“CloserQ, I think I got a challenging question of ‘to sell or not to sell’. I am a MAM (major account manager) for a POS (point of sale) technology company. My largest account wants to buy 1200 newly developed handheld devices. The customer wants to buy and my boss wants to sell but my concern is the project is deemed to fail. This customer doesn’t have a lot of patience with product problems, this is a brand new offering from my company that doesn’t yet have end user documentation, and I am hearing has technical problems. My question is do I sell the deal? As a long time reader, I know you like to ask qualifying questions so here you go: I am above quota for the year, my boss isn’t, I like and respect my boss, I have been at the company 4 years, the last two above quota, I have been with this account almost two years and they are the main reason I am over quota.” Anonymous
Anonymous, I agree this is a challenging question. I like to say that you define yourself, as a sales person, and your company, not by who you sell to but who you won’t sell too. It is very hard to say ‘No’ to a client or prospect that wants to pay you real money for a solution you don’t offer and/or shouldn’t offer.
I do have one qualify question, how much do you charge for the 1200 devices (ie what percentage of you quota does the 1200 devices represent)? If the 1200 devices are immaterial, I would tell your client ‘No’ and that you recommend holding off purchasing the devices until your product offering matures. For this response, I am going to assume this is a big deal or you wouldn’t submit the question.
Based on your brief question, I am going to recommend three options for not walking away from the deal but restructuring so both your company and your client are successful.
· Do your homework on your new product. Research why / if your new device is having problems. Try the new device yourself. Meet with your engineers. Talk to client using the new device and other sales people who have sold the device. If you do your homework and the product will not work for your client, I recommend you meet with your boss to discuss the options below and not selling to your prospect at this time. I assume your research will reveal the risk management of running a business, that the product is valuable for your prospect but early in the development life cycle, and a risk to deploy.
· Propose a pilot. Without knowing the details of your POS device, can you sell (yes sell don’t give) them 50 devices for a limited time (ex. 30 day) pilot to see if the product will work for your client. The reason I strongly recommend against giving the devices during the pilot, is because if your client doesn’t have financial skin in the game to make the project successful, the odds of a successful pilot will decrease substantially.
· Propose a development or beta partner agreement. This strategy could be risk for multiple reasons: This could affect your relationship, if you have told your prospect this is a mature offering. Second is if your client is truly risk averse they may not want to be a development partner. If you work at a larger company, can you even get your client to be an official beta partner?
Anonymous, I really enjoyed this question. 'Good Selling' and winning quality business. Reader Feedback, please click the comments below to give ‘Anonymous' additional recommendations and I want your feedback on my response. Shaun Priest aka CloserQ.
Anonymous, I agree this is a challenging question. I like to say that you define yourself, as a sales person, and your company, not by who you sell to but who you won’t sell too. It is very hard to say ‘No’ to a client or prospect that wants to pay you real money for a solution you don’t offer and/or shouldn’t offer.
I do have one qualify question, how much do you charge for the 1200 devices (ie what percentage of you quota does the 1200 devices represent)? If the 1200 devices are immaterial, I would tell your client ‘No’ and that you recommend holding off purchasing the devices until your product offering matures. For this response, I am going to assume this is a big deal or you wouldn’t submit the question.
Based on your brief question, I am going to recommend three options for not walking away from the deal but restructuring so both your company and your client are successful.
· Do your homework on your new product. Research why / if your new device is having problems. Try the new device yourself. Meet with your engineers. Talk to client using the new device and other sales people who have sold the device. If you do your homework and the product will not work for your client, I recommend you meet with your boss to discuss the options below and not selling to your prospect at this time. I assume your research will reveal the risk management of running a business, that the product is valuable for your prospect but early in the development life cycle, and a risk to deploy.
· Propose a pilot. Without knowing the details of your POS device, can you sell (yes sell don’t give) them 50 devices for a limited time (ex. 30 day) pilot to see if the product will work for your client. The reason I strongly recommend against giving the devices during the pilot, is because if your client doesn’t have financial skin in the game to make the project successful, the odds of a successful pilot will decrease substantially.
· Propose a development or beta partner agreement. This strategy could be risk for multiple reasons: This could affect your relationship, if you have told your prospect this is a mature offering. Second is if your client is truly risk averse they may not want to be a development partner. If you work at a larger company, can you even get your client to be an official beta partner?
Anonymous, I really enjoyed this question. 'Good Selling' and winning quality business. Reader Feedback, please click the comments below to give ‘Anonymous' additional recommendations and I want your feedback on my response. Shaun Priest aka CloserQ.
Comments
I would create a business/implementation plan and timeline for your client that includes 5-10 percent of the total units used (i.e.; pilot) and opt-out clauses, not opt-in clauses, for the remaining units at a pace that will allow your company to manage through any product issues. Perhaps structure the deal to include milestones that pays incentives to your company. That way everyone has skin in the game and you're spending time with the client and executing delivery versus spending time with engineers. Let your boss fight that fight because he's chasing an implementation bonus.
This limits the risk for your customer, protects the long-term business opportunity, and does not make your best customer your worst critic. You can't burn your cash cow with vapor.
It's obvious you have a strong relationship with the client; however, I'm surprised how easy this deal sounds. Is your client trying to spend a budget that he will lose? Just curious what the urgency is and can you manage him toward a delayed closure with the aforementioned steps.