STRATEGIC: Presents the bigger picture
STRATEGIC: Presents the bigger picture
Phone conversation between 2 Area Sales Managers of Zanzar Formulations & Remedies:
“You won’t believe this”
“What happened?”
“ That mega proposal from GHI Health Care hospital chain has hit an air pocket”
“Really? That’s surprising. We were to present to the CEO and ink the deal, right?”
“Well, that’s where it got into trouble.
“What went wrong?”
“Long story short, we were to supply our specialty drugs to GHI’s pharmacies within their hospitals across 40 locations in the country”
“Didn’t we specially sweeten the offer for them?”
“Of course we did. We offered the best post Covid price we could afford. A shade better than what we give to our distributors.”
“So what was the problem?”
“Their procurement seemed eager. They asked us to present the proposal to their CEO”
“And then?”
“The CEO just said “You are not getting the big picture”. His questions were more on how quickly we can respond to ad hoc and changing needs, and our plans to stay ahead of the research curve. None of our distributor Customers ask these questions. The proposal seems to be on hold for now, till the CEO gets convinced".
Sales Seniors know by experience that large sized deals are strategic to the buyer organisation as well. So in pitching to the top management for mega deals, they first wear the senior leadership’s hat to capture the big picture. They ensure that the deal proposal addresses those strategic priorities.
While making presentations to that level, they use a helpful checklist of strategic issues that includes –
- Positive impact of solution supplied on business profitability
- How the solution could help in bringing more business at a lower cost
- Help in doing business faster
- Flexibility available in adjusting to varying buyer needs (Explains why GHI’s CEO, had questions on how quickly ad hoc supply requests will be met)
- Convenience in placing orders and getting replenishments
- Technical support services offered
- Reliability of product or service (Now we understand the question on research plans that GHI’s CEO had, in our story).
It pays to present the big picture while handling sales proposals with larger outlay. Sales seniors know this and take a view from the top, ideally a 30000 feet view.
Action Question: How can you adopt a strategic approach when presenting your next large deal?
Related Reading: Mercuri Insight Document on “Are you managing large opportunities well enough?”
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