They say never judge a book by its cover. Well, why is it that there is this continual debate that the development of an application running over the web costs too much? Is it because anything running in a web browser is compared to the cost of building a web site that has the minimum of back-end complexity? Is it because web designers are being asked to quote for an application and may not see the complexity of the system required behind the web interface? Is it that the buyer does not realise the complexity of the solution he is asking for?

I believe to overcome this problem the following has to be addressed. Is the buyer absolutely clear in what he wants, why he wants it, and what he expects to get from it? Has the supplier answered these questions showing the value to the buyers’ organisation in having such a solution? If not, then expect the buyer to focus on the price rather than the solution.

Are we asking for similar solutions to problems that in the past ran in different working environments? There were programs running in a DOS screen. Then there were programs running in a Windows environment. Now there are programs running through web browsers. You could draw similarities in the way great stories have been passed down through the millennia. First it was passed by word of mouth, then written on papyrus, scrolls, manuscript, paper, and now it can be found in digital format. The price of the digital media the story is written on? Not much. The value of the story that brings so much to millions? Priceless!

The moral of the story - It’s not only whether the cover of the book caught your attention, but was it a good read? If it did, then it was well worth the price that was paid.

Yesterday, I started a response to the question of whether to offer a customer what they want even if it contradicts what they want to achieve. The first theoretical approach I discussed was just shutting up and selling them what they want.

I think you might agree that watching someone make a mistake without saying anything is quite a large, not to mention unethical, business faux pas, especially if you are a part of that process. Which leads me to the next approach...

2. Convince them of the error of their ways

Is it not your duty to show your customer where their interests really lie. If they wish to achieve something and you know the way to achieve it then surely you should do all in your power to let your customer know this?

You are obviously a specialist in your field of expertise. What does the customer know about achieving their business objectives? You should convince them and make sure that they take the right course of action.

However, no one likes being preached to. Customers, especially in the B2B world, are the masters of their own destiny. You may be an expert in your field of business, but they are the experts in theirs. Therefore, clubbing them over the head and forcing them down an avenue that they aren’t prepared to go could be just as detrimental as the first approach that I discussed yesterday.

You may indeed be the best person to know what the best course of action is, but some customers aren’t willing to let you be that influential in the running of their business (at least not at the start of a business relationship). 

As has already been stated many times before, a long term business relationship tops short term gains anytime. One of the ingredients to a business relationship is the ability to co-operate and work together. A harmonious relationship is desirable, but what is imperative is the need to be achieving the same goals. The danger with trying to steer a particular course with a customer, even if your notion is for the best, is that an adversarial relationship might develop. This is difficult not only for the customer but also for you, in that you are spending time and energy that could better be served elsewhere.

Tomorrow: 3. Balanced support and advice...

This question was asked by Colin Wilson in response to an article I wrote last month about “Socrates and Sales Management” and at the time I mentally stored it away to deal with in a specific post. Of course, I didn’t think that I would leave it this long to address, but you know the saying “better late than never”…..which is an interesting topic in sales all of it's own (mental note: must write about this as well).

But I digress.

The question is whether you should provide services and products based on what a client wants or what they need? What if the client wants something in a particular way that is in complete contrast with the desired results that they require?

This is a moral dilemma, because as providers of products and services aimed at helping people in business, you obviously have the ability and experience to know how to achieve what the client requires. How then do you deal with clients who say “I want to achieve positive results, but I want it done by doing A, B and C” especially, when you know that A,B and C isn’t going to achieve those results and most probably hinder them? Here are some possible avenues to explore:

1. Just shut up and sell them what they want

For the sake of an easy life, why not just sell them what they want.

Because by providing a service or product in the knowledge that what the customer wants isn’t going to achieve the desired effect, is in the long run going to be detrimental to your business. Why? Because, you know that in reality, the blame isn’t going to rest with the person who required that particular configuration of product but with the provider of it – namely you.

