Category: Uncategorized

Nicolas Zimmerman

Editor-in-chief

SAMA

As the largest conference in the world focused on the challenges and opportunities of strategic account management, SAMA’s Annual Conference is a goldmine for anyone who wants to know what’s on the minds of SAMs and the architects of SAM initiatives. Here are a few things I and my SAMA colleagues picked up in Orlando May 20-23.

Don’t fear the machines.

While as much as 85% of sales tasks could be automated by 2020, the key is to know which situations call for human interaction and which can be handled by computers. 3M Vice Chair and Executive Vice President H.C. Shin summed up the dynamic perfectly in his opening keynote:

“As society becomes more technology-driven, human judgment becomes MORE important — not less. In this era of AI and everything else, what we do on a day-to-day basis is more critical than ever.”

McKinsey & Co. Expert Partner Jennifer Stanley recommends embracing “the bots” for what they can do better and faster than us, things like data collection, data processing, setting appointments and predictable physical work. This frees up critical time for activities only a human can muster: thinking creatively, developing new offers leading and coaching your teams, boosting your social and emotional intelligence skills and more.

“We should embrace them for taking parts of our jobs that are less exciting…because it frees us up to do the one thing that is most interesting anyway: being more human with our customers.”

Speaking of which….

Customer-centricity starts at the top.

Everyone talks about putting the customer first, but how many can say just how much time they spend with their customers? For H.C. Shin, the customer-first mentality starts at the top. He calls his management style “trench leadership.” When he gets his calendar in June, the first thing he does is block off 50 percent of his time for customer meetings.

“People don’t listen to what you say as a leader,” Shin says. “They listen to what you DO as a leader.”

Disruption is scary, but isn’t doomsday…yet.

Says Shin: “There is no state of equilibrium. We either take advantage of this opportunity, or we will fall behind and risk disappearing.”

Disruption will continue to come from unexpected sources. Who would have thought 12 years ago that Wal-Mart’s biggest competitor would be an online bookseller? By 2030, more than half of global data will be the product of machines talking to machines. The most conservative estimates put the number of professions that will disappear at more than 50.

But more that 80% of the world’s data sits behind firewalls. Incumbents will lead the next wave of disruption, predicts IBM’s Shari Diaz, who oversees innovation, strategy and operations for Watson Supply Chain.

“They have the expertise. They have the lessons learned. And they have the data. If they can take that data, get the right technology platform to leverage it, they will win the next wave.”

Finding ways to make your “intangible” value tangible.

With everyone moving away from products, the race is on to differentiate beyond product/technological excellence. This brings to the forefront the value of quantifying your intangible value of your offerings.

According to Andreas Hinterhuber (of Hinterhuber & Partners) and Stephan Liozu (of French security company Thales Group), two of the world’s foremost experts on B2B pricing, suppliers do three general things for their customers: save them money, make them money, and provide risk reduction/peace of mind/emotional satisfaction.

It’s this last area that is the “Final Frontier” of value quantification — and also the hardest to get right. “Our theory,” says Liozu, “is everything can be quantified.” But how?

You have to translate “soft” factors like brand perception, trustworthiness, country of origin, risk of failure and security into tangible customer benefits. For example: Brand is intangible. But brand equity is tangible. You have to figure out what it’s worth to your customers and then be prepared to defend your price premium.

Or take risk: In cybersecurity, the cost of a breech is astronomical. If you can build probabilistic models showing the risk of failure, you put fear into the mind of your buyer that helps justify a price premium.

Your company’s intangible benefits can’t be treated as “tiebreakers” —  a soft benefit that may put you over the edge in a competitive deal. Says Hinterhuber: “By treating intangibles as ‘tiebreakers,’ you defeat the purpose. They have and should have a value in and of themselves.

And here are a few more quick bites from the rest of the SAMA team.

• “Innovate or die.” Of the 30 companies listed on the Dow Jones Index when 3M joined on Aug. 9, 1976, only five (including 3M) remain there today.
• When everyone else zigs, you should zag. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the companies that invested in research came out way ahead of those who hunkered down and cut costs.
• Opportunities exist at the intersection of huge technology changes and significant demographic shifts. How do you translate this equation into your industry?
• Customers are looking for strategic suppliers who will share risk with them.

