Ideally, the rep should cultivate a customer contact who
has a reasonable amount of seniority, obvious credibility, and (just as important) a personality that exhibits courage of conviction. Remember, the champion is going to be putting his or her career on the line in order to support another firm’s sales effort. You don’t want someone who will cave at the first sign of opposition.
A final valuable characteristic in a customer champion is the ability to learn quickly. The sales rep will have limited time to train the champion to sell. “If the gatekeeper is consistent in this regard, the rep has a good chance of turning that gatekeeper into an internal coach who will lean their way,” says the consultant.
Defining the Right Need
Once a contact has been located, the rep should work with the prospective champion to obtain specific informa- tion about objectives, future needs, and how a solution might be tailored to meet those needs. This process must be very thorough, because a misdiagnosis or weak solu- tion will inevitably result in failure, because the champion (unlike a rep) will probably be unable (or unwilling) to “fall back and punt” if something goes wrong. Because of this, “it’s particularly important to be constantly checking for feedback to ensure that you’ve understood correctly,” says the consultant.
While working on the solution with the champion, the
rep should strive to make the gatekeeper’s job easier. “The rep should probe from the gatekeeper’s perspective what the needs are and then drill down with questions about all
How to Create Internal Customer Advocates
LAINE EHMANN
When you’re trying to convince the marketing department to speed up the release of a new product – or you’re go- ing head-to-head with the CFO over payment terms for a new customer – it sometimes feels like the hardest part of sales is dealing with your own organization. Wouldn’t life be so much better if everyone in your company felt the same commitment toward the customer as you do? “The salesperson’s job is a lot easier if there are other people in the organization that carry the same passion for the customer that the salesperson does,” says one sales expert. The key to creating internal customer advocates is making the customer real, she explains. Here’s how: 1. Target your efforts. What current process or area within your organization is stymieing your attempts to get your customers what they need? Pinpoint which departments – and which individuals – need to get on board to create the change you desire. “The ques- tions to start with are: What are you selling to the customer? Who is instrumental in getting that to the customer?” says the expert.
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the factors that go into making the final decision,” says the consultant. For example, the definition of the problem and description of the solution should be organized in a way that makes sense to the champion, even if the rep would probably present the information differently. Needless to say, whatever solution is proposed should be top quality – if only to ensure the champion stays on board. “Like any customer, you keep them motivated by delivering a product or solution that demonstrates practical value, reliabil- ity, and an attractive price/performance curve,” says Wise.
Winning the Business The rep must now coach the champion on how to sell the solution. The best way to do this is to “get an influencer selling for you to ask questions that rehearse the influencer and get him or her to tell you the benefits you offer,” explains the consultant. The trick is to get the champion to express the benefits of the solution in their own words. By asking questions that might come up in a meeting with de- cision makers, the rep helps the champion rehearse what needs to be said in order to move the sale forward. As the sale proceeds, the rep must be constantly available to the champion to help with any problems that come up. There’s no question that cultivating a champion takes time and effort. However, in addition to making it possible to sell inside organizations that simply won’t give sales reps access to decision makers, the process of cultivation results in a valuable customer relationship. Once a cus- tomer contact has become a champion, the rep will have an inside track on any future sale.
2. Create face time. The sales team has the benefit of frequent interactions with customers; but, to many departments within your company, the customer is little more than a name on a purchase order. It’s not surprising, then, that others don’t feel the same sense of urgency and importance in meeting customer requests as you do. The solution is simple. “Get these employees in front of the customer,” says the expert. Let customers tell your manufacturing team why they need a longer battery life in a smaller footprint. When employees hear it first-hand rather than filtered through a salesperson, they’re more likely to go the extra mile.
3. Get busy. Sales managers have multiple roles when it comes to creating internal customer advocates. “They need to be a champion themselves,” says the expert. This means putting in the time visiting customers and listening, listening, listening. Sec- ond, they must create a structure that allows cross- departmental peers access to key accounts. Finally, managers must be coaches for their teams – asking the pertinent questions and making suggestions to get reps thinking in the right terms. Ask reps ques- tions such as: What would make it easier for XYZ to happen? Who do you need to be in your court to make that happen?
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