2 Chapter 2: The Client Sales Engagement (Sales Visit)

There may be few or many sales visits within the Sales Process for Corporate Engagement. Visits (or individual engagements) should be with a key decision-maker (KDM) or a key decision-influencer (KDI) affecting the decision process. Each meeting should be similar in structure. The discussion of the meeting will coincide with the discipline of the client’s responsibilities. For example, a meeting with the operations manager will have some topics that are different than when meeting with the customer service manager. The sales team will prepare different questions and focus on elements that are important to the KDI or KDM. Even though the questions and focus may be different for each contact, the structure of the sales visit should follow a flow that is common to all.

The Sales Visit should not be confused with the Sales Process. The Sales Process is the roadmap that moves a client from “Prospect” to “Implement” (studied later in the text). The Sales Visit is one interaction (one meeting) with a client. There will typically be several meetings to get us from prospect to implement.

This chapter focuses on the Sales Visit. Most corporate sales engagements are scheduled from 30 minutes to two hours. The sales professional’s job is to use several engagements (sales visits) to piece together a compelling story for the client to choose one brand over another. Professional salespeople prepare well in advance to have a prosperous business discussion about important topics to the client. The art of the sale is finding the right communication topics and tone as you enter the conversation with the client. Engagements planned around the client and their celebrations and challenges are much more effective than an engagement planned around the sales professional.

The Sales Process for Corporate Engagement includes negotiations, marketing insights, sales strategy, and tactics; all used methodically to make the sale. The distinction between a marketing presentation and a sales presentation includes the consideration of the situation and objective. Sales seeks to understand the client. Marketing helps the client understand the seller. Both are important and have their place. The Sales Process for Corporate Engagements will help keep sales professionals aligned with fundamentals that lead to success.

Professional Self-Precheck

Before we dissect the Client Sales Engagement, let’s check ourselves. We are a representation of ourselves and the firm. In the words of Herb Brooks (played by Kirk Russel) in the great movie Miracle (a sports drama about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team), “The name on the front is a heck of a lot more important than the name on the back!” Meaning your individuality must yield to the team. This sales engagement is not about you. It is not about the “sage on the stage.”

Your presentation should be built in a way that you understand the client. Respect for cultures is critical to making the right impression. Do your best. Do your research and be prepared for every visit.

Dressing one level above the others in the room is good practice. Don’t use spicy language. Stand when the customer enters the room. Open the door for others to show you respect them. In other words, check yourself before you wreck yourself. Boardroom etiquette has a high-level of respect, mannerisms, and cordial language.

Company Leadership

Company leadership will be departmentalized into disciplines. Common department leaders are discussed in this section. Firms’ hierarchies vary. We will consider a typical structure for many firms to practice.

Medium to Large Firm Management Structure

C-Suite

CEO – Chief Executive Officer (Usually has a place on the board, the ultimate responsibility for the firm)

CFO – Chief Financial Officer (Finance, Investor Relations)

COO – Chief Operating Officer (Manufacturing/Distribution, Supply Chain)

CIO – Chief Information Officer (Technology)

CCO – Chief Commercial Officer (Strategy, Sales, Marketing)

Departments exist under each chief. Usually, the titles start with Vice President and extend through middle managers (example, Operations Manager) and then to team leaders of front-line workers. The structure may appear as the following:

It is essential to navigate the channels to find the KDMs and KDIs. Company cultures vary. Decision criteria and processes need to be vetted by the sales professional early in the sales cycle. Be careful not to get bogged down with individuals that cannot add value to your time and efforts. Navigating gatekeepers will require a solid message and skill. Organization charts can be of assistance when learning about a new prospect.

Small Firms

Leadership may play multiple roles in start-ups, or smaller firms focused on a specific niche in the market. One may find that there are fewer sales visits initially due to the ability to get a lot of information about the firm from one or two people.

Owner-operated

The Owner/President may not have the luxury of a full staff. Leaders may have larger responsibilities that expand across disciplines. There may be only one Vice President that is responsible for staff members. These staff members may be responsible for everything and everyone in that discipline or department. Titles may be used interchangeably.

Finance Manager

• Procurement
• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• Company Financial Management

Operations or Warehouse Manager

• Manufacturing

Technology Director

• E-Commerce
• General Technology

Sales and Marketing Manager

• Sales
• Customer Service
• Market Strategy (works closely with President and Vice President)

Supply Chain Director

• Raw material acquisition
• Inventory
• Transportation/Shipping
• Brokerage (works with finance)

Targeted Contacts

The targeted contacts (KDM or KDI) will be based on the information that is needed to understand at this phase of the sales process. Typically, a product or service will dictate this situation. For example, if the sales professional sells lubricants for manufacturing processes, the target audience may be the Director of Manufacturing. The team would not start on the customer service team.