Feel like you missed out? Don’t worry: We have several training opportunities scheduled for 2018, and if you register now for our 2019 conferences you will benefit from our super-early bird pricing.

Bernard Quancard, CEO and President of SAMA, announced the addition of Denise Freier as the new Chief Operating Officer of SAMA during SAMA’s Annual Conference.  Denise joins SAMA after more than 40 years of executive and sales leadership at IBM, serving as one of the executive leaders for one of the largest global transformation initiatives in the history of IBM – an undertaking that reimagined how IBM engages with its customers.  Building on her career in sales, sales operations and strategic account management, she most recently led IBM’s CRM implementation, where she was accountable for the design, deployment and adoption by more than 40,000 global sales and sales managers. Bernard highlighted Denise’s experience, noting that Denise “has been on the front lines for the twin revolutions of customer-centricity and now digital transformation.”

SAMA is delighted that Denise will bring her experience as a SAM practitioner and her familiarity with the SAMA community as a thought-leading presenter and long-standing SAMA member.  Denise will begin to take over the day-to-day direction of SAMA and, after a short transition period as COO, will become the next SAMA CEO. Her addition allows Bernard to focus more on his passions of developing leading-edge thought leadership and expanding SAMA in Europe as SAMA’s president emeritus.

“We evaluated more than 200 tremendous candidates for this SAMA position,” said Jim Ford, Chairman of SAMA’s Board of Directors. “After a long search, the Board’s Executive Committee unanimously agreed that Denise’s unique experience was the best choice. We believe that she can take SAMA to the next level.  Denise joining SAMA is addition without subtraction — an ideal transition that frees Bernard to focus on what he wants to do most.”

By Jeff Cochran

Partner, Master Facilitator

Shapiro Negotiations Institute

We’ve all been involved in at least one high-pressure sales scenario, whether we’re the buyer or seller. Take the ubiquitous example of purchasing a used car:

“If you are ready to buy it today, I can offer it for as low as $24,999.”

You need a new car, but you also recognize your need to be the one in the driver’s seat, as it were. Maybe you think the price is a little steep, and you want to bring it down. What do you do?

You stall.

“This was a little more than I was expecting to spend.  I need to talk it over with my wife first.”

We rely on a tactic because we don’t like to be pressured and we want a better deal. It’s a common negotiating tool — one that we all encounter regularly, but one not all of us knows how to handle.

As a strategic account manager, you run into these sorts of stall campaigns all the time. Does any of this sound familiar?

Instead of a wife, it’s a boss. Instead of a dealership, it’s a rival company. Clients have an arsenal of tactics they use to try to get the most out of their account manager relationships. Let’s explore some of the most common:

The “Higher Authority” tactic

This is the classic shrug-your-shoulders, “it’s out of my hands” ploy. This tactic says, “I want to do business with you, but what can I do? My hands are tied.” It effectively transfers responsibility to an anonymous third party. It’s also one of the most common tactics strategic account managers encounter in daily business. Often, it’s a ploy to drive the price lower.

The “Should Cost” ploy

This is a common tactic and one of the most frustrating to navigate. Say you go to the store for office supplies and buy a stapler. The stapler rings up for $19. “That’s ridiculous,” you say. “This should only cost $12.”

It’s not something we think to do, is it? But it’s a ploy that strategic account managers run into regularly. This length of tubing “should” cost $12,500. These engine parts “should” cost $125,000. These filters “should” cost 79 cents.

If you have dealt with Procurement, then you have likely also dealt with “Should Cost.” These  days, other departments will use this tactic as well. The question is, “What can we, as SAMs, do about it?”

The “Taking Business to the Competition” threat

Ah, yes. The “I would love to continue working with you but your competitor is offering a much lower price” hurdle can be frustrating to navigate. Sometimes this is real and there really are competitors trying to win the business offering a competitive product or solution. But just as often, they actually do want to stay — but this threat is low-risk, high-reward for them.

