Sales Situation Analysis The Network System for a Bank

Assignment: - Develop an “Information Gathering Matrix” - Draw an influence circle diagram with the decision maker - Develop our strategy for this opportunity

B2B

31/03

2009

Loris Rio Christophe Aronowicz Léo Boukou-Poba Eric Chollet Mathieu Defarge

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INFORMATION GATHERING MATRIX 3

INFLUENCE CIRCLE 5

STRATEGY 7

PHASE 1 - MARKET INTELLIGENCE: 7

PHASE 2 - MARKET OPPORTUNITY: 7

PHASE 3 - RELATIONSHIP PLANNING 8

PHASE 4 - DIALOG PROGRAM AND INTEGRATION 9

HOW WE ARE GOING TO PROCEED 10

BIBLIOGRAPHY 13

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INFORMATION GATHERING MATRIX

Who is the buying center and what is the base of

their power?

Who are the powerful buyers and what are their priorities?

What specific benefits does

each important buyer want?

How do the

important buyers view us?

Selling strategy

INITIATOR

Director of telecommunications and networks: He is at the

origin of the project, he wants to replace the company’s

telecommunication system and call companies like us to find

the solution. He is specialized in this field of activity so he is

qualified to evaluate the needs of the company and also

what we can bring to them.

- Account managers from those

branches. Priorities are to answer

customer’s needs as quick as

possible without making them wait

and risk losing them. Information is

power and quick information access

would increase satisfaction with

clients, keep a good image, get more

clients and make more money. They

are also very important as they are

the final users of the computers and

are working daily on the networks.

Their expert status might be

important in the final purchase

decision, as they know better than

anyone else if the system is

successful or not. Their priorities are

to work on a powerful and reliable

computer systems and networks.

- Director of Telecommunications

and Networks: He is part of the

powerful buyers as he has an

attraction power. He could easily

- Account Managers:

their benefit is to

have an efficient

network that will

provide them better

tools to deal with the

consumers. Their aim

is to make the

difference in the

direct relation they

have with the client

thanks to an easier

access to customer

information.

- Director of

Telecommunications

and Networks: as he

is in charge of the all

network

infrastructure he

wants the system to

Account Managers:

In case of an upgrade

of the equipment

which they are

working on, these

customer services

representatives

would benefit from

better working

conditions but also

from higher rewards

as they would be

more effective. They

see only benefits

from us to provide

them the best tools.

Director of

Telecommunications

and Networks: He

perceives us as the

great opportunity for

him to take more

power and increase

Our strategy would be to show the company how our new system can help them in a long term relationship with their customers. Our goal is to make them realize how important the system can be an asset for the company at every level starting as the permanent user, the account manager, until the CEO to whom we have to emphasize the perfect and unique use of our system; to show how much our company is serious

INFLUENCERS

Director of customer services: He is always focused on the

customer so he knows how a better network system could

improve the satisfaction of the client.

Director of facilities: He knows everything about the

equipment of the company and about the possible

infrastructure that could be set up in the company.

Branch managers: As they are responsible of the employees

in the branches that will be using the product, they might

have an influence in the decision as they represent the end

users of the product. They also aware that it could facilitate

the Account Managers into the information access, so gain

time.

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DECIDERS

Chief financial officer and treasurers: He is in charge of the

finance part of the company so he knows the financial state

of the company and how much it could spend on such a

project. He can actually evaluate if that new system could be

a good investment in a long term and so be an strong asset

for the company.

CEO: He is in charge of the company so the final decision

remains his. Being the boss, he does have opinion on this

even if he is not directly related to it. As long as this new

system could increase future profitability, such an

investment can be made to develop his company. Not

accepting this new system could be a wrong move for the

future of the company. Avoid weaknesses is his goal and

keep the best image possible for the company.

convince the CEO that the Bank’s

good activity relies on the quality of

the Network, as computers and

systems got a capital role in those

kinds of companies. His priorities are

to select the best computer system

among those which are proposed.

