- 1: Home
- 2: About Us
- 3: Why Outsource
- 4: Why GMT
- 5: Services
- 6: ROI
- 7: Careers
- 8: Whitepapers
- 8.1: Feast to Famine
Current page is 8.2: Willy Loman is Dead
- 8.3: Predictable Pipeline?
- 8.4: Telemarketing and Telesales.
- 8.5: News
- 9: Contact Us
- 10: Site Map
Pipeline Management
Willy Loman is dead
Most of us have heard of Willy Loman, the salesman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, whose selling tools were a ‘a shoeshine and a smile’. I am still surprised today when I hear salespeople say, in the spirit of Willy, ‘just get me in front of a prospect and I can sell’. For those of us who specialise in pipeline management it would be seductively easy to go along. After all, getting appointments for salespeople is not difficult.
The hard work is gathering intelligence about target customers, mapping out the relationships within organisations and uncovering the compelling events or situations which would make a sales visit worthwhile. Getting the appointment is the easy part. Consistently selling high value solutions requires a strategic approach, built on knowledge about the target market. The approach of the hero salesman charging the defenses, with nothing but his silver tongue, is as dead as Willy.
The market winners today understand the process. They are not sidetracked by activity for its own sake. They know that sending salespeople out on unqualified appointments adds to the total cost of sale and negatively affects the morale of the salesforce. Yet many sales managers still give in to the emotional lure of pushing the salespeople out in front of anyone who will see them. Salespeople mostly go along because it is human nature to want to look busy to the boss. Which approach wins in the long term? I know which way I would bet. Disagree? Want to discuss? Other opinions are welcome. Email me at jdick@gmtmailbox.com
Find out what a 2000-year old strategic thinker has to say on the subject of gathering intelligence. I will send Sun Tzu’s The Art of War free to the first ten contacts. Global Marketing Technologies specialises in sales pipeline management and lead generation for technology companies in the UK, Ireland and other EU countries and we don’t set up unqualified appointments.