I truly believe in “serving” the client instead of “selling to” the client. However, that does not mean that I agree/comply with every client request that comes my way. Sometimes it’s quite the opposite!
Serving the client means acting as their guide in their buying process, and in most cases what the client is asking for (unbeknownst to them), is not in their best interests. It’s therefore my role as their Account Executive to understand where the question is coming from, break down the reasons behind the request, and then present alternative perspectives to allow them make the best decision.
In my world of Enterprise Software, I work with clients to procure software all day every day. I help them make extremely large procurement decisions, which requires a high degree of trust.
My clients, on the other hand, do not evaluate/purchase software every day – sometimes ever. They have full-time jobs within their organization. Jobs that are crucial to their company, but not centralized around evaluating or procuring software.
Therefore, it’s important to lean on each of our strengths and information. My client understands their business more than I ever could. They know their current state and challenges, the requirements the company is looking for, and the end state they are looking to achieve.
On the other hand, I know our cloud technology, including features and benefits, my company policies and our pricing. This is not a finite list, of course, but you get the jist – they know their business and I know ours, and therefore we must work together as a team and share information to ensure they are buying software most effectively and efficiently (and hopefully, enjoyably!).
This means, that in many cases, I need to present alternatives to what they might be asking for.
I’ll give you an example – from my very first software company I worked at. Our website offered prospective clients the ability to request a demo, a quote, or download a trial. If they requested a trial the sales rep would send them a copy of a trial site download. That sales rep would then follow up with them 2 days later to see how they were doing and if they also wanted a demo/pricing.
Immediately I knew this was probably not the best use of everyone’s time. Did they even know what the software did? Did it meet the challenges of their business? How will they evaluate it on their own without knowing anything about what it does?
Not surprisingly, most follow-ups went into the abyss and close rates (percentage of qualified leads to sale), were less than 10%. Other clients did reply, but were extremely confused and frustrated with the software. Not a great start to the experience.
I decided that this request for a trial was not in our prospective clients’ best interest. So instead, when I received a request like this moving forward, rather than sending the trial download link I sent a friendly email to the prospective customer, thanking them for their interest and asking to discuss their needs to make sure our software was indeed what they were looking for. If they objected that they just wanted to try it out, I again rephrased the importance of an initial call, knowing it really was in their best interest.
Following that “discovery call” we would then book a demo so that I could show them exactly which features were the ones they were after, and from there if they still wanted to, they could download a trial and test it out.
Did everyone reply? No. However, we went from a less than 10% close rate to greater than 50%. Not to mention the significant time savings on my side and theirs from weeding out the “tire kickers” who just wanted to play with some software.
Granted, there were quite a few other variables that I changed to go into those increased close rates – but I truly believe that this streamlined sales process was a key factor.
There are many client requests like this one. Some off the top of my head that come up often are:
- Clients that request a demo without a discovery call
- Clients that request 100+ redlines on a contract
- Clients that request swap rights (being able to switch out a product with another one at a later date)
- Clients that want a Proof of Concept before buying
- Clients who want short-term 6 month cloud contracts
None of these are in the client’s best interests (at least not in my area of sales), so when requests like these arise it’s important to 1) ask where the question is coming from, 2 ) understand why it’s important and then 3) position an alternative perspective to help them make the best decision.
So, do I love saying YES to client requests? Absolutely, I do so all the time. However, when I know what they are asking is not in their best interest I have no problem challenging the thinking and presenting alternative solutions to get the best outcome for them.
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