If you believe in your abilities to improve peoples business lives, then surely one of the definite no-no’s is to comply with a customers request without some form of questioning? To some extent, sales people have a bad name, partly because of the willingness to sell absolutely anything to anyone without question. Short term sales closures are no match for a long term relationship built on mutual understandings. If customers down the line realise that they have bought something that doesn’t achieve what they want, they won’t appreciate the salesman who clearly knew what they were getting into and didn’t say anything about it.

Tomorrow: 2. Convince them of the error of their ways....

My alarm clock is set extremely early, mainly because it takes such a very long time for me to drift from the depths of oblivious sleep to the optimistic heights of semi-comatose comprehension. At such times, the news headlines on the radio drift through my ability to comprehend much like ethereal wisps of dreams that exit my brain just as fast they enter it. Yet, every now and then, there will be a headline that manages to engage my consciousness with such a rude awakening that it kicks me out of bed with curiosity. This was what happened to me last week when the headline broke of a disabled beggar in India, who opened a bank account with 91kg of coins that she had saved for over 40 years since she was a child.

“What!” I said “Did my subconscious deceive me. Did I hear that right? Am I still dreaming?” After interrogating myself as to a) the source of the information and b) my sanity, I concluded that I was indeed awake and that this was a bona fide story not conjured from my preceding slumber. What then followed was the realisation of what a truly great story this was.

Having been to India, I have seen the poverty and squalor that so many of its people are forced to endure. Without any pension system there is no hope of retiring and being looked after in old age by the state and so when this little woman turns up at a bank with coins that took in excess of 3 days for the bank to count, her simple answer was “I knew one day I would grow old and have diseases, so I was prudent and saved for my pension”.

Can you comprehend this achievement? When many of us are panicking at economic uncertainty there is a woman who for 40 years (through many recessions) has managed to save money in one of the most uncertain of circumstances. I will have to bow my head in appreciation at the strength of character that person has in sticking to long term goals and resisting the urge at any point in the past decades to spend her hard gotten earnings. In any other circumstances this person would be a CEO of a bank or a fiscal policy maker in the government.

Above all, this story should give everyone the hope that achievement is possible whatever the circumstances as long as you have a goal and you stick to it.

We are all aware of the importance of CRM systems and their value to businesses. But what about the important area of reliable sales qualification and forecasting which most existing sales contact packages do not comprehensively address? The need for reliable and up to date information on short, medium and long term sales potential is a major business opportunity for you.

Consider the problem of many companies, even some of the best in the world. They track their clients and key contacts more or less effectively. They are efficient at taking orders and they have finely tuned systems to help them control the manufacturing, supply and support processes. But there is a hole, for some it is a big black hole and one that potentially threatens their ability to plan and manage their businesses efficiently.

The hole is in the area of accurate and consistent sales forecasting. There is a gap between identifying of potential customers and individual orders or contracts and the realistic prediction and tracking of the likelihood of winning each individual piece of business.

Most companies however sophisticated their customer records and financial systems have no consistent system for predicting future business. They still rely on the highly subjective day to day, assessment of their sales people in predicting what orders are imminent, what is in the pipeline.

Those experienced in working with sales people will know that their confidence in getting an order can change from day to day and frequently diminishes the closer the customer gets to placing the order.

This means that there are actually millions of pounds of sales opportunities being reported at any one time, which fail to materialise but many are actually being taken into account by company planners.

Why is this? The major problem is the lack of discipline, consistency, accountability and, even, sophistication in the forecasting process.

Businesses need to map out their sales process so that all sales personnel can understand the objectives and strategies in achieving the objectives. This is one level higher than activity management. How people achieve their objectives can be different but the criteria in assessing whether we dealing with a good sales opportunities and the progress we are making within that opportunity remain the same. We need to know how big and qualified is the pipeline, which are the key opportunities that resources should be deployed, what issues could arise that could disturb the sale, and lastly how are we doing towards our sales objectives?

Businesses need systems that allow them to map, manage and refine their sales processes as and when necessary and not once a year when the business plan is being produced. We are in a global economy that is changing by the minute and we have to adapt to succeed. We need systems that will monitor the health and well being of a business 24 hours a day and let us take evasive action well ahead of impending crisis.