RECOGNIZING SALES STRATAGIES
Because departments are responsible for purchasing over 99% of the transactions processed, departments have more interaction with our external vendors than ever. As you work
with sales representatives (reps) it is important that you understand general sales strategies.
First – Meeting New Reps:
Refer new sales reps to Purchasing Services. Purchasing will help them get on to the University’s bid lists and register for new Vendor Orientation sessions.
Second – How to Recognize Good Sales Reps:
Most sales reps are ethical in their dealings with the University. A good sales representative will:
o Be knowledgeable and offer what you need not what they want to sell you.
o Freely offers the names of decision makers at their company if needed.
o Provide prompt and accurate information when requested.
o Understands University Policy and Procedures to help departments stay in compliance.
If you are unable to resolve a performance or contractual issue with a vendor, contact Purchasing for additional help.
Third – Sales Strategies:
Most sales strategies are subtle and work through your emotions to persuade you to buy from a specific vendor. Good sales reps apply these strategies without you even realizing
it. It is your job to be aware of these strategies and not let them influence your decisions.
Strategies
MEETING
STRATEGY 1:
1.
2.
3.
MEETING
STRATEGY 2:
Description of Strategies
Your Interests - Sales reps work very hard to get you emotionally involved in the
relationship. For example, meeting in your office to see indications of your interests.
Sales reps know that talking about your interests makes you feel like you are friends.
They also plan appropriate outings to invite you to that include those interests.
Your Office - Gaining access past the reception area allows sales people to see what
kind of computer, copier, fax, printer equipment you have so they know if they can
upgrade you or switch you to their brand.
Sales Clones - Some sales reps may even change their voice tone, pitch or style of
speaking to mirror yours to gain your confidence.
The Good Listener: Sales reps ask leading questions to get you to talk about anything
and everything about your job. For example, future purchases, new grants or funds
available to you, your timeline or deadlines, politics of your management, new projects
starting, changes in directions on existing projects, etc. All information they can get can
be used to their advantage.
They may insert long or uncomfortable pauses in the conversation to solicit information
you may not want to share. There are cultural comfort levels about gaps in the
conversation, which they use to their advantage also.
MEETING
STRATEGY 3:
Misdirection: Sales reps may try to
1. Bring several sales reps -- That way you will be bombarded with sales jargon and
can’t get a word in very easy.
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Recommendations
There is no problem with vendors knowing personal information
about you as long as it does not make you feel you can’t disagree
or challenge the sales rep. during a bid award or makes you feel
like you should award to a vendor because you like them.
Keep your vendors at a friendly distance emotionally.
There is nothing wrong with talking to vendors, in fact, they can
be a great resource If you a social person that likes to talk, be
aware of your conversations with sales reps.
Even though we are a public institution, with mostly public
information, you are not obligated to answer every question a
sales rep asks.
You have the right to request who will be attending and if
needed, limit attendees. If you need to discuss a point with your
peers, ask the reps to step out. This is not rude, it is good
2.
Smoke and Mirrors – Of course, they only show you the positive attributes of their
equipment or supplies. They move or re-direct your attention so quickly you may
not see the short comings.
business.
Have an agenda. Have a list of questions or topics ready to make
sure all your concerns are covered. Be aware of what points you
can give on and what points are show stoppers.
Impressing You:
1. Meeting your Idols: If you are meeting at the vendor’s site, you may be surprised to
have the President of the company, or maybe a high level executive visiting from the
home office stop by your meeting. Sometimes, the vendor may have the luxury of
having a local celebrity or well known athlete stop by.
You are an important account for any sales rep. You don’t need
to meet celebrities to make a deal.
2. Exotic Locations - Sometimes they may try to impress by scheduling a meeting at a
private club, a resort conference center, an upscale restaurant, etc.
Exotic locations may be a Conflict of Interest for you as a public
employee. If you are meeting about University business, it
should be in a businesses local.
MEETING
STRATEGY 5:
Who’s Controlling the Meeting? Sales reps are trained to lead you to a sale without
appearing to be hard sell. They are coached on how to keep control of the situation and in
many cases, have even practiced or role played this before meeting with you.
Since you may not have been coached in negotiating or have
experience in controlling the meeting, consider including others
to support you in the meeting. For large dollar or complex
purchases, a buyer in Purchasing might be invited. Sometimes
just the presence of Purchasing ends a message to the sales rep.
KNOWING THE
CUSTOMER 1:
Midwest Nice / Acct Demographics Vendors analyze your account for things like the
contact’s age, gender, married or single, educational background. They use this
information to assign the most effective sales rep to the U of M.
Midwest Nice, does not mean you should be intimidated into bad
decisions or that you can’t pressure sales reps for good
performance.
For example, people in Midwest Nice areas don’t like conflict. Sales reps use this to get
you to back down from confrontation.
Requiring the vendor to perform as expected is not a conflict it is
being a good steward of University funds.
MEETING
STRATEGY 4:
Sales reps should try to impress you with their fair prices and
stellar service.
Reps practice getting you to say yes to a series of simple questions, so when they ask the
tough one, you will already be in an affirmative mode.
KNOWING THE
CUSTOMER 2:
Good Memory: Sales reps are trained to keep copious notes regarding any contact or
transactions with you.
This is very apparent when they need to recall an error you may have made or an
inconsistency in your decision making on similar past situations.
It’s amazing what details they can remember when it is to their advantage.
RUSH OR
DELAY
STRATEGIES
RUSHING: Don’t allow yourself to be rushed into a purchase.
Unless there are claims that can be substantiated, your decision
to award is not based on whether you feel bad that a vendor lost
the last two orders by just pennies or that the vendor has done
some extensive research for you for free in the past.
Take time to research your purchase. Most quotes from vendors
have a date through which the quote is valid (Usually at least 30
days.) If using a U wide, those are usually valid for a year or
Reasons to rush you:
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Keep your documentation equal to or better than the sales rep’s.
1.
2.
3.
they don’t want you to check out the competition’s prices.
they don’t want you to find a cheaper alternate product.
they want to meet end of the quarter quotas so they get trips.
more.
Delay the Award: Reps may wait until you are just about to close a deal and then bring
up some issue that you do not agree with. At this point in the sale you are more likely to
accept the issue rather than spend time going back to the next low bidder or to start the
negotiations again. This is why sales reps like to know your deadline. They know when
you may panic and agree to something that may not be to your advantage.
Delay the Return: Sales reps may try to get you to agree to let a problem slide a little
longer to see if it corrects itself, or to see if it gets better without taking further action, or
that maybe your staff will get used to the equipment and decide not to return it. It’s kind
of like the shoe salesperson that says buy these shoes even though they feel tight – they
will stretch out with time.
Advise reps you are considering other vendors or other options
so you keep your competitive edge.
It’s fine to tell sales rep your timeline. It is not always prudent to
have an inflexible deadline that may cause you to accept
undesirable terms.
Document any issues with the sales rep as soon as possible.
Delaying a return or exchange could be interpreted later as your
acceptance of the problem. The more they can get you to use the
equipment, the more it limits our options when getting a refund
on what is now considered a considerably used piece of
equipment.
If you have problems with sales reps or vendors that are not being resolved, contact Purchasing Services for help.
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