*Following based on Chapter 2 Continuing Case in Sell – Building Trust and Sales Ethics

Expertise – ex. offer to train salespeople on a system designed to work with the client’s business. They can offer to work with managers and financial officers to develop the proper training program.

Dependability – ex. They can devote a certain portion of training to understanding and pursuing the goals of the company.

Candor – ex. Let him know that the old relationship is over if they would be willing to start with a new salesperson.

Custom Orientation – ex. They could do research on the needs of the company and propose ways to solve those problems. Brenda can find out what problems might occur along the market chain which affects the use of the product, whether it is delivery time or application and training on the product. Follow-up service could include a number of hours of training on the use of the product.
What should Brenda do? Brenda should make herself accessible to the client in order to understand fully their needs. Brenda needs to make her goals compatible with those of the client in terms of performance, service and return on investment. She should plan on offering promotions that fit the buyer’s needs. These planned promotions could be a way of introducing the product to the client. Brenda must know how much is to be spent on the promotion, as well as the terms and conditions of the promotion.

The sales methods Brenda uses should build trust with the client. The salesperson should exhibit an extensive knowledge of the company’s products and their specifications or capabilities. They should also be able to relate their products with industry standards and show how they rank on dependability and service.

To compete against those with long successful track record, Brenda must do several things. She must study their practices and what made them successful. Brenda must be able to “deliver complete comparative product information in a sales presentation. (Ingram, 2013)” She should understand the strengths and weaknesses which expose vulnerabilities. There may be gaps in technology, service time or delivery expenses. These vulnerabilities must be demonstrated as inferior when compared to Brenda’s products.

How to handle the rumor mill? Brenda should use candor in dealing with the situation. She should be forthcoming and honest with her client. She might want to prepare a statement that addresses each of the rumors. She could then use them to fortify and show examples of how the company excels on that area. She can use the rumors to explain why the company is not ‘in financial trouble’ and dependable for the future. This use can be used to emphasize reliability and trust. That also relates to the rumor about missing delivery deadlines. Brenda may want to produce delivery statements to show that their record is up to the industry standard or exceeds it in any category.

The rumor about the glitch in software will provide Brenda with an opportunity to discuss the superior technology used in her product. She can give a more detailed account into the time and research and history of the product while stressing their ethical standards for maintaining transparency with their clients. Likewise, Brenda can provide service staff records to show that they are not cutting staff. She can also demonstrate how their service department has maintained an outstanding record.

Reference:

Ingram, LaForge, Avila, Schwepker, Williams, SELL, 3rd ed., South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2013