Usually, there is always a financial element to the sale. This suggests that at some point, the sales professional will have to present a return on investment (ROI) to the finance manager or the CFO. Articulating value becomes the spoken language when bridging these sales events. Numbers are always significant, all the time, every time.

Client Visit Planner

Preparation is key to winning any sales engagement. You must ask yourself, “what value am I bringing to this client today?” If there is not a solid answer, then more preparation must be done. Preparation includes the follow (not a complete list):

• Research of the client, products/services, industry, and competitors
• Financials of the client
• Leadership that you wish to engage (LinkedIn, News, etc.)
• Physical personal touch – go to a customer’s location, try to experience your client’s customer’s experience.

When preparing for the visit, it is important to use a Sales Visit Planner. There are many types of planners – each one fitting a company’s specific sales needs. The one provided is a generic example. This planner will be used during the meeting to keep the sales team on track with the sales strategy.

Elements of the basic client visit planner:

• Objective – This is a clearly defined objective that is the primary goal of the client visit.
• Opening Theme – Delivers a clearly articulated message as to the possibilities of the visit. For example, “During this meeting, the goal is to demonstrate our capabilities that will eliminate primary challenges of operational issues related to stock-outs. Appreciate candor and open discussion as we want to build a long-term business relationship that makes sense for both parties.”
• Questions – These questions will fit the phase of the sales process and the audience that are meeting. The level of questions should be strategic or more tactical depending on the leader within the client organization.
• Marketing Insights – specific data points that tell a story to increase value in the mind of the client. For example, “According to the PEW Institute study dated Mar 17, 2023, 92% of soccer mom’s prefer the TEAMCHAT app over other group chats related to K-8 team sports.”

Stage 1 – Opening

The opening is critical to the outcome of the engagement.

Introductions

Appearance as a sales professional is expected to match the client. The sales professional attire should also make a statement about your firm’s brand. For example, if you are representing a high-level attorney staffing firm, a suit and tie may be in order. If the sales professional is working with boat manufacturers in South Carolina on the coast, it may be appropriate to be in business casual (or even without a jacket).

Demeanor (smiles, positive, professional mannerisms, posture) says a lot about the sales professional. Be always cordial and respectful.

Greeting appropriate (firm handshake, bow)

Thank the client for the meeting. Provide your full name and the firm you represent.

“My name is ______. I represent _______ (company). I am the solution specialist for ______ division or ______resources…”

• Present business cards with care. Receive business cards with respect.
• Wait to be offered a seat. Do not sit until the client sits.
• If new members join the meeting, stand to greet them. Then, wait until they sit before proceeding.
• Confirm time allowed and people involved in the meeting.

Rapport (length of time depends on culture). Build rapport with the client before the business conversation. Best practices would include accolades for the client. “Congratulations on the recent sales award” “I saw the article in the paper regarding your expansion.”

Agenda

Review agenda and confirm topics with the client. Use a theme statement to explain your desire for a collaborative partnership deliberately. Ask permission to share the document or slide show that will be used in the meeting.

Decision Process and Criteria

Ask for clarification of the decision process regarding agenda items and those involved. Use agenda topics and confirmation of influencers (people involved in the decision) to BRIDGE into business discussion and gain permission to ask questions to take notes.

Stage 2 – Strategic Direction

Research Reveal and Understand Client Situation.

Demonstrate knowledge of the client’s firm by referencing research and meetings with other internal personnel or groups – position yourself as a prepared, serious partner. For example, “While preparing for our meeting, I met with your staff as a guest during one of their pre-work meetings. I received some interesting information.” “I also did quite a bit of research on your firm and your competitors. I would like to go through some key points to ensure my understanding so I can serve you better.”

Confirm research and clarify the situation. Probe to verify research and learn more.

• Ask questions to expand knowledge of the client’s world.
  • o Current company sales
  • o Position in the market (example, #3 in the market, three locations in the U.S. and two in China).
  • o Locations of manufacturing firms or sources.
  • o Number of employees
  • o Customers served
  • o Client’s competition
• Include Marketing Insights regarding the direction of the industry that strategically positions your firm.

