Study Group D

SEIBEL SYSTEMS: ANATOMY OF A SALE, PART 1

General Introduction to the Case:

In the pacey world of enterprise software, Siebel Systems stands out as a very strong company. Founded in
1993, Siebel has quickly grown to become the world’s largest provider of customer relationship
management (CRM) software. From 1995 through 2000, Siebel was the fastest-growing company in the
history of the software industry, increasing revenue at a compound annual rate through their core values
of customer relationship and sustainability.

Customer Relationship Management

Analytics
Web and Email
Customers

Information
Call Centre
Customer

Back Office
Field

Partners
Marketing

In the first part of a series of three parts, the case outlines the efforts traced out by Gregg Carman, a lead
marketing manager of Seibel systems in order to sell their 2 million dollar management software to a stock
broker firm Quick and Reilly.

Problem Statement: Gregg Carman’s Dilemma:

Gregg Carman’s dilemma revolved around making a $2.1 million sale to a stock broker firm Quick & Reilly
which had recently been acquired by FleetBoston – the ninth largest bank in the US – who wanted to veto
the sale. Now Carman had to take the tough decision whether to go ahead and make the sale or curb down
to FleetBoston’s whims.

In the end Carman finally decides to go ahead and make the sale to Quick & Reilly on the basis of Seibel’s
core values which was aimed at customer satisfaction irrespective of who the customers are and how
strong the opposing forces are.

Question & Answers:

1) How should Carman respond to the invitation to tell the Quick & Reilly executives what he thought
of Oracle?
 His response to Cathy’s question was apt in the situation
i) He did not undermine his competitor i.e. Oracle
ii) He directly launched into a demonstration of Seibel’s solutions dropping off the topic about
Oracle
 Suggested addition to his actions
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i) He could have emphasized more on the products he was selling by providing Cathy with a
brochure containing Seibel’s solutions
ii) He also could have walked her through the various stages of product implementation and
showcased Siebel’s end-to-end solution provision

What features of this particular interaction influenced your opinion?

i) Carman has little or almost no knowledge about the client, their requirements and budget
ii) Oracle being one of Siebel’s leading competitors it would not have been very wise to bring Oracle in
to focus by talking at great length of what he felt of Oracle – this fact was tactfully handled by Carman
iii) Cathy Ridley is a knowledgeable customer
iv) Carman did not feel comfortable directly comparing Siebel to Oracle without prior information on
Q&R’s requirements

Would your opinion about the right response change if the circumstances were different?

 If Carman had full information about Q&R’s requirements and budget

i) In this situation Carman’s appropriate response would be push to sell Seibel over Oracle since
he was fully privy to Q&R’s needs
 If Cathy was not as knowledgeable as she actually was
i) In this case it would be wise for Carman to stick to his original response and he should not go
for a detailed description or implementation issues since Cathy would not benefit much from
such a meticulous discussion

2) How should Carman qualify the prospect?

Carman should qualify the prospect as “HOT” and give it high priority. Q&R is in the open market
dynamically shopping for sales force automation systems. If Carman can address Q&R’s stipulations
and issues he will rapidly and successfully be able to convert the sale.

Should he ask, “What’s your budget?”

Carman should ask openly what Q&R’s budget was. This information gathered in the Pre-
approach stage will allow Carman to draw out and determine his strategy during the selling process as
well as when he finally makes the sale to Q&R executives.

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

No, Carman should not leave it to the prospect since the prospect may not ultimately bring up the
information at all in which case the opportunity will be lost.

If he asks for information how will he use it?

If Carman has the adequate information he will be able to plan out his personal selling strategy and
would be in a better position to sell the product to the powerful buyer i.e. Q&R top management.

3) Evaluate Carman’s interaction with the customer up to this point. Is he doing a good job?
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Yes, Carman is doing a good job up to this point.

Presentation and demonstration – FABV: features, advantages, benefits and value

AIDA: Awareness, interest, desire and action

Presentation styles: Canned - memorised

Formulated

Need satisfaction – customer does most of everything, interactive presentation

Objection handling: logical, psychological

Closing: how to ask for the order

When is the right psychological moment

- Ask straight
- Recap
- Ask a/b
- Ask them to take small decisions
- Stocks may run out, order now
- Give sp. discount

How effective is Seibel System’s approach?

Seibel System’s Targeted Account Selling or TAS approach is a highly effective style of personal selling
because it addresses all the various steps of personal selling. The high effectiveness of the TAS
approach can be attributed to the following factors:
i) It follows a market driven approach and delivers superior customer value through complete
solutions which is hard to replicate by competitors
ii) Gathers accurate information and is in a better position to understand customers than competitors
requirements to deliver a customised product
iii) Creates strategies keeping in mind counter strategies which competition might adopt