Critical turnover

In this business, you’re only as good as the relationships you forge. Say you have a great working relationship with a decision maker – someone so good at her job that she earned a promotion or took an offer elsewhere. Now, all of a sudden you have a new client contact. This newbie doesn’t know how to justify costs to management and begins to question your product/solution at every turn.

Bringing in “The Big Guns”

Most SAMs’ response to dealing with Procurement is the same as the rest of us waking up on Monday morning: “Ugggghh. ” However, it is important to not see it this way. Working with Procurement has its pros and cons. While it may be harder to develop a relationship, it still can happen. It just needs to be approached differently.

Now you’re probably saying, “Yes! I can relate to all of these, but what do I do?!!?!” What follows is what we recommend, based on all of our years of training strategic account managers.

Generally, we recommend you consider the following three-step approach against any tactic:

1: Recognize the tactic. The first step in remedying a situation is realizing that it’s occurring in the first place. Learn how to recognize stall tactics when you see them. Are they appealing to a “higher authority?” Are they strategically creating more turnover? Whether it is on purpose or not, the first step is to be aware of it.

2: Respond effectively. These tactics only work if you let them. Take steps to defuse the situation. A response should take the form of engagement with the customer. You could try any of these responses:

“What is this ‘should cost’ based on?”

“Could we set up a meeting with you and your director so we can go through it together?”

“Before you transition into your new role, can we grab lunch with your successor?”

3. Redirect the conversation. Finally, take control of the negotiation and redirect your conversation to a safe place. If you get defensive or try to justify the price of your product or solution, you’re putting the client in the driver’s seat. Maintain control and steer the conversation back to your product/solution’s benefits. Alternatively, you could say, e.g., “The cost of the stapler is $19; tell me why it shouldn’t be.” Don’t give the client an opportunity to steer the negotiation for you.

In this case, this works for both “higher authority” and “should cost.”

Here is what we recommend when dealing with critical turnover at your customer:

Maintain consistency. Don’t think about the switch as starting over, but pick up right where you left off. Better yet, prevent this from happening in the first place by forging relationships company-wide, including with supervisors — even the C-Suite. As a SAM, your job is to forge relationships high, wide, and deep. Don’t bank on just one internal champion. It’s far too risky.

Here is what we recommend when dealing with the threat of taking business to the competition:

The “I can find a lower price elsewhere” hurdle can be frustrating to navigate. The solution: plant a seed with a well-placed question. The answer is less important than the other side having to think about it. Try these, for example:

“If you leave, what will happen to the proprietary technology we’ve built together?”

“Are you equipped to handle the burden of startup costs?”

“What would happen if the other company doesn’t deliver on its commitments? The lowest price doesn’t always mean the lowest cost.”

Don’t get defensive, but do let the client know about the dangers of leaving. They spent months, even years, cultivating a relationship with you. They know you can deliver a high-quality product on time. Your support has been put to the test and passed with flying colors. Are they willing to throw it all away to save a few pennies per unit?

Here is what we recommend when faced with “the big guns” (i.e., Procurement):

Don’t view your relationship with a procurement specialist as a hurdle. View him as a potential ally. You should dedicate time and energy to befriending these procurement specialists and communicating your company’s values and account plans. You can use procurement specialists to build a rapport with customers, even if they don’t end up bidding on your project or product.

To sum up:

SAMs regularly face hurdles from strategic customers, whether it’s hard-nosed negotiating tactics or general bureaucratic messiness. Knowing how to approach these challenges will improve your customer relationships, establish rapport and ultimately lead to more business. It takes some practice, but if you enter your engagements with a plan in mind, you’re sure to see significant improvements in your outcomes.

Jeff Cochran is a partner and award-winning Master Facilitator at Shapiro Negotiations Institute. Over the last 15 years Jeff has trained and coached organizations in over 25 countries in the areas of sales, negotiation and influencing. Before SNI, Jeff was an account manager for Tessco Technologies and a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal. If you enjoyed this post, come see Jeff speak in person at the SAMA Annual Conference May 21-23 in Orlando, Fla.