Lições de Hidden Champions (parte V)

Parte I, parte II, parte III e parte IV.

Mais um conjunto de lições a reter dos "hidden champions":

• focalização em clientes-alvo de um nicho e procurá-los em todo o mundo: globalização
• desenvolvimento de fortes relações com os clientes

"How does a company ascend to world market leadership? Certainly not by staying at home and waiting for customers to call on it. Instead, the hidden champions venture into the world and offer their products wherever their customers are. This process of globalization typically takes generations and requires unending stamina. In the preceding chapter we learned that the hidden champions operate in narrowly defined and therefore relatively small markets. To expand these markets, the hidden champions have chosen globalization as the second pillar of their strategy besides focus. This means that they are narrow in the substance of their business and wide in the regional dimension. The hidden champions' world markets are far larger than their respective home markets.

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The consequences of narrow market definition are even more pronounced for supernichists and market owners. Even in large countries, niche markets can become tiny. The hidden champions would be doomed to remain small without the possibility of regional expansion. Consequently, globalization is the second pillar of their strategy.

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The narrow market definition based on application, technology, target group or other criteria is coupled with a wide market definition regarding the regional dimension. These are the two major pillars of the hidden champion strategy: specialization in product and know-how combined with breadth in the regional market coverage, normally on a global scale.

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The hidden champions have extremely close relationships with their customers, due to the complexity of the products and services they offer. Three-quarters of the companies practice direct sales. Five times as many employees in hidden champion companies have regular contact with customers than in large corporations, leading to the pronounced closeness.

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Many hidden champions cooperate very closely with their top customers and benefit from them as drivers of performance and as references. The customers' demands are aimed primarily at high performance rather than at low prices. The products and services supplied by the hidden champions offer not only top quality with high-tech content, but also increasingly comprehensive advice and systems solutions. Prices are clearly above market level.

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The hidden champions' relationships with their customers are close and interactive. The main reason is that, in general, they offer complex product and service programs, often even systems solutions. Such programs cannot be sold off the peg, but require detailed consultation processes."

Trechos retirados de "Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century Success Strategies of Unknown World Market Leaders" de Hermann Simon. 

"markets are being pulled in two different directions"

“The concept of levels of value describes the way markets are being pulled in two different directions. Where no real value creation is necessary, where what is being purchased is a true commodity, prices are being reduced to the lowest point possible. Companies are competing by being super transactional, removing the friction of buying and lowering costs. This is the strategy of Level 1 and Level 2 value providers. It is important to note that when a company makes this decision, it is a strategic decision. Super transactional does not simply mean discounting or making pricing concessions. This is how these companies consistently compete.
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The opposite strategy is super relational. This is high trust, high value, high caring. This approach is the very opposite of super transactional, placing greater value on providing results, being proactive, developing customer intimacy, and having deep knowledge and expertise.
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When decisions are complex, with many factors at play and many possible paths forward, relationships of value matter a great deal. This is the strategy of Levels 3 and 4, and because most B2B sales organizations have been creating Level 3, selling the tangible return on investment and solving their client’s existing problems to the point of its being a commodity, success in creating opportunities and acquiring and retaining clients requires Level 4. Level 4 is disruptive in that it allows you to compel change.
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If you behave like you are super transactional, intentionally or unintentionally, you will be treated like a commodity. You will be an attractive alternative only to prospects who care mostly about price, even if they do so to their detriment. This is to be a vendor or supplier (two words that you should be horrified to ever hear your client utter when referring to you), not a trusted adviser (words that produce the sweetest  “sound to your ears).
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Alternatively, if you are super relational, you will attract companies and people who want better results. You will be interesting to people who are growth oriented and people who want to address their systemic challenges and threats and move their companies forward. Being super relational is what makes you a trusted adviser.”

Qual é a direcção da sua empresa?
Que indicadores segue?
Acha que a gestão requerida por uma direcção é a mesma que a requerida na outra direcção?
Acha que a cultura requerida por uma direcção é a mesma que a requerida na outra direcção?

Já pensou a sério nisto? Não?! Talvez seja isto o que lhe está a acontecer: "If you behave like you are super transactional, intentionally or unintentionally, you will be treated like a commodity."

Excerto de: Anthony Iannarino. “Eat Their Lunch”.