Leadership Imperatives (these will vary depending on the position of the client)

Ask questions to determine the strategic direction of the client (Top-Line and Bottom-Line KPI – Key Performance Indicators or BSC – Balanced Score Card)

• Revenue oriented questions
  • o Sales growth goals
  • o Mergers and acquisitions
  • o Additional markets
  • o New facilities
  • o New products/service offerings
• Cost oriented questions.
  • o Production
  • o Supply chain
  • o Inventories
  • o Service
  • o Quality

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are primary metrics that inform decision-makers of business realities so that decisions can be made that will positively affect the firm’s outlook.

Balance Score Cards (BSC) are typically metric items for an individual or department with grading to determine performance effectiveness.

Stage 3 – Investigate for Challenges

Challenge the situation (ask questions related to challenges of the KPIs and BSC).

Dissection of the client’s strategies and processes (one piece at a time) to determine challenges or problems (seen or unseen) is the critical part of the questioning skill that will help you build a business case to articulate the value of the offering.

• “What challenges do you foresee with attaining the sales goals?”
• “Any production bottlenecks or pain points expected with the increase in manufacturing demands?”

Probe at least two levels. For example, “Tell me more….” “Can you explain what you mean by that…” Restate the answer/summarize for understanding/confirm the challenge is clear. Checking for understanding will show the client that you are listening and tracking with the direction of the conversation that is important to them.

Strategic Alignment by ordering the importance of the challenges (client’s order of importance) will send a clear message to the client. Clients have their key priorities based on the order of importance or strategic direction. Successful sales professionals align with the client and repeat the imperatives often.

Stage 4 – Cost Implications – “Indict the challenge, not the client”

Create Cause and Effect (ask questions to determine the probable cost of the challenges).

The cost impact of a challenge or problem is the core of the value proposition. Sales professionals must determine the cost implications of the challenge. Ask related questions to assess the implications of the challenges. Uncover specific elements of the cost. Some of the cost drivers are as follows:

• # of employees
• Hours worked
• Pay per hour (add fully allocated cost of production)
• Quality rework cost
• Client acquisition cost for lost business (retention of current customers is imperative to your responsibility)

During the Cost Implications Stage, sales professionals will uncover cost figures that is needed to build value for the solution. Some questions examples follow:

Question: “Within the area of the warehouse with concern, how many employees are affected?

Answer: “4”

Question: “How many hours do these individuals work that is affected during this time?”

Answer: “3.5 hours”

Follow up: “So, four employees at 3.5 hours each is 14 total hours.” “What is the average pay per hour?”

Answer: $22.50, including insurance costs.

Total Cost Summary

Statement Recap: “$22.50 per hour times 14 hours equals $315 per day on average for this challenge. Right?”

Answer: “That is correct. We see on average $315 times 254 working days, which is $80,010 annually for this problem that we are having.”

NOTE: Once the client agrees with the cost of the problem, that number will live throughout the value proposition. Here the example is $80,010.

Stage 5 – Propose Solutions or Alternatives (that align with your firm)

Conditionally propose offerings.

At this point in the visit, the sales professional will be considering solutions that will meet the client’s challenge. Ask questions to test the client’s desire or need for the best-fit solution.

Question: “If I could cut your production time by 10% and eliminate the challenge of ______, would you be interested?”

Answer: “I’m not sure. I would need to understand better.”

Marketing Insights and Product/Solution Advantages: “Our new abrasive product line has been proven to cut production time and works with your equipment so that there is little to no training. We estimate that we could cut your production time by 13%.”

Trades are part of the negotiation process that must enter the discussion.

• Propose trade scenarios that will be part of a more significant deal or relationship.
  • o “If you are willing to allow me to position my product, I would consider….”
  • o Confirm the value of your solution in the mind of the client (agree on a monetary value for each offering)
  • o Discuss implementation scenarios

Gain agreement from departmental leaders or other KDMs to support your proposed solutions within a more significant Strategic Business Case for the firm overall.

NOTE: Strategy for concessions is critical during this stage (remember negotiation planning). Be sure to plan for what you will receive in return for your proposed solutions. We are reaching a point where there can be no ambiguity in the relationship between you and the client related to your intentions. You are there to make a sale. This is a negotiation. Trades will be part of the process.

Stage 6 – Articulate Value of the Business Case (Art of Value)

The Art of Value may be painted by an elaborate process flow map with engineering time metrics at each segment that shares minutes, $, people, or some other element that impacts an operation. Or the Art of Value may be a simple whiteboard session that talks through the entire business situation. Students will work on the process of building a business case with a rubric provided by the facilitator. Keep in mind that the beauty of art is in the beholder. Know your audience. Different methods of presenting are acceptable. It depends upon the situation.

