I walked into a waiting Sanjay at Starbucks. I was inquisitive about meeting him.
“Maybe you can help him.” my Ex-Boss had said. “He is my friend’s son. He has a few questions on “Key Account Management”, and I recommend that you talk to him.”
Who was I to say no? We, as a team, have a code of conduct; we never questioned our seniors. It’s always been the “Yes Sir” syndrome; It’s more out of respect rather than being regimental.
Sanjay stood up and walked towards me as I entered Starbucks. “Mr Dhawan”, he sought. “Yea”, I said, and we shook hands. We walked to a corner seating arrangement, which he had kind of occupied for both of us.
Once I had my steaming americano, he said, “I have a problem; I have given Sales Presentations to a few Key Accounts; however, I can’t seem to get any one of them to a buying decision. I understand you might be able to help me.”
“How did you land up giving presentations.” I inquired. Over the next fifteen minutes, Sanjay shared how he had gained appointments with the management of these organisations and convinced them and delivered his sales presentation.
I asked him, “then what happened.” Sanjay said, “they saw the presentation, and I have been following up, but nothing seems to be moving.” “Following up with whom?” I asked. “Either the people I had sought the appointment with or someone delegated from the team,” Sanjay responded. With a, as a matter of fact, face.
He moved to his laptop as if to show me his presentations. I said, “You must be good at your presentations because they haven’t said NO yet. So I don’t want to see your presentation.” He looked at me thoughtfully, and I knew I had his attention.
“All you need is a shift in your approach.” Well, the boy had given me centre stage for a topic that I loved. But my challenge was to get him to understand Key Account Management in about ten minutes. Which usually took weeks of classroom training.
I looked at Sanjay and said, “Imagine you are the class teacher to a bunch of fifteen kinder-garden kids. You have to manage their mid-day meal. The menu is sandwiches, milk, fresh fruits, juice and custard.”
“Each child must have a sandwich and a predefined portion of fresh fruits.”
“Remember, each child has choices and moods about food and friends. What would you do?”
As expected, Sanjay said,” I’d make them sit down and serve the sandwich and fresh fruits and ask them to choose the beverage or custard.”
“Like you gave the presentation!” before he could say anything else, I continued “, Julie wouldn’t sit with Peter during her mealtime as Peter has custard with his fruits and she doesn’t like custard. Peter likes juice with his sandwich, while Jack wants milk. And each child has some combination that is specific to them. It could be the colour of their plates or sitting with someone, or even having opinions about others liking.”
Sam looked at me, trying to figure out where I was going. “Like their class teacher, you need to know everyone in the buying cycle of your Sale. And serve them accordingly. Meet each one of them, know them and understand how they would like their sandwich and fresh fruits.”
“You have shown them the menu in your presentation, and some of them have liked it, while others don’t care.”
“Understand personalities, choices, and group dynamics. Serve and maybe reserve in some cases. So that each one enjoys their sandwich and fresh fruits. Each one of them needs to agree to your sales proposal.”
“So that they can collectively come to an affirmative decision on your proposal.”
Sanjay looked at me with a grin on his face. “Thanks, I got it; the presentation was only a foot in the door to get the menu right. The Meal is still to be served.”
