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| The Question by Mike Wagner |
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Bob was an extremely successful sales professional. He was so good he often entertained job offers – even from competitors.
One day Bob found himself at lunch with the owner of a competing company. Barbara, had called for the “let’s get caught up” lunch. Bob knew her company well - he had competed against them five times in the last year and won the business four times. So this had the potential to be an “interesting” lunch.
The meal came and the preliminaries about family and kids were soon out of the way. Barbara explained her agenda and offered Bob the top sales job in her company. She promised the usual: better compensation, better benefits, a great group to work with, etc.
Being recruited was always flattering. It was a tempting offer, but Bob had been in this position before.
“I’m honored you want me on your team. If you don’t mind, I’ve got a couple of questions for you.”
“Fire away,” Barbara replied; anticipating a question about sales commissions or vacation time.
“Barbara, do you know why there is a problem with sales at your company?”
She was well aware sales had been falling. They had even lost some long-time customers – and that really bothered her.
“No, Bob, to be honest, I don’t - but I suspect you have an answer for me.”
“I want you to understand, Barbara; I’m just trying to help.
Barbara nodded her agreement. She had to admit, she liked the truthfulness of conversations like this.
“As good as your company is, you’re not setting your sales people up for success.” Bob spoke slowly letting his words register.
Barbara couldn’t resist her instant defensiveness, “Our sales team is equipped with laptops, they receive regular technical training, and we even supply them a car. Something your company doesn’t do!”
“I know,” said Bob. “But that’s not enough to set them up for success. Your people sell on one of three levels: quality, price, or social capital. We both know our companies, and nearly all of our competitors, offer comparable levels of quality. And you know competing on price puts you on the fast path to ‘commodity hell’.”
“OK. Maybe so, but what is social capital?” Barbara asked.
“Social capital is making a sale to your golfing buddy, a school mate – someone with which you socialize. The only deal I lost to your company last year was to your sales rep’s fraternity brother.”
“So how do I set up my sales people for success? What am I missing?”
Bob chose his next words carefully, “The way a company sells is a free sample of its brand. To set up your sales people for success, you need agreement from everyone in your company to deliver customer experiences which are both remarkable and relevant.
When the brand is only thought of as a logo or tag line, sales people default to selling on quality, if they can - relationships, if possible - and price as a last ditch solution.
Barbara, you’ve got a branding problem, not a sales problem. Hiring me won’t change that.”
The silence was deafening.
Bob finished with a question far more valuable than the lunch he and Barbara had just shared, “What will be remarkably different and valuable about how your clients experience your company?”
Barbara had Bob’s answer. Better yet, she had Bob’s question.