Sales Tricks
By Bob Boyles, President
Smarter Distribution

I spoke with the computer manager of a mid-size west coast distributor recently that was in the midst of a software search. I was offering my services as a consultant to assist them through their selection process (It's what I do). The MIS Manager informed me that they were "working with a salesman from a software reseller" and he was assisting them with the selection process. I had to stop and think about this for a moment. Before I could ask him how objective he thought that the advice he was getting the MIS Manager stated "I guess he's looking to get a software order out of this."

This has become a more common sales approach in recent years. You can call it "consultative selling" or "partnering" but the results look the same. The software company salesman attempts to monopolize the customer's time and lead the prospect through the selection process by offering his time and opinions for free. The young MIS manager in this case was asking me some very basic questions during our phone conversation so it was obvious that he was going to be receptive to someone offering to hold his hand through the process. Being a distributor he obviously liked the "free" price for the advice he was getting. And the local re-seller probably was armed with some pretty nice tools, such as relevant information about competing software providers that our MIS Manager had no access to making the relationship seem beneficial to all concerned.

Be Honest To Yourself First
You're not stupid, you know that salesmen are paid to produce sales. Even our young MIS manger knew the salesman's ultimate motive although he was reluctant to take that knowledge it's the final conclusion. If he had stopped to think beyond the first level where he knew the salesman wanted an order he could have begin to understand the true fallacies of his ways. The advice he was getting was not only one-sided by potentially very dangerous!

Look Out For Land Mines!
If this software salesman had been trained even remotely like he should have been he was engaged in planting "land mines" in selection process of the distributor. Land mines are planted with sentences that begin like this; "Even if you don’t select our software, what ever package you pick you need to make sure that it does …." The fill-in-the-blank feature is one that the software vendor already knows that his software performs admirably and one that he knows his competitors can not match. The expected result of this "brain washing" is that when the competitor's salesman shows up and actually begins to demo his software the young MIS Manager will ask; "So your software does so-and-so, right?" The unsuspecting software vendor has just stepped on a land mine planted by a competitor months prior during the formative stages of the selection process. As the salesman stammers that, no their software doesn’t do that particular function the distributor is thinking wonderful thoughts about the package that he already knows performs that feature.

During our phone conversation I was not doubt stepping on some land mines planted by the software re-seller to preclude consultants from entering into the fray. If was probably done as innocently as this; "John, your budget looks tight, one of the ways you want cut costs and not sacrifice software features is to work with local suppliers that aren't going to ask you to pay for airline tickets!". Our young MIS manager is probably thinking to himself; "we all know that gas prices are though the roof so any chance to avoid those types of expenses must be a good decision right?"

The Solution:
The real problem is that our distributor has already become to cozy with a provider without taking a fair look at some of the packages that can solve his problems. It appears to an outsider that the owner has committed the first and most common mistake made in software selection projects; he has left the selection process up to the computer guy. While our young MIS Manager was being led down the "primrose path" the owners of the company are oblivious to the fact that the future profitability of their company hangs in the balance!

You must create a team of people to work trough the process and that team should represent the computer department and the business functions. A team like this will be much less susceptible to manipulation by a software company salesman, regardless of how tempting the "free" advice may seem.

The Crystal Ball:
Even after just a few phone calls, the future of this selection process at this distributor looks murky. A local re-seller has beaten everyone to the table and begun controlling the selection process via the power of suggestion. There is a high likelihood that the distributor will select a package that does not contain features designed for their market but rather one sold be a local provider. Yes, there a few distribution packages on the market that are sold though re-sellers but there are also a huge number of non-distribution specific packages that are being pushed into the same space. The cost of a mistake like this will not be felt in immediately but will begin to appear during the installation process and magnify over time as the owners begin to realize that they have replaced one bad system with a newer version of the same thing.

About Bob Boyles and Smarter Distribution:
Bob Boyles is the principal of Smarter Distribution in Coppell, Texas, a strategic coaching business focusing on assisting distributors in using technology. He is also the author of "Succeeding With Distribution Technology" a practical how-to guide for selecting and implementing the right technology. You may reach him at (972) 304-1180, via e-mail at bob@smarterdistribution.com or on the Web at www.smarterdistribution.com

© Copyright 2003, Robert S. Boyles Jr. All rights reserved. This article cannot be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part, without the express written permission of Robert S. Boyles Jr.