Reference no: EM132469275
Chapter Three Case: Bacon Computer Systems, Inc.
Individual Assignment
You have been employed at Bacon Computer Systems, Inc. for over eight years. Yesterday afternoon you received a phone call from your regional sales manager informing you that one of your key accounts, Integrity Insurance, is about to upgrade their computer system. Integrity Insurance is a national insurance company with individual insurance agent offices scattered across the US. The company is in the early stages of designing and specifying a computer system that will place a computer is each insurance agency office, as well as in the offices of key managers at Integrity Insurance, Inc. This new system will be designed to allow each agency office to develop, operate, and maintain its own customer database with the goal of providing better customer service to their customers. This new system will also allow Integrity Insurance headquarters to be networked through the Integrity Insurance mainframe to have improved communications with the individual insurance agencies, and regional offices, and to have access to the individual office databases.
Present Situation
Integrity Insurance has been one of your key accounts for many years and you have a very good working relationship with them. In fact, approximately 40 percent of the computer equipment currently in operation at Integrity insurance are computers that you sold to them. Your contact at the purchasing office of Integrity Insurance, Kathy Brown, has told you that this agency network system is the pet project of Lee Scott, a very "hands-on" CEO. Thus, this system has a very strong probability of becoming a reality. Scott's interests focus on making sure that this system will perform as needed at the corporate, regional, and agency levels. Scott is also concerned that this project receive support internally from managers because it was attempted years ago, and but never progressed to become a reality. Scott is very task oriented, and works at a very fast pace. His employees feel he is tough, and results oriented.
Kathy Brown told you that this system project was started five years ago, became a political football, and thus was never implemented. Because Lee Scott has mandated it, both sides seem to be working together on the current version of this project. This project is currently being led by Sid Lane, the director of the Integrity Insurance MIS department. Sid is very task oriented, and analytical. He will want lots of data before he makes a purchase decision.
The national agency sales director, Tim Gelvin, is also very active in the design and requirement specifications. The previous effort to implement a similar computer system did not have Sid Lane's blessing, and both Lane and Gelvin accused the other of not knowing what they were doing, arguing that the planned computer system wasn't able to perform as the respective department managers needed. Gelvin wants to make sure that it will do what is needed at the corporate, regional and agency levels regarding sales efforts, and is also interested in this project because he brainstormed and spearheaded the similar project that was not implemented previously. Gelvin works at a very fast pace and is normally very relationship oriented. He has very close relationships with the sales managers at each of the Integrity Insurance offices.
Kathy Brown did hint at one issue, however. She said that Intergrity Insurance is concerned because although the corporate office is designing and specifying this new corporate computer system, each agency office is individually owned and so will have to pay for their own computer and software, which will run approximately $5,000 per office. Integrity cannot force the agency offices to purchase the new computers for this system.
As with other selling situations, this project at Integrity Insurance, has all of the makings of a decision that will be made as a result of multiple inputs from an assortment of individuals across the company---a buying team of sorts. As the salesperson having primary responsibility for this account, your goal for your first sales call is to establish rapport with each member of the buying team. You will also need to identify the needs and expectations that will determine the purchases for this project. Identifying these needs and expectations is critical so that you can work with your own technology support people and develop a customized solution to fulfill Integrity Insurance's needs.
How would you go about identifying the various members of the buying center? Complete the chart of the worksheet provided, and then answer the following questions:
1. In what way would the different communications styles of the buying team members present complications in the critical stages of building rapport and discovering the buyers' needs and expectations? What are each managers' communication styles?
2. How can a salesperson effectively build rapport with a team of different individuals that have large variations across their communications styles?
3. In a buying team situation, it is typical that certain needs will be pushed by specific team members while other team members will be vocal in support of other needs that the solution must address. How might a salesperson best present the proposed package of features and benefits and recognize the relevant interests of the different members of the buying team?
4. What suggestions do you have for improving the presentation of the proposed solution and maximizing the positive involvement and buy-in of the different team members?