You guys are awesome! Energetic, professional – Man! You can whip up a Powerpoint presentation in minutes that would make Steve Jobs envious! (Obvious stretch there. Hang on, you’ll see where I’m going). Your presentation skills rival that of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy and even President Obama! Your willingness to bend over backwards, take a loss “just this one time” and offer free licenses and products in order to close the deal today are nothing short of amazing!
Most of you have probably figured out that I am frustrated with enterprise software sales people. Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to blindly lump an entire group of people together under a dark cloud, but the ones that are bad are downright horrendous!
Here are some examples of recent “anomalies” I have seen firsthand:
- Sales person recommends that the client eliminate the purchase of a particular module to “keep the price low” because the next point release of the software will have that functionality embedded in the core. Guess what? The point release came, the functionality was there, but had an increased licensing cost from when they would have originally purchased it as a separate module!
- Salesperson offers to include additional modules for no extra license cost. When the implementation schedule is presented by the professional services consultants the functionality is not included – when inquiries are made the answer is “the licenses are free, but professional services time to implement the functionality will cost another $65k”!
- Salesperson offers to include additional reporting and analytics tools for “free”. After the ink is dry a newly included IT member identifies that the “free” tools will require an additional investment of more than $15,000 in the server platform and admin training required to support it!
These are not extreme examples, nor are they isolated. Again, this isn’t to say that all enterprise software sales reps are bad news, but c’mon guys!
Don’t do this. Have some integrity. If your product isn’t a good fit, stop trying to shoehorn it in and move on to where you can add real value. If your produce has shortcomings, don’t whitewash them – drive change through your product management team. If your prices aren’t competitive, shine a spotlight on that in your sales management organization. Stand up, make a change and reflect the integrity that is needed to reduce the swelling of the black eye that can be perceived against you all.
At Lionshare Software, our Consultants sign an Ethics Pledge in front of every customer at the beginning of each engagement.
I’m a consultant and I’ve never been “the sales guy,” and, yes, I poke fun at “the sales guys” all the time. However, here I must come to their defense, also.
Let me say that any intent to deceive or mislead a prospect through what may be said or, equally important, what is NOT said, is wrong and lacks both integrity and good judgment. However, in some of the examples you gave, you may be misjudging.
For example, it is quite possible that the vendor made an announcement that certain functionality would be included in the “next release” (as this is an engineering decision), but when the next release rolled around, “sales and marketing” decided that they could charge more for the licenses. This announcement may not have been made until just a few days before the GA release of the next version. This would NOT have been the salespersons fault for not knowing this or no forewarning the prospect.
Similarly, when a prospect is told that certain licenses or modules are going to be provided at “no cost” to them, why on earth would they also assume that services to implement, train and support these additional modules would also be provided free of charge?
And to your last example: Salespersons are speaking regarding the transaction involving their products and services. If server platforms are not part of that sale transaction, they may not even think to mention the need for additional server hardware. Furthermore, the salesperson may not actually be in a position to know whether the prospects current technical infrastructure will support the additional components being included in the software transaction.
At some point it is incumbent upon the BUYER to ask the right questions when something additional is being offered or included. The BUYERs aren’t stupid — at least most of them. However, I am thoroughly convinced that when they hear the word “free” or “no charge,” they will leap to stupidly assume things associated with the “free” offer are ALSO “free,” even when they have NO RATIONAL GROUNDS for making such an assumption.
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By: rdcushing on December 11, 2009
at 10:21 am
@rdcushing – Thanks for your response!
I agree completely with your sentiment. Caveat Emptor has never meant more than in the enterprise software arena. Unfortunately, the examples I gave have been seen multiple times.
What’s the answer? Rigorous training of the ERP and CRM sales professionals, perhaps a review of compensation strategies and a professional commitment to ethics and value.
On the client side? Rigorous review of proposals and the SOW, suspending belief in “FREE” and engaging a neutral third-party to help navigate the minefield.
By: scottpriestley on December 11, 2009
at 10:37 am
Well, I must say that I believe that sales in the ERP/CRM industry is, in general, poorly managed. The core problem is that for most companies — not just the software industry — there is no “sales process.” Sales (and marketing) in most companies is handled as an “art” or “mystical mojo.” There is almost a superstitious view of “sales and marketing” from even senior management that implies, “Don’t mess with the ‘mojo’ or bad things will happen.”
Where there is NO PROCESS there can be NO MANAGEMENT.
There is an answer to this problem and, I believe, that salespeople should be salaried and NOT commissioned.
Read Justin Roff-Marsh’s book REENGINEERING THE SALES PROCESS if you want to see this change in your organization.
See also THE NEW ERP – EXTENDED READINESS FOR PROFIT at http://geewhiz2roi.blogspot.com for more.
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By: rdcushing on December 11, 2009
at 10:44 am