In my first “real” sales job, I sold dictation equipment for a large office equipment company through its Dallas, Texas, office. Although I was new to sales, I made up for my bumbling presentations and general lack of business skills with old-fashioned hard work. In my case, this meant lots of door-to-door cold calls in the tall glass office towers of north Dallas.
One afternoon, my foot-canvassing forays landed me, without an appointment, in the office of a senior partner of a large law firm in the city, an outfit employing over 100 attorneys. If you are familiar with the intricacies of the legal profession, you know that lawyers use mas- sive amounts of dictation equipment. That being the case, I was delighted to gain some “face time” with this gentleman.
On this particular call, the partner had invited me in from the reception area for the purpose of discussing an immediate need for replacing the firm’s entire outdated inventory of dictation equipment (hallelujah!) This was an opportunity that, if handled successfully, would provide me with a commission check exceeding my meager income for the entire previous year. Needless to say, I could not believe my good fortune.
He then took me on a tour of the office so that I could see what his people were using, which turned out to be the product line of my arch-rival competitor. I suggested that I take a complete inventory of the entire office so that I could provide a proposal to replace every- thing that the firm had.
“Wait, I have a better idea,” the lawyer responded. “Why don’t you let us try your products across our office for 30 days on a trial basis, and let us compare the performance of your equipment line with the ones we currently use. In the meantime, bring me your proposal. If we like the way your equipment performs and the price is compara- ble, we will replace everything we have with your stuff.”
I was more than happy to present this request to my sales manager and told the attorney that I would follow up promptly. We shook hands on this agreement, and I left. I also should note here that this was the last direct contact that I ever had with my new “friend.”
I went back to my management team and was immediately given the green light to pursue this opportunity. As I had been instructed,
I arranged an appointment with one of the administrative staff at the law firm to set up the trial. I then spent an entire day and a half crawl- ing around in the ceiling of their offices as I ran cable across both floors and set up dictation stations for everyone to use. Over the course of the next 30 days, I visited the office several times a week. Everything was performing perfectly, all the employees were delighted with what I had provided, and I had begun making plans for what to do with the impending windfall soon to come.
At the end of the agreed-on 30 days, I called for the partner’s deci- sion. His secretary called me back. The response I got was short and to the point: “We need another 30 days.”
I went to my management team with this request, and they agreed to the extension.
On the fifty-eighth day of the trial, I got my “answer.” It turned out that a decision had been made. Specifically: My “prospect” had taken my product list, obtained my existing in-house competitor’s current product list, made a phone call to that competitor, and placed an order for every comparable item that I had quoted, right down the list. He then had his secretary call me, this time to request that I come by and collect the equipment that I had placed on trial. The competitor who got the sale never even made a presentation to win the business; he just took the order over the telephone. When I went back to the office to pick up all the equipment I’d provided, I found myself riding the elevator, side by side, with the competitor who had received the ben- efits of all my hard work. He was there simply to get a signature on his sales contract.
That was one long elevator ride.
The buyer in this case never had a serious interest in changing ven- dors; he saw an opportunity to get two months of free usage of our products at no cost, and he simply took advantage of my youthful
enthusiasm and inexperience. In other words, he was a predator of a different sort. He was a Judas, one of the political personalities that we will examine in this chapter.
Nobody ever said that competitive selling is fair; this is just how the game of business is played sometimes. Since you, too, may be dealt such cards in any competitive situation, your best approach is to understand the motivations of the people who are dealing the cards and have a sound strategy for playing whatever hand you receive.
Politics, as we all know, is a part of doing business. Politics in com- petitive sales, however, is played at a different level entirely. Because choices are being made among multiple options, the value of politi- cal capital to those involved carries a higher premium than in most other business situations. Members of the inner circle, including your influencer, all have a single bottom-line concern that overrides every other factor regarding buying decisions: “What’s in it for me?”
This chapter examines some of the most common political issues that influence competitive sales, as well as the personalities of the peo- ple who propagate them. I also will discuss ways to work with these different personalities to achieve your desired outcome—winning the business.