How to teach salespeople to speak with developers
I think the users of “Habra” more than once encountered sales managers. These are the guys for whom the laws of logic and physics are advisory in nature. Especially for them, I decided to write a few simple examples of how it should and how not to communicate with developers, designers, engineers and other specialists.
No offense, I wish you all good and mutual understanding!
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How wrong: “I have already promised the client that we can handle it in two months instead of a year. We'll have to speed up a bit. Maybe free pizza will cheer you up? ”
What thoughts it causes: Imagine a scene from the movie “Chainsaw Massacre”. If you cut the salesman into two parts, the sales will double, right?
How correctly: “Dear developers, what is really done in two months?”
How wrong: “We thought that the costs would be 1M, but we will have to do everything for 0.4M and still the client wants additional functionality!”
What thoughts it causes:
- Great, let's hire outsourcers from Bangladesh.
- Do they really know Java there?
- Not sure - they are still looking for someone who knows English. But very cheap!
How correctly: “Dear developers, what is really done for 0.4M?”
How wrong: “It's obvious that this button should flap its wings, grunt and at the same time fulfill the request to the gosuslugi portal through the API. We need to finish it, as we agreed! ”
What thoughts it causes: We have been waiting here with the whole team for a year now when your stocks of hallucinogens will end. But it looks like you are working on a chemical plant.
How correctly: “Here is the TOR for revision, let's evaluate.”
Life example:
The customer decided to develop his type of Skype from scratch, only better. Salesman believed that we could, because one of his friends streamed the Maidan, and everything worked, and he also found fully prepared modules for transmitting video and audio streams. The analyst at the meeting demanded a research stage with a starting budget. The project has moved, but the sales person is something despondent. After all, the percentages are not at all those, but the client broke his Full HD dream! And it does not matter that the homegrown Skype lagged like a little turtle without legs.
How wrong: A letter on Friday at 18:30: “We need to prepare slides until Monday, the end of the world is on fire !!!”
What thoughts it causes:
Ok, they asked: “And what are the slides about?”, And we are already waiting for a month to answer, they called, reminded, begged. Can not think about what the slides.
How wrong: Again, the letter on Friday at 18:30: “The end of the world, we need those slides, they should be about jelly and rubble”
What thoughts it causes: We already understood that you are writing from a chemical plant, but still, what the hell is rubble?
Answer: “Dear colleagues, I am on vacation, I will be unavailable for two weeks”
How correctly: “Dear designers, send a brief sample on the slides - I can not understand what the client wants from us.”
Examples from life:
- We offered the client to the event augmented reality to “Vzhuh! And there is a comet in the sky ”, masks, as in Masqrd, only branded, Instagram streams through our app and your FindFace with Shazam. It is necessary to quickly calculate all this! The budget is unknown, but you do not accelerate. The development will be 2 months.
A month has passed ...
- Well, where are you? What does the customer say?
- And we sold him an awning and trampoline, and still alive kangaroos. But we will definitely offer him digital next time.
How wrong: “We sold the system to the client for 10M rubles, it will integrate the rental of mountain bikes with a wooden crutches shop. Since people with disabilities rarely ride mountain bikes, we suggested adding an application for blind children. As a bonus, the integration of merry tire with gamification was sold: while you are sitting in the queue, joyful clowns entertain you! ”
What thoughts it causes: Ohhh gods! What sins am I here for? Why didn't you give me a chief technologist at a chemical plant?
How correctly: “Dear developers, here you have the terms of reference for bike rental, the rest will be discussed after the completion of MVP.”
Examples from life:
Client: “We want to make educational broadcasts! This should be very high quality! Shooting from all angles. Well, you understand! But so that it was right here is very simple. One button! The market is ready, we want to start before the new year. ”
Salesman: “Dro-oh-oh-oh! They fly and take off! Let's start with integration with the drone! “
Client: “Exactly! The drone will fly me around the stage during our presentation and everyone will be able to plug in their VR helmet to look at me from the first person. ”
How wrong: “Well, you are professionals! You should know how to integrate mountain bikes, crutches, tire clowns and blind children? ”
What thoughts it causes: Wake me up, I sleep? After all the truth? True, I sleep! Oh please! Let it be as if I was sleeping and now I wake up.
How correctly: “Dear developers, here you have the specifications for cycling windshields, evaluate the feasibility.”
Examples from life:
- In the XXX department we agreed to collect a fee for fines, a year passed, no fines come, everyone breaks for free, the main traffic cop is very unhappy!
- We need to wait a little more - the students you hired have already learned how to print “Hello world” on a printer for letters with fines. Soon for the camera will take.