- Director of customer services: As

he is in charge of the relationship

with the customers, whose

satisfaction is the most important

factor for a business to succeed. He

has a status power that makes his

opinion about any strategic decision

very important, as he knows what

the customers want. His priorities

are the development of services for

the customers in order to increase

satisfaction.

be the most reliable

it could. This new

computer network

system needs to

work and to seem

reliable to everybody

involved in the

company: the

customers but also

the members of the

company who will

work with it every

day.

- Director of

customer services:

His benefit is the

satisfaction of the

client. He deals

everyday with

customers so he

wants that the

service provided by

the company to be

the best.

his reputation in the

company by

improving the

performance of the

department he is in

charge of. He will

attentively consider

our offer but will

make a selection in a

few months, so the

aim of our strategy is

the convince him.

Director of customer

services: He sees the

company as a

solution to the

technical problems

his department has

been dealing with in

the past with the slow

access to the

customer

information. The

technical

improvement

provided by our

services would

certainly help him to

increase customer

satisfaction.

about making business with them. We will show the director of T&N this system through a test with the people that will actually use it. That way, the real users will get to know it and appreciate the real quality and advantage of that service. Clients’ satisfaction will evaluate concretely our system and users will gain time, clients and money for the company. We will prove them our professionalism being ready for the delivery of the new system respecting their three months deadline.

PURCHASER

Director of purchasing: He is in charge of the purchasing

aspect of the company so the process of buying new system

or anything related to the company’s business is actually his.

GATEKEEPER

Both corporate purchasing and corporate

telecommunication departments analyze the company’s

needs and recommend likely matches with potential

vendors.

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INFLUENCE CIRCLE

Decider: CEO

As a regional medium sized company, the CEO, who is at the heart of the company, is certainly the

one that will make the final decision.

He is at the center of the selling strategy and the final step of the decision process.

First circle

Director of Telecommunications and Network:

He’s directly concerned since he is responsible for everything related to Telecommunications and

Networking activities. Obviously he has to be considered as a strong recommender for the CEO.

When it will come to choose one solution among others, the Director of Telecommunications and

Network advice will be one of the most important within the company.

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Director of Information Services:

He is also closely concerned by the new network since he is in charge of information’s circulation

within the company. Obviously, he is a strong recommender for the CEO since the network has

features directly linked with his job. He has to be convinced that the solution we will provide to them

is the best.

Director of Purchasing:

As this director is responsible on all purchases made by the company, his opinion on the price of the

system is really important. He appears as a recommender to the decider by strongly recommending a

solution's price and its cost for the company.

Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer:

As this director is responsible of the flow of money of the company, his opinion on the price of the

system is also really important. He can be a strong influencer to the CEO and in a first time, he might

be reluctant to spend money on the network.

Director of Customer Services:

He is more of an influencer and has his opinion to give about the solution to buy as the network will

permit to share customers' information between the agencies.

He can recommend or not the use of a program concerning an "easier access to customer

information".

Directors of Facilities:

The system that will be bought must run on the existing equipment, so this director can influence the

choice on the program he thinks will work best.

Second Circle

Branch manager:

Branch managers are directly concerned by the new system because they will be using it very day

and so will their teams, so they are very important in the selling process and need to be the first

convinced.

Director of Human Resources:

He is also an influencer as he is responsible of the communication within the company and by that he

and his team will be big users of the program.

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STRATEGY

In this case study we are working to sell a new computer network system to a medium size regional

bank for electronic mail and shared data.

We were contacted by the Director of Telecommunications and Networks. He has explained to us

that he would like to put into the branches a new network system which will provide for electronic

mail, data communications, and easier access to customer information by the account managers.

To proceed, we will need to plan our contact strategy in order to get in touch with the right guys at

the right places and in order to convince directly and indirectly the final decision maker within the

decision making unit.

Our planning strategy can be divided in 4 major steps, each one divided in small tasks and objectives.

In this first part, we are going to explain our contact methodology.

Phase 1 - Market intelligence: In this phase we analyze the market in order to determine its specifications and characteristics. This

would allow us to better understand the buying processes within the bank’s (and its branches)

organization and to highlight the important actors and interlocutors within the decision making unit.

Identifying the decision making unit and its components is decisive in this phase, if it is well executed

this would make the other steps a lot easier. In this phase we can use various analytical tools from

the information gathering matrix or the influence circle to the management levels tool or the

User/Specifier/Economic/Sponsor analysis.

