Ram Charan - What the Customer Wants You to Know: How Everybody Needs to Think Differently About Sales

WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS YOU TO KNOW

Ram Charans done it again! In his signature, easy-to-follow
style Ram describes a practical, down-to-earth yet radically new
approach to sales and new business development. Any
professional from a CEO to a front-line sales person who is
looking to improve sales effectiveness is sure to find this book
well worth reading Francisco DSouza, President and CEO,
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation

What the Customer Wants You to Know is an excellent primer
for any business looking to drive better sales results and profitable
growth by focusing on what the customer needs to improve his or
her business John A. Luke, CEO, MeadWestvaco

What the Customer Wants You to Know challenges sales forces to
revolutionize their methods and our experience at The Thomson
Corporation testifies to the fact the payoff in increased sales and
customer loyalty can be significant. His recommendations may
sound radical, but they are practical and effective Dick Harrington,
President and CEO, The Thomson Corporation

What the Customer Wants You to Know offers a revolutionary
approach to customers and sales. Ram Charan provides readers
with a detailed road map of the coming organization in which
creating value for customers becomes everyones primary goal.
It is must reading for every manager and salesperson
Murray Martin, CEO, Pitney Bowes, Inc.

For the winners in todays complex business environment, the
days of simply selling products and services are over. I recommend
What the Customer Wants You to Know for anyone trying to
understand the shifting sands of todays competitive
environment Bill Teuber, Vice Chairman, EMC

Ram Charans advice and ideas have dramatically changed the
way Genpact goes to market and sells to key strategic customers.
His insights are priceless Pramod Bhasin, President and CEO,
Genpact Global

WHAT THE

CUSTOMER

WANTS YOU TO KNOW

How Everybody Needs to Think
Differently About Sales

RAM CHARAN

MICHAEL JOSEPH
an imprint of
PENGUIN BOOKS

MICHAEL JOSEPH

Published by the Penguin Group
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First published in the United States of America by Portfolio a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2007
First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph 2007

Copyright Ram Charan, 2007

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Artwork and diagrams by the author

All rights reserved
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-718-15421-9

To the hearts and souls of the joint family of twelve siblings and cousins living under one roof for fifty years, whose personal sacrifices made my formal education possible

Contents

The Problem with Sales

The telephone rang. Charlie Baldwin knew he was about to get the news he had been waiting for since Monday. He had spent three months working on the sale, and if he got it he would make quota, get his bonus, and finally be able to take his wife Michelle on that trip to Europe he had promised her for years.

Charlie had no reason to doubt his good fortune. He was an experienced salesman for Sturgies Corporation, and had known Greg Lanterman, the customers purchasing agent, for most of a decade. The two often spent long afternoons on the back nine, playing golf and sharing stories about their families. Both had two kids graduating from high school in the fall, and this only strengthened their bond.

When they had met last Thursday for drinks Greg did everything but promise Charlie the order it was in the bag. Thats why Charlie was stunned when he heard Gregs voice on the line. From his tone alone Charlie knew something was terribly wrong.

Charlie, I did everything I could, explained Greg sheepishly, and until about four days ago I was sure that my recommendation to give you the order was a shoo-in. But the CFO and the executive vice president of marketing intervened and decided that the sale should go to Progis Corporation. Your price was better, but the sales rep at Progis, Mark Logan, showed us how his approach would increase our cash flow and revenue growth. Mark also had some good ideas that our executive vice president of marketing said would help us to differentiate our brand. Im really disappointed. In fact, I need to do a reality check on myself: I cant help but wonder if Im losing credibility in the eyes of the higher-ups, Greg confessed.

Charlies mind started to race. He knew Mark Logan. In fact, he had seen him more than once at the customers office talking with people Charlie had never met. All of Charlies contact was with Greg; he never gave Mark more than a passing thought.

We had the cutting-edge technology, the lower price, and better cost savings for Gregs company, Charlie thought to himself. I was sure we would win. But Mark Logan somehow beat me to the punch.

Charlie felt deeply disappointed, but for the first time, he also felt anxious. His wife Michelle had come into the room, and it seemed to her that the telephone call had aged him five years.

For the past 12 months Charlie has been on the receiving end of four similarly disappointing telephone calls. And these calls came from people he relied on the mostpeople like Greg, whom he had known and trusted the longest. Suddenly, fear struck him to his marrow. He doubted himself in a way that he hadnt for a very long time. Have I lost my touch? he wondered. He knew he had just lost his quota, his bonus, and would be forced to break his promise to Michelle about that long-overdue vacation. What he didnt know was whether or not he would still have his job this time next year.

Nobody bats a thousand. But when you keep losing sales despite having great products and services, its time to take a step back. You have to reconsider what youre trying to accomplish and how youre going about doing it. In fact, it might be time to reinvent the way you sell.

Consider that the traditional sales process hasnt changed much for more than a hundred years. Its roots are in a time some five decades ago when supplies were tight and suppliers held the cards, when orders had to be booked weeks or even months in advance and customers, anxious for a steady supply of material and lacking information about availability, had little room to negotiate price. Salespeople were basically order takers. That situation might ring true today in some isolated casesfor critical parts or commodities like platinumbut those are the exceptions, not the rule.