Internal sales of quotation software
13 August 2010
Change can make you feel uncertain. That goes for you, as well as for your colleagues and the people you are in charge of. People are used to a certain way of doing things and in one fell swoop that familiar situation is taken away from them. How do you handle this as a manager?
Selling twice over
As a software supplier we regularly hear back from our customers that our product and sales configuration software has to be sold twice within their organization:
1) Our own sales reps show potential customers that their problem can be solved – fast and flawless quotations can be provided.
2) After that, the potential customer must ‘sell’ the quotation software internally. This internal sales pitch can be directed at those who will be working with the software or at those who must decide on the purchase.
Internal sales
In the blogs coming up, I want to focus on internal sales. Say you’re head of sales and the purchase of a Guided Selling system has taken place. You now have software available with which you can supply faster and better quality quotations. In many cases your staff will be happy with this improvement. But what if the software receives a mixed reception? These reactions will probably have more to do with insecurity than with the quotation software itself.
Questions
In your role as manager, you must be alert to this kind of mixed reception. In the weeks ahead, I will give you a few examples of these situations. You will discover how you can preclude uncertainty, recognize it, handle it and take it away. Of course I’m curious about your experiences: how did you handle this kind of situation in the past? What was the result? And what did you learn? Don’t hesitate to post your contribution. So until next week!
Judith Steinmeier is Communication Manager at Sofon - supplier of sales support software. As Judith has a lot of contact with clients, she has a clear insight into how companies that deliver customer-specific products and services can realize improvements within their sales and quotation process.
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