In this phase it can also be relevant to analyze the market in order to determine what the potential

opportunities are.

In our case study, thanks to the Director of Telecommunications and Networks, we assume that we

could be able to get in touch with other members of the decision making unit since he is the one who

has contacted us. He acts as a gatekeeper, the potential long term relationship we plan to establish

mostly rely on him at the beginning of the process.

Phase 2 - Market opportunity: In phase 1, we took time to understand the market, the organization and the way it is functioning. In

phase 2, we assume that we have understood the way the organization is functioning, we have to

determine who the key interlocutors are and their influence within the decision making unit thanks

to the analytical tools used before. It is now time for actions. In this phase we can use various action

tools, among those ones, we can talk a little of the GROWs tool (Goal Role Objectives and Work

plan). The main purpose of this tool is to determine how to approach the different interests, and in

what order. Indeed, this tool allow us to determine the level of implication of each member of the

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identified decision making unit and to determine how we are going to contact the most relevant

ones in order to achieve our goal, to sell our networking solution and to build long-term relationship.

Used with the circle of influence, this tool can be very useful and relevant. By understanding the level

of implication of every actor, we can select the best way to contact the right guys at the right places

in order try to convince them that we can provide is the best in terms of quality, reliability and

security for example…

Phase 3 - Relationship Planning

At this stage, we try to determine the optimum relationship strategy with the different actors and

how to be the most efficient to convince them.

Segmentation

We perform a primary segmentation, dividing the different people of the influence circle through

their sector and function, in order to be able to establish priorities among them.

It directly refers to the influence circle: we establish a list by putting who is of first importance (the

recommenders), who can have an impact on the decision (the influencers) and who is the final

decider.

As we saw, the director of information, the director of telecom and networks, the director of

purchasing are recommenders and are of first priority for us. It appears to us that the two most

important persons to convince are the director of telecom and networks and the director of

purchasing (the first one will be directly responsible of the network installed and the second one is

responsible of the act of buying).

The director of customer services, the director of facilities, the Chief Financial officer and treasurer,

the branch managers and director of HR appear as the influencers- at the end they should have a

little bit less impact but shouldn't be neglected at all.

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Here is a diagram showing the segmentation we performed and showing the importance of each

actor in the information chain:

Then we should apply a behavioral segmentation in order to understand each person's purchase

behavior; this will help us knowing how to approaching them and what strategy to adopt.

Phase 4 - Dialog program and integration

Contact Model

The contact model establishes the frequency or volume of contact prioritization between the

different persons in the company. We should establish a dialog planning between them; it would

help us to know where we are in the negotiation process, to see achievements when a person is

"convinced" and to see how well the process is advancing forward.

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Dialog Combinations

Relationship building demands dialogue not monologue. These are based on differing criteria

dependent on job functions and segments. All the data gathered through the dialogues should help

us to build a strong argumentation.

This is how we plan to build a profitable long term solution and how we plan to reach the final

decider. By influencing the right guys at the right places and in the appropriate order, we want to

manage the risk from our client point of view and to secure the in-progress relationship we are

building with the client.

How we are going to proceed

Now it time to see how we are going to proceed:

In the case study, the director of Telecommunication and Network acts as an initiator and

gatekeeper, we have to rely a lot on him. The first important step is to listen to him. By doing this, we

will be able to highlight his needs and wants. Obviously, he wants the system to be changed, that

surely means that the current system they have been using since then is not up to date any more or

does not fit the company’s expectations. In this phase it will be relevant to determine on what extent

potential users of the new network are not satisfied with the current product. By doing this, we can

determine if our solutions fit to their expectations. Once that is done, we have to gather as much

information possible to understand the way the company is functioning. To do so we can ask the

director of Telecommunications and Network to explain who the potential users will be. The

potential users in that case have a key role since they will act as recommenders for the final decider

in the decision making unit. In that case study, we have identified several major interlocutors that

could act as recommenders and influencers:

The recommenders

Director of customer services. He is always focused on the customer so he knows how a

better network system could improve the satisfaction of the client

Director of facilities. He knows everything about the equipment of the company and about

the possible infrastructure that could be set up in the company.

