Leveraging Trust in the Sales Process Bruce Rasmussen This presentation provides the slides for Bruce Rasmussens presentation at Microsofts Australian Partner Conference, held on the Gold Coast, September Any representation of this slide show, and any accompanying notes, remain the property of Bruce Ian Rasmussen. The representations are confidential. Sales people and ethics What is trust? How to market trust Improving the levels of trust CAN WE TRUST THE SALES TEAM? 49% 34% 22% ETHICAL SALESPERSON BEHAVIOR IN SALES RELATIONSHIPS Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol. XXIX, no.2. Feedback technical colleagues Why do you believe Sales has a bad name? n=109 respondents Australia & NZ 59% believe the customers interests arent the primary focus 43% attribute it to the archetype 30% feel that over promising and under delivering is a major factor WHY IS IT SO? 1.NEXUS between BUYER and SELLER 2.SEPARATION from SUPERVISOR 3.INTENSE PRESSURE to PERFORM 4.SALES MANAGERS will OVERLOOK TRANSGRESSIONS 5.INVOLVEMENT in NEGOTIATIONS 1.NEXUS between BUYER and SELLER 2.SEPARATION from SUPERVISOR 3.INTENSE PRESSURE to PERFORM 4.SALES MANAGERS will OVERLOOK TRANSGRESSIONS 5.INVOLVEMENT in NEGOTIATIONS The economics of trust TRUST = SPEED + COST The myths around trust MYTHREALITY Trust is soft Trust is real, hard and quantifiable speed and cost Trust is slowNothing is as fast You have trust or you dontCan be created or destroyed Once lost, trust cant return Difficult but trust can be restored You cant teach trust Can be taught and learned strategic advantage Trust is built solely on integrity Trust is a function of both CHARACTER and COMPETENCE ECM market restraints RankDriver1-2 Yr3-4 Yr5-7 Yr 1 Difficulty in understanding business benefits High Med 2 End user change management challenges High Med 3 Mismatch between business needs and solutions offered HighMed 4Return on investmentMed 5Long sales cycleMed Low Source: Frost &Sullivan, 2006 ECM market restraints RankDriver1-2 Yr3-4 Yr5-7 Yr 1 Difficulty in understanding business benefits High Med 2 End user change management challenges High Med 3 Mismatch between business needs and solutions offered HighMed 4Return on investmentMed 5Long sales cycleMed Low Source: Frost &Sullivan, 2006 MARKETING TRUST 4 cores of credibility INTEGRITY INTENT CAPABILITIES RESULTS CHARACTER COMPETENCE WOMMARKETINGWOMMARKETING GUARANTEEDOUTCOMEGUARANTEEDOUTCOME PARTNERNETWORKPARTNERNETWORK CASESTUDIESCASESTUDIES Marketing and sales process LEVERAGE DEPLOY AGREE SOLVE ELEVATE ENGAGE ATTRACT PLAN Situation: Problem: Cause of Problem: Implications of Problem: Capabilities Provided: Business Results: GETTING A BETTER OUTCOME an empty sales funnel will drive mere mortals towards desperate measures theres 5 days to the end of the quarter, and youre well short of target Metrics Sales Gross contribution margin Market share Collections Customer satisfaction Activities Salesperson capabilities Timing Monthly Quarterly Annually Focus Product Market segment Channel Company level Data Views Level Growth Target/goal Ranking relative to peers Salespeople Sales force activities Customer results Company results Sales Force Effectiveness Drivers Salesperson Drivers Shapers Recruiting Training Coaching Culture formation Compensation Shapers Recruiting Training Coaching Culture formation Compensation Enlighteners Customer research Targeting Data and tools CRM systems Enlighteners Customer research Targeting Data and tools CRM systems Exciters Leadership Compensation Motivation programs Meaningful work Exciters Leadership Compensation Motivation programs Meaningful work Controllers Performance management Coordination systems Vertical and horizontal communication Compensation Controllers Performance management Coordination systems Vertical and horizontal communication Compensation Definers Sales strategy Go-to-market strategy Sales force design Definers Sales strategy Go-to-market strategy Sales force design Sales Job Definer Drivers Bruce Rasmussen Bruce Rasmussen