two machine shops, I need two sheet metal shops - I have two sheet metal shops. So at present, if a representative calls I will take their information, ask them for a line card and file it away in a supplier inquiry file in case I need to engage a new supplier.
Follow up: I am sure the amount of follow up calls considered to be acceptable varies from buyer to buyer. Calling me back in a week or even two months is too much for me. Three months is fine for me, six months better, I will remember the initial inquiry and will still have their line card on file if I need to find another metal shop. A supplier might not work out or go out of business, so I need to keep my options open.
New potential supplier activity: If I decide to try to bring a new supplier on board, I will start to solicit quote activity, review supplier references, etc. From past experience this process needs to go slow. Calling me back every two days to see how their quotes are does not work for me (very irritating). A follow up email is better, I will respond and let the representative know where the quotes stand at a time convenient for me. My day is jam-packed and a budding buyer-seller relationship is better served when catered to my schedule.
Part III
ReplyDeleteThe basic fine line: Too much follow up will be an extreme negative for me, too little and I might forget about doing business with you. So, I would think that good sales representatives really know how to read individual personalities.
Then, even if the quotes are the low bids I might not place an order right away. I review competitiveness, the ability to provide a quality product by telephoning the references provided, schedule a supplier plant visit. This takes a while. If all is successful, a trial purchase order will be placed and the relationship will start little by little until I have full confidence in the ability to provide a quality product. Quality means a variety of things to me and is not just limited to ensuring parts are to print: responsiveness, meeting our esthetic requirements and learning what we expect from our suppliers are critical.
I work very hard at maintaining a really strong relationship with my suppliers. Our company demands a lot and the only way these demands can be met is if both the buyer and seller are on the same page and are on friendly terms. I would considered myself extremely motivated in meeting the production, quality and economic demands of the company I work for and very considerate of my suppliers needs.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but it is an interesting subject. Whatever I've done over the past 30 years as a purchasing agent has provided the opportunity for many rewarding relationships and an equal number of strong professional business partnerships.
Thank you, Chat, for expanding on our conversation. I'm sure the many salesfolk who read this blog will appreciate your insight. I wish I had more guys like you for customers.
ReplyDelete