Up to this point, the sales visit flow across managers, regardless of discipline, is the same, except for the topics. For example:

1. Operations
2. Technology
3. Supply Chain
4. Manufacturing
5. Finance (Procurement will sometimes require a formal presentation before ultimate leadership)

This typical flow usually will engage leaders in the firm that physically uses the sales team’s product or service. Once the sales professional understands the client’s business and personal needs/desires, navigate to success by working through the various leaders responsible for parts of the process.

Case Scenario:

Company (our company) – Alpha LLC., a maker of drilling tools and bonding agents for laminating wood.

Position – We are an account executive responsible for selling to clients in the cabinet industry.

Prospect – Creative Cabinets specializes in high-end custom cabinetry for homes and businesses. Their product is known worldwide due to their patented production process that uses large, computerized machines to build cabinet doors with intricate detail within a very short amount of time.

Reason Creative Cabinets is a great prospect – Our firm (Alpha LLC.) has the finest steel and carbide tools in the industry that will work in the Creative Cabinets’ machines.

The Sales Process – We may have a Sales Process Flow that looks like the following (Follow the Flow).

NOTE: Although there were five meetings in the sales process, each sales visit had similar stages or interactions. See the following examples:

Meeting 1: Operations Manager – Gain a first meeting with the operations manager to determine the viability of the prospect. Gain information about their goals and learn about the decision-makers in the firm.

Meeting 2: Customer Service – Meet with customer service to determine if there are significant challenges with the product (which would insinuate there are problems with the tools in production).

Meeting 3: Operations Manager – Meet again with the operations manager to share the detail from customer service and address the challenges of quality and determine the implications of the quality issues.

1. a) Indict the challenges to determine implication costs.
2. b) Propose Solutions and build the value of your product in the mind of the client.

Meeting 4: Procurement/Finance Manager – Meet with the finance team to discuss the challenges that you have uncovered and solutions you have provided, and gain information from the perspective of the finance team regarding overall cost. Focus on the overall value of your offering. Be careful not to get pulled into a price discussion too early.

Meeting 5: President/Owner/CEO – Presentation built with the approval of the key influencers. This presentation will be about the Current State and Future State with Revenue and Cost improvements.

Consider that the team is currently in Stage 6, Articulation of Value, for the scenario with a VP of a small firm. The following is an outline of a possible discussion….

Presentation (PowerPoint)

• Agenda (Confirm agenda aligns with the client).
• Objectives (Be transparent in your desire to create a partnership).
  • o State objectives of the meeting.
  • o State understanding of the firm’s goals and direction of the organization (short-term and long-term).
• Current State and Issues (Dangers to current situation if not changed).
• Future State (with cost elements or lack of revenue) and Solutions (Benefits to change).
• Value of the proposal in the client’s terms.
• Revenue and Cost Overview – confirm the numbers are accurate.
• Propose to move forward and Close the Deal (gain advance with a firm date and time if more meetings are needed).
• Present Implementation Plan (includes both parties) and confirm the date of completion.

Negotiate terms of agreement (including price)

• Protect self-interest.
• Trade for collaboration (charge more for desires than needs satisfaction).
• Use your pre-meeting, planned concession strategy to guide you (see negotiation planner).

Overcoming Objections

• Ask questions to understand.
• Confirm/Restate the customer’s point for clarity.
• Restate the value proposition.
  • o Pause for customer agreement.
• Ask if you have resolved the concern.
• If persistent or detrimental to the deal, propose an alternative to satisfy the need.
  • o If non-related to the agreement, defer to another meeting.

Stage 7 – Closing the Deal

Proposing to move forward.

Once the value has been articulated, negotiations have taken place, and objections have been overcome, to confirm that the client agrees with the overall business case.

Provide a summary of the meeting and test the client’s willingness to buy.

• Address any concerns or questions.
• Ask for a commitment from the client to move forward with the implementation plan.
• Present the document to close (the first step in the implementation plan is to sign the agreement).

Implementation Plan Example – In some cases, the Implementation Plan may require a Project Manager with a more robust tool for tracking the process to completion. Implementation plans are covered later in the text.

Rubric for Sales Visit (college competition)

University Sales Competitions use an elementary rubric assessment form to judge students during the role plays. The highlight areas are as follows:

1. Meeting Opening (5%)
2. Needs Identification (40%)
3. Presentation (15%)
4. Overcoming Objections (15%)
5. Gain Commitment (10%)
6. Professional Communication (10%)
7. Credible and Trustworthy (5%)

Chapter Overview – YouTube channel