How wrong: “So, I promised the client that we have a lot of familiar clowns and specialists in crutches. Find me these urgently! ”
What thoughts it causes: You know, we at least have one fierce clown. But, now you need to look for new crutches specialists. We quit, we leave to you the bicycle storage in our repository.
How correctly: “I'm afraid to lie to the client, so I decided to consult with you: do we provide crutches, bicycles and clowns?”
Examples from life:
- We have 30 developers on staff!
- And the annual turnover, you said, three million, yes? They have you that, for 7 tr. per month receive?
- We have already done this many times!
“Hmm ... other contractors told us that this does not exist in nature.”
How wrong: “Let's redo this already approved layout. After all, he will become even better and the client will love us even more.
What thoughts it causes: Do good and get a new 20 rounds of edits as a gift!
How to correctly: “I know how to make this layout better. I believe this will help me sell better. Is anyone here willing to help me redo it? Just don't throw furniture at me, I forgot my hard hat at home. ”
Examples from life:
- Send me an updated layout
- He is not ready, changes are made by the designer, promises in a couple of days!
- How, and perhaps the analyst did not make them directly at the meeting with the client?
- What? Not! He made screenshots and framed selected editing points. He did not rule the design! True!
How wrong:
- We do not have TK!
- We must try!
- The budget is not enough for this functionality!
- We must try!
- In these terms it is impossible to meet
- We must try!
What thoughts it causes:
- No strength, how do you want to strangle you!
- It is necessary to post ... oaaa ... .khe ... khe ...
How correctly: “Let's think together what needs to be done to remedy the situation.”
Examples from life:
- XXXenergo wants to connect to our payment system to invoice and auto payments. I promised that we would automate them business processes for free if they connect.
- What do they have there, 1C?
- No, they have everything on paper for now.
- But we are a micro payments aggregator! We have never implemented ERP in power plants!
- I believe that you can do it, we must try!
I hope that sales managers have become even a little clearer, as they are understood by those who now have to rake it all up. Repeat yourself often: “Santa Claus - no. Gifts put under the tree parents. The developers are not wizards, and do not know how to get ready-made projects for clients from a large black cylinder. ”
On “Habré” there are a lot of developers, designers and other specialists that sales managers often face. Let's help the salespeople talk to us correctly.
Write in the comments your cases with salespeople: how you should, what you think, how not to - we will discuss.
No offense, I wish you all good and mutual understanding!
')
Let's play with the agreements and terms
How wrong: “I have already promised the client that we can handle it in two months instead of a year. We'll have to speed up a bit. Maybe free pizza will cheer you up? ”
What thoughts it causes: Imagine a scene from the movie “Chainsaw Massacre”. If you cut the salesman into two parts, the sales will double, right?
How correctly: “Dear developers, what is really done in two months?”
How wrong: “We thought that the costs would be 1M, but we will have to do everything for 0.4M and still the client wants additional functionality!”
What thoughts it causes:
- Great, let's hire outsourcers from Bangladesh.
- Do they really know Java there?
- Not sure - they are still looking for someone who knows English. But very cheap!
How correctly: “Dear developers, what is really done for 0.4M?”
How wrong: “It's obvious that this button should flap its wings, grunt and at the same time fulfill the request to the gosuslugi portal through the API. We need to finish it, as we agreed! ”
What thoughts it causes: We have been waiting here with the whole team for a year now when your stocks of hallucinogens will end. But it looks like you are working on a chemical plant.
How correctly: “Here is the TOR for revision, let's evaluate.”
Life example:
The customer decided to develop his type of Skype from scratch, only better. Salesman believed that we could, because one of his friends streamed the Maidan, and everything worked, and he also found fully prepared modules for transmitting video and audio streams. The analyst at the meeting demanded a research stage with a starting budget. The project has moved, but the sales person is something despondent. After all, the percentages are not at all those, but the client broke his Full HD dream! And it does not matter that the homegrown Skype lagged like a little turtle without legs.
Hyperactivity, intrusiveness and loss
How wrong: A letter on Friday at 18:30: “We need to prepare slides until Monday, the end of the world is on fire !!!”
What thoughts it causes:
Ok, they asked: “And what are the slides about?”, And we are already waiting for a month to answer, they called, reminded, begged. Can not think about what the slides.
How wrong: Again, the letter on Friday at 18:30: “The end of the world, we need those slides, they should be about jelly and rubble”
What thoughts it causes: We already understood that you are writing from a chemical plant, but still, what the hell is rubble?
Answer: “Dear colleagues, I am on vacation, I will be unavailable for two weeks”
How correctly: “Dear designers, send a brief sample on the slides - I can not understand what the client wants from us.”