Fugir da transacção pura e dura

Um exemplo a estudar e a merecer reflexão "Best Buy Should Be Dead, But It’s Thriving in the Age of Amazon":

"Best Buy’s better-known Geek Squad deploys agents to help customers with repairs and installations. The advisors act as, in Best Buy’s language, personal chief technology officers, helping people make their homes smart or merely more functional.
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Now they’re in this conference room practicing how to sell by seeming not to. “Be a consultant, not a salesperson,” Bucknell says. “Use phrases like: ‘How would you like it if,’ ‘Do you think it would help if you could,’ ‘Have you ever thought about.’ ” They’re supposed to establish long-term relationships with their customers rather than chase one-time transactions. They won’t need to anxiously track weekly metrics and, unlike the Geek Squad and blue shirts working in stores, they’ll be paid an annual salary instead of an hourly wage. Their house calls are free and can last as long as 90 minutes."

 Se não se pode ter o preço mais baixo há que fugir da transacção pura e dura.

Acerca da venda consultiva

"To maximize the power of consultative selling, we have to move beyond a simplistic view of solution selling. It’s not about grilling the buyer but rather engaging in a give-and-take as the seller and buyer explore the client’s priorities, examine what is in the business’s best interests, and evaluate the seller’s solutions.
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Avoid checklist-style questioning.
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 their sales calls felt mechanical and staid. While they gleaned some good information about clients’ needs, allowing them to dovetail the products they were selling into the conversation, there was little buy-in from the prospects they were talking to. There was no sense of shared understanding or that the client had confidence that the seller would be able to help them grow their business.
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Avoid asking leading questions. Nothing falls flatter in a sales call than a question that is clearly self-interested, or makes the seller the master of the obvious.
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Avoid negative conversational behaviors. When sellers are myopically focused on persuading a prospect or winning a piece of business, it creates a negative vibe in the relationship."

Trechos retirados "Sales Reps, Stop Asking Leading Questions"

Está a caminho da irrelevância?

Acerca do truque para subir na escala de valor apostando na interacção, apostando na co-criação, apostando não naquilo que se transacciona mas naquilo que se obtém com o que se transacciona, um texto para reflectir em "You Are Your Dream Client’s Second Brain":

"Your dream client wants to work with someone who knows more than they do in that person’s area of expertise. They need someone who has the knowledge they are missing so that they can fill in the gaps. Your prospective clients want to work with someone with subject matter expertise in their domain, as well as the situational knowledge that comes from spending time helping people with problems, challenges, and opportunities like theirs.
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The dream clients you call on could learn more about your area of expertise if they wanted to. But they don’t because they believe you are supposed to be doing this on their behalf.
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If you aren’t reading newspapers, magazines, and journals (on or offline) to keep pace with the changes in all the things that might affect your dream client’s business, you aren’t going to be invaluable.
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Showing up without a point of view about your client’s greatest risks and threats and the real dangers they are facing makes you irrelevant. If you don’t have a irrelevanireel on the opportunities available to them, then you lack the ability to consult with them on what is possible. If you can’t provide information, experience, ideas, and recommendations, then you literally can’t be an advisor."

Não pensar que isto é só para consultores. Qualquer PME industrial que não pense desta forma está a caminho da irrelevância e morte. Recordar os consultores de compra.

Para reflexão

"Talking too much early in the greeting. No trust; no relationship
Talking too much in the discovery. Can’t learn the true pain
Talking too much in the demo. Feature dumping.
Talking too much in the $ discussion. Unresolved issues
Talking too much on an objection. Don’t learn the real issue
Talking too much in the closing. Tough to make a decision
It might be time for a bit of self-analysis on your part."

Trecho retirado de "Want Better Results? Align Your Sales Strategy With The Communication Curve"

Um texto traiçoeiro?

A relação entre o que o que o cliente precisa e o que o cliente quer e, a diferença entre o vendedor e o consultor de compra.

"Often what a customer wants is diametrically opposed to what they need. As a businessperson, your job is to give the customer what they want. Helping them to understand what they need is also important. However, it’s not your responsibility to convince customers to get what they need. Businesses make money by satisfying their customers. Often it’s easier to sell them what they want than what they need. So that’s where businesspeople should primarily focus their energy."

 Sim, percebo isto. Um cliente não compra um bem ou serviço objectivamente, não pretende a realização pura e simples de um job-to-be-done funcional, também procura algo emocional, experiencial, subjectivo e relativo ... mas pode levar-nos