In this case study, we follow the first person perspective of Gregg Carman, sales manager of Siebel Systems, who is currently experiencing the dilemnatic issue of Siebel Systems is a software solutions provider for CRM software. CRM stands for Costumer Relationship Management and is important because of what is implicit in its name: retaining costumers to the business.
Earlier in his life, Gregg had made the decision to provide Siebel's CRM solution to a brokerage firm Quick and Reilly. Q&R was represented by Cathy Ridley at the time of the sale, and Gregg attempted to sell the solution to her. In the first few moments of the sale, he managed to alienate the costumer, confound her, and neglect her needs. If he had thought about the values of his company as he would do again in 2000, he would see that he was wrong in the way he attempted the sale of his CRM to Q&R.
First thing to talk about is the values of Siebel Systems when it comes to sales.
Even if the costumer is not always right, you can at least find out what they need and see if maybe that changes their unfortunate delirium.
First thing to talk about is the values of Siebel Systems when it comes to sales.
- Prove to them that we have a superior product.
- Convince them that we would collaborate with them to make the system work.
- Meet the right set of executives at Quick & Riley to convert the opportunity into a sale.
Even if the costumer is not always right, you can at least find out what they need and see if maybe that changes their unfortunate delirium.
Hi David-
ReplyDeleteNice post. Your analysis is pretty critical of Carman. I didn't think he was all that bad; I like how he did not assume any knowledge of the three people he met at the trade show. I thought he was pretty effective at removing the salesperson-versus-customer barrier by not flaunting his product over Oracle at the first opportunity. His ability to take things slowly and gather information first may be what help get him the sale.
Maybe I am missing pages of the article, but I thought this was his first encounter with the Q & R people?
Nice post nonetheless. The points you bring up are all important to the overall sale and perfectly valid.
-Max
Hey David,
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. I agree with Max though, I think that what Carman was very cautious in his approach to the customer. He didn't want to scare them off or make a wrong move right there at the first meeting, so he tried to use all the knowledge available to him to make thoughtful inferences about what the customer wanted.
I agree with the other two points though, Siebel knew very well how to define their mission statement and objectives as a company.
- Tulio
All salespeople make mistakes, it's just human nature. Carman was trying to balance Siebel values with making the sale (which rewards the company and his wallet). The biggest mistake most salespeople make is forgetting about the customer's needs (as you mentioned.)
ReplyDeleteBtw, you're missing a "customer or salesperson perspective" on this post. I'd like to see some kind of dialog or reflection of what's going on in the person's head in all assigned posts.