Examples from life:
- We offered the client to the event augmented reality to “Vzhuh! And there is a comet in the sky ”, masks, as in Masqrd, only branded, Instagram streams through our app and your FindFace with Shazam. It is necessary to quickly calculate all this! The budget is unknown, but you do not accelerate. The development will be 2 months.
A month has passed ...
- Well, where are you? What does the customer say?
- And we sold him an awning and trampoline, and still alive kangaroos. But we will definitely offer him digital next time.
Confusion of consciousness (figurative thinking)
How wrong: “We sold the system to the client for 10M rubles, it will integrate the rental of mountain bikes with a wooden crutches shop. Since people with disabilities rarely ride mountain bikes, we suggested adding an application for blind children. As a bonus, the integration of merry tire with gamification was sold: while you are sitting in the queue, joyful clowns entertain you! ”
What thoughts it causes: Ohhh gods! What sins am I here for? Why didn't you give me a chief technologist at a chemical plant?
How correctly: “Dear developers, here you have the terms of reference for bike rental, the rest will be discussed after the completion of MVP.”
Examples from life:
Client: “We want to make educational broadcasts! This should be very high quality! Shooting from all angles. Well, you understand! But so that it was right here is very simple. One button! The market is ready, we want to start before the new year. ”
Salesman: “Dro-oh-oh-oh! They fly and take off! Let's start with integration with the drone! “
Client: “Exactly! The drone will fly me around the stage during our presentation and everyone will be able to plug in their VR helmet to look at me from the first person. ”
Belief in unicorns
How wrong: “Well, you are professionals! You should know how to integrate mountain bikes, crutches, tire clowns and blind children? ”
What thoughts it causes: Wake me up, I sleep? After all the truth? True, I sleep! Oh please! Let it be as if I was sleeping and now I wake up.
How correctly: “Dear developers, here you have the specifications for cycling windshields, evaluate the feasibility.”
Examples from life:
- In the XXX department we agreed to collect a fee for fines, a year passed, no fines come, everyone breaks for free, the main traffic cop is very unhappy!
- We need to wait a little more - the students you hired have already learned how to print “Hello world” on a printer for letters with fines. Soon for the camera will take.
To lie when it is not necessary to lie at all
How wrong: “So, I promised the client that we have a lot of familiar clowns and specialists in crutches. Find me these urgently! ”
What thoughts it causes: You know, we at least have one fierce clown. But, now you need to look for new crutches specialists. We quit, we leave to you the bicycle storage in our repository.
How correctly: “I'm afraid to lie to the client, so I decided to consult with you: do we provide crutches, bicycles and clowns?”
Examples from life:
- We have 30 developers on staff!
- And the annual turnover, you said, three million, yes? They have you that, for 7 tr. per month receive?
- We have already done this many times!
“Hmm ... other contractors told us that this does not exist in nature.”
Improve the best, speed up the fast
How wrong: “Let's redo this already approved layout. After all, he will become even better and the client will love us even more.
What thoughts it causes: Do good and get a new 20 rounds of edits as a gift!
How to correctly: “I know how to make this layout better. I believe this will help me sell better. Is anyone here willing to help me redo it? Just don't throw furniture at me, I forgot my hard hat at home. ”
Examples from life:
- Send me an updated layout
- He is not ready, changes are made by the designer, promises in a couple of days!
- How, and perhaps the analyst did not make them directly at the meeting with the client?
- What? Not! He made screenshots and framed selected editing points. He did not rule the design! True!
Need to try
How wrong:
- We do not have TK!
- We must try!
- The budget is not enough for this functionality!
- We must try!
- In these terms it is impossible to meet
- We must try!
What thoughts it causes:
- No strength, how do you want to strangle you!
- It is necessary to post ... oaaa ... .khe ... khe ...
How correctly: “Let's think together what needs to be done to remedy the situation.”
Examples from life:
- XXXenergo wants to connect to our payment system to invoice and auto payments. I promised that we would automate them business processes for free if they connect.
- What do they have there, 1C?
- No, they have everything on paper for now.
- But we are a micro payments aggregator! We have never implemented ERP in power plants!
- I believe that you can do it, we must try!
Conclusion
I hope that sales managers have become even a little clearer, as they are understood by those who now have to rake it all up. Repeat yourself often: “Santa Claus - no. Gifts put under the tree parents. The developers are not wizards, and do not know how to get ready-made projects for clients from a large black cylinder. ”
On “Habré” there are a lot of developers, designers and other specialists that sales managers often face. Let's help the salespeople talk to us correctly.
Write in the comments your cases with salespeople: how you should, what you think, how not to - we will discuss.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/318350/
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