It's Not Luck - Eliyahu M. Goldratt [97]
“Now it is your turn. You must find a marketing breakthrough in your industry. You must think unconventionally.”
They look at me with poker faces. I can feel the cold front.
No wonder. They are beaten. Speeches and references will not make a difference. They are beyond this stage.
They need to see a clear and tangible way out. They need to see their marketing solution, and they must believe that it’s within their power to implement. Otherwise they won’t even lift a finger.
“What is preventing you from getting more sales?” I ask. Nobody volunteers an answer. I try again.
“What are the major complaints of your customers?” This is starting to be embarrassing.
“What demands do your prospects make?” I don’t give up. “What do they demand in order to place an order with you?”
“Cheaper prices,” comes the answer from several places. They are starting to enjoy my discomfort. They enjoy putting the big boss from corporate, who doesn’t understand anything about their real world, in his place.
I cannot even get their market UDEs. I’ll have to try another tactic. They take some distorted pleasure in showing me that there is no way out. Maybe if I can construct their cloud it will help? Maybe, if I’m able to bring them to agree on their cloud, I can use it to break out a solution? Fat chance, but what do I have to lose?
“Cheaper prices, I see. And what will happen if you do reduce prices?” I start to work on their cloud.
“Nothing,” Joe, the VP of sales, bluntly answers.
“Why?” I ask him.
“Because the competitors will match our prices on the spot.”
“So something will happen. Our profits will go down.” They don’t even bother to smile.
I switch on the overhead projector, saying, “The objective is to ‘Increase sales.’ In order to ‘Increase sales,’ you must ‘Respond to the prospect’s needs.’ Which means you must ‘Reduce prices.’
“On the other hand, in order to ‘Increase sales,’ you must ‘Take actions that your competitors cannot immediately imitate,’ which definitely means, ‘Do not reduce prices.’ ”
I look at the image projected on the screen for a moment, giving them a chance to let it sink in, before I turn to them. “Is this the case?” I ask.
“Yes,” Joe answers quietly.
“I am asking all the sales people here, is this your conflict?”
“Yes,” they all answer.
“Tough problem,” I admit. “A very tough problem. Joe, will you come help me?”
He stands up reluctantly. “Help you do what?”
“Help find out if there is any way out of this box.”
He twists his lips in disbelief, but comes to the front.
“Joe, which part of this cloud do you dislike the most?” I ask.
He takes his time examining the cloud before he answers, “I don’t have any quarrel with the bottom part. . . . And I like to please our customers. What I definitely don’t like is reducing our prices.”
“Does everybody agree with Joe?” I want to make sure that they are all in on it.
Some say yes. Others nod.
“Fine,” I acknowledge them. “Let’s expose the hidden assumptions. In order to ‘Respond to the prospect’s needs,’ we must ‘Reduce prices,’ because . . . Come on Joe, because . . . ?”
“Because that’s what they ask for,” Joe completes the sentence.
What an answer. “Joe, don’t avoid the issue. Try to relate to the prospects’ needs.”
He doesn’t like my remark. Salespeople are always supposed to relate to their prospects’ needs. A legend.
“Reduced prices is what they need,” he says in a formal voice.
“Why?” I play the ivory tower executive.
“Because almost all our clients are under financial pressure from corporate. They are industrial companies. They are like us. Always under pressure from corporate to improve on their financials.”
He still has enough spirit to fight me. That’s good.
“Now we are getting somewhere,” I pretend not to notice his cynicism and turn his words into a clearly verbalized assumption. “In order to ‘Respond to the prospect’s needs,’ we must ‘Reduce prices,’ because ‘The only way to respond to the prospect’s financial pressure is to reduce price.’ That’s what you said?”
“What our clients want is that we’ll reduce