Case studies: Present selling scenarios

Case 1 – The return

Ben’s manager was not happy. “Do you realize what you just cost this company?” He growled at Ben. “We just took back a $1600 home entertainment system from some guy named John Stafford. He was hot. Said that Ben Walker had just pressured his wife into buying this piece of no good and that he’s would never do business here again. What happened, Ben?

“I don’t know,” Ben replied. “Mrs. Stafford seemed very content with the purchase. Said her husband had been wanting something like this and that she wanted to surprise him. She signed the contract and paid with her credit card. No problem as far as I could tell.”

“Well, there was a problem all right!” Ben’s manager hissed. “Mr. Stafford didn’t like the features on this system, especially the audio. It wasn’t like anything he’d been looking for. So now we have to eat the restocking costs, and you’re out the commission. This had better not happen again. I want you to go think about it and tell me what went wrong and how you’re going to avoid this kind of mess in the future.” With that, the manager stormed back into his office.

Ben was perplexed. For the eleven months that he’d worked at Ocean Front Appliances, he had come to enjoy selling the three major product lines they carried. Sure, there was pressure, but the commission structure was high enough to make it worth enduring. In the case of Mrs. Stafford, he thought he’d done his job, at least well enough to get the sale. Over lunch, he confided in Marcia, another salesperson who was very successful, that he didn’t understand what had happened.

“I remember her,” Marcia replied. “I was just on the other side of the display while you were working with her, and I thought at the time that this one could go sour.”

“What do you mean?” Ben asked.

“Well, Mrs. Stafford was obviously nervous. She kept saying, ‘I just don’t know.’ And then, you’d explain some other feature, and she would respond, “Do you think my husband will like this?’

“I remember. I kept having to reassure her,” Ben said. So I thought I’d just move on and show her how terrific this system really is.”

“I know, Ben, but when she kept backing up, you should have recognized the clue that she really wasn’t ready. You closed her, but I think she appeased you to get out of the store.”

That stung. Ben was going to have to really think about this some more. Given the above scene, what do you think, in light of what you’ve read in chapter 4, that ben should consider? Specifically, where did Ben go wrong with regard to the customer’s decision process, the customer’s motivation for buying, and communication?

Case 2 – X-Ray Vision

Carla was furious. As a representative of MediTech, she had just spent the better part of 3 months cultivating the purchasing agent for a regional medical firm in her territory to buy the latest upgrade of MediTech’s fMRI (functional MRI) machine, only to be told when she tried to close the sale that he would have to “consult others.” Todd, the purchasing agent, had never mentioned consulting anyone before now. For him to brush her off like that, Carla fumed, was insulting. When she stormed into her sales manager’s office with her tale of rejection, however, he remained unperturbed.

“What do you mean, ‘I should have known better?’” Carla exclaimed. “How could I have known that Todd would resort to such a transparently cheap dodge?”

“Look. I know you just came over to us recently from pharmaceutical sales,” replied her manager, “but that experience should have taught you something.”

“What?”

“Well, for starters, think about what you’re selling. It’s expensive, and the time before it becomes obsolete isn’t all that long.”

“But Todd knew all that some time ago. I never hid anything from him. He didn’t bat an eye when I told him what their 5-year projected cost would be,” said Carla.

“Maybe not. But he’s not the one who is most impacted by increased cost. Think about who will use the new fMRI. Physicians, that’s who. And you know even better that I how much physicians like to be in control,” the sales manager pointed out.

He continued, “Unless they’re convinced directly that there’s a huge medical benefit that will justify the higher fees they must charge, they’ll revolt. Those issues are outside Todd’s responsibility.”

Even though Carla’s manager was accurate in pointing out the details that he mentioned, what was Carla missing in her general approach to Todd? What should she have done differently? Why should the points that her manager raised with her have caused her to change her approach? What can she do not to remedy the situation and get the sale?