The branch managers : As they are responsible of the account managers in the branches that

will be using the product, they might have an influence in the decision as they represent the

end users of the product

Chief financial officer and treasurers. He is in charge of the finance part of the company so

he knows the financial state of the company and how much it could spend on such a project.

Director of telecom and network. He is at the origin of the project, he wants to replace the

company’s telecom system and call companies like us. He is specialized in this field of activity

so he is qualified to evaluate the needs of the company and also what we can bring to them.

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Influencers

Branch manage and account managers are directly concerned by the new program because they will

be using it every day, so they are very important in the process and need to be convinced.

Once we have listed all the interlocutors, we have to classify them, since they do not have the same

involvement in the decision making unit. For example, the involvement of the director of telecom

and network is more important than the involvement of the director of human services in the

decision making unit. By doing this, we can determine how we are going to communicate with the

interlocutors of the company in a way to convince the final decider. In this phase, we use analytical

tools and action tools such as the ones we referred before in the methodology (information

gathering matrix, circle of influence, GROWs tool…). Thanks to this tool we can determine

information circulation patterns and determined who is involved and why. This is what will be

conditioning our selling strategy for each member of the decision unit.

Other important thing is that they do not seek the same benefits, and at the moment to convince

each actor we will have to consider that. For example, while the director of telecom and network is

seeking a network that could provide email services and shared data, we can imagine that what the

director of human resources is seeking is a way to improve the information circulation within the

organization by using faster equipments.

The trick in this phase is to make the members of the decision making unit acting as strong

influencers and recommenders in order to convince the final decider. If we are able to propose

solutions that can solve every expressed problem by each member, there is a strong probability that

they act as advocates of our solution.

If we take a look at the circle of influence we draw, we notice that there are several interlocutors

that it is strategic to convince:

First of all, the director of telecommunication that acts as an expert, he is the initiator of the project

and the one who expressed to us the need to change the current network system in the first place.

To convince him is very important, in that case study he also acts as a hub since he can put us in

touch with other important members of the decision making unit.

The director of information and services can act as a recommender, we have to listen to what he

have to said since he is closely concerned by the new network system in order to determine what his

needs and wants are and what benefits he is seeking. In that case he may be willing to have a faster

equipment that would allow a better information circulation within the company and that would

improve its profitability.

The director of facilities is responsible for all the equipment in the company and obviously his role is

very important. By questioning him, we may highlight his concerns about the current situation and

we may discover what he does not want our system to be.

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It would also be relevant to question the director of customer services for several reasons: he is in

charge of everything related to customer relationship management and he could be relevant to ask

him what he thinks of the current situation in order to highlight possible problems and to convince

him that our solution could be what he expects for.

The chief financial officer & treasurer is also someone that needs to be convinced. He may be very

reluctant to the purchase of a new network system since it implies quite a big money investment.

The director of human resources and the branch managers are less involved in the decision making

unit as shown in our circle of influence but that does not mean that their role is not important. Their

influence has to be taken in consideration. In the case study, we think that they could have an

influence on the director of telecommunication and network and on the director of information

services since they are daily user of the actual system and they may have very interesting

recommendations for the new network. Since in B2B, every product or service have to be adapted to

each client in order to fit its needs and wants and to build a long-term relationship, it may be

important to include the recommendations of those daily users in our strategy.

As we said earlier, during this whole process, we used dialogs with every member of the decision

making unit and the daily user of the current network to gather information and to build a strong

argumentation in order to convince each member of the decision unit and the final decider in the

end.

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Bibliography

Articles

Take a bigger bite : understanding the Relationship Theme, IAS B2B Marketing :

http://www.iasb2b.com/brandialog/take-a-bigger-bite

Books :

Global Account Management : Understanding the customer’s decision-making process, Peter

Cheverton, published by Kogan Page Publishers, 2008, 242 pages

http://books.google.fr/books?id=QEwXT2F3GssC

Business-to-business marketing : a step-by-step guide, Ray Wright, published by Pearson

Education, 2004, 522 pages

http://books.google.fr/books?id=JfPVXQOLAWsC