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Since you haven’t got much control over pricing, marketing, product, and other factors, have you considered what other value skews you can control to make a difference in your sales process? I don’t know anything about fertilizers or agribusiness. In the enterprise software world, I have done a lot of presales and we always start with at least 1 discovery call. It’s a chance to listen to the prospect. No sales pitch happens on this call.
I hear all the complaints. Then I know what the prospect is buying. Sometimes they’re looking for a core feature that the software offers. Sometimes this feature is the product’s main differentiator. Then I know the demo will be easy.
But often it’s not focused on the core differentiator. They want a software that checks the boxes. But 5 other competitors also check the box…and those competitors happen to have stronger brands, more features, and stronger bigger sales forces. Yes our product might be cheaper but enterprise customers aren’t that price sensitive when you get into the 6 figures. A few thousand is a rounding error to them.
So when listening, they tell me things like they tried buying the same tools before but the project failed and now they got burned. Or they say the integration totally failed so the project never got off the ground. Or the tech support was so bad they couldn’t use the tool. Or the systems integrator messed up and they had spent all their budget. Or they have a home grown tool and it’s so buggy they can’t use it anymore.
Sometimes they’re buying bc they got into regulatory trouble. Like accidentally selling to a sanctioned country bc they don’t have insight into their customer chain and now they have a multi-million dollar fine from the government. Oops, that $300k software looks cheap in comparison now.
Anyway, whatever they say, I parrot back to them and back it up with actions. If they felt they failed bc tech support sucked, I make sure my tech support is awesome. If they need a core feature, I make sure the Proof of Concept has to include that feature and make it shine. If they’re worried about compliance, I bring up compliance many times during the demo so they know their needs will be addresssed.
Hope you get the point.
I agree though with IceCreamKid. Maybe it’s time to switch industries. I know my old company is hiring but I don’t know if/how to switch from fertilizers to and Account Executive role selling software.
I hear all the complaints. Then I know what the prospect is buying. Sometimes they’re looking for a core feature that the software offers. Sometimes this feature is the product’s main differentiator. Then I know the demo will be easy.
But often it’s not focused on the core differentiator. They want a software that checks the boxes. But 5 other competitors also check the box…and those competitors happen to have stronger brands, more features, and stronger bigger sales forces. Yes our product might be cheaper but enterprise customers aren’t that price sensitive when you get into the 6 figures. A few thousand is a rounding error to them.
So when listening, they tell me things like they tried buying the same tools before but the project failed and now they got burned. Or they say the integration totally failed so the project never got off the ground. Or the tech support was so bad they couldn’t use the tool. Or the systems integrator messed up and they had spent all their budget. Or they have a home grown tool and it’s so buggy they can’t use it anymore.
Sometimes they’re buying bc they got into regulatory trouble. Like accidentally selling to a sanctioned country bc they don’t have insight into their customer chain and now they have a multi-million dollar fine from the government. Oops, that $300k software looks cheap in comparison now.
Anyway, whatever they say, I parrot back to them and back it up with actions. If they felt they failed bc tech support sucked, I make sure my tech support is awesome. If they need a core feature, I make sure the Proof of Concept has to include that feature and make it shine. If they’re worried about compliance, I bring up compliance many times during the demo so they know their needs will be addresssed.
Hope you get the point.
I agree though with IceCreamKid. Maybe it’s time to switch industries. I know my old company is hiring but I don’t know if/how to switch from fertilizers to and Account Executive role selling software.
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