The Movendo Sales Approach – selling complex products
You know the situation? The customer thinks the product is really good, has tested it in-house, accepts the price - and then doesn’t buy it! Sales has invested a lot of time and effort and everything seemed to be home and dry. You quickly conclude: "Typical customer; he simply can’t take a decision!" Instead of now turning to the price, it is worth taking a closer a look at the customer, or rather the customer’s system, and to think how a sales team might support and facilitate these difficult decision-making processes at the customer.
Think from the customer’s point of view
This is exactly where Movendo's systemic sales approach comes in, with the customer’s system and not the product or even the person of the seller. We develop your sales system so that you can better influence the customer’s system. Customers today also live in a VUCA world and need to make strategic decisions in complex, volatile and uncertain contexts. It is not uncommon for us to find that the complexity of interests, information and interdependences hampers this purchase decision. Our systemic sales approach focuses on how people and businesses make decisions and how sales teams can facilitate these processes. In complex contexts, there can be no one simple and one-dimensional response to your sales success. Therefore the Movendo systemic sales approach takes into account the following three aspects and the way in which they interplay:
It is important to be fully aware that the customer’s decision in favour of a product not only triggers an order process but subsequently also initiates changes in the customer’s system - technical product changes, process adjustments, changing roles in the company, etc. This too is a key factor in the decision and is ultimately a success factor for the successful introduction of your product. Thus your sales crews have to give your customers the opportunity to understand these changes, to make a conscious decision and to be available after the purchase as a sparring partner in the implementation.
Movendo's systemic sales approach also helps in this process. Together with your sales crews, we examine the entire customer system, name the necessary changes and define solutions to this end. This allows your crews to position themselves as solution providers for the changes that need to be made at the customer after the purchase has been made, both proactively influencing the decision-making process and establishing a longer-term relationship. Our sales approach is not about showing what short-term solutions a product offers. Rather, in the sense of a value-based approach, we present the actual added value throughout the time of ownership of the product.
This changing approach at the operational sales level also automatically means that the work of sales executives is changing. In order for the Agile Sales Crews to work well together, it is important to establish the associated structures and forms of interaction. That's why we not only work with the sales crews, but also with their leaders. Following our beliefs about leadership, sales leaders need to provide the necessary framework to ensure that changed behaviour can be lived sustainably, that old patterns can be broken and new ones can be established. Agile sales crews need a meeting culture based on constructive discourse. Bringing in the different perspectives and expertise of the crew members becomes an essential leadership task. The change process requires an open learning culture, away from a focus on mistakes and deficits. The crews have to be able to work on their own without rigid specifications and announcements. They need to be able to develop and maintain their culture together. Leading with individual target agreements has just as little place as narrow decision-making scope. The role of the leader and the management tools and methods that are used change radically. In our Movendo Sales Approach, training and workshops with executives form an integral part.
One key is to evolve from a one-to-one relationship between sales and purchasing to a relationship between agile sales crews and customer stakeholder groups (purchasing, general management, application). These sales crews aim to build and maintain sustainable, trusting relationships with stakeholder groups on the customer side. In this way, the crews help to better understand the customer's overall system, to develop tailor-made offers and at the same time positively influence the purchase decisions at several levels in the customer system. This requires a close interplay between traditional sales, internal sales and technical support units. We develop your linearly organized functions towards interconnected cells. These cells develop the penetration needed to be effective in the customer system. In doing so, we look for clear roles, good interaction and the appreciation of the contribution of each of the functions at eye level.