Founded in 1993 by Tom Siebel By 2000, revenue reached $2 billion, employed 8,000 people approx.

In 2001-World leader in CRM software with 50% market share in sales management, marketing automation, customer service, and support. Pioneered market for Employee Relationship Management (ERM) More than 200 products & marketed Go-tomarket strategy with direct sales force

100% commitment to Customer Satisfaction Professionalism-Committed to do everything it takes to benefit clients with their product Professional Courtesy-Unmatched level of mutual respect among employees Bias for Action-Efficiency and spread of response

Gregg Carman`s DilemmaCathy Ridley(VP) wanted to introduce sales force automation in 1996 Carman was negotiating a $2.1 million sale to Quick & Reilly FleetBoston (recently acquired Quick & Reilly) wanted to veto the purchase Should Carman sell the product to Quick & Reilly or stand by FleetBoston`s wishes?

How should Carman respond to the invitation to tell the Quick & Reilly executives what he thought of Oracle? His response to Cathy Ridley is appropriate 1) He does not undercut Oracle 2) He launches into a demonstration of Siebels solutions What else could he have done? a) Provided Cathy literature of Siebels products b) Walked her through the various stages of product implementation and showcased Siebels end-to-end solution provision

What features of this particular interaction influence your opinion?

1)

2)

3) 4)

Carman has no information about the client requirements or budget Oracle is among Siebels leading competitors, so bringing Oracle into focus may not be a good idea Cathy Ridley is a knowledgeable customer Carman is not comfortable directly comparing Siebel to Oracle without prior information on the customers requirements

Would your opinion of the right response change if the circumstances were different? Carman has full information about Q&Rs requirements and budget Carman should push to sell Siebel over Oracle because he knows exactly what the customer wants 2) Cathy Ridley is not very knowledgeable Carman should stick to his original response, since Cathy would otherwise not appreciate the differences between Siebel and Oracle

1)

How should Carman qualify the prospect? Q&R is in the market actively shopping for sales force automation systems. If Carman can address Q&Rs requirements, he will quickly and successfully be able to convert the sale.

Should he ask, Whats your budget? YES. The information (Pre-approach stage) Carman gathers will determine his strategy when he sells to Q&R executives. ask, Whats your budget?

Should he suppress his curiosity and leave it to the prospect to bring up information about the size and timing of the opportunity?

NO.
The prospect may not bring up the information at all in which case the opportunity will be lost.

If he asks for information, how will he use it? Sell the product to the powerful buyer, i.e. Q&R top management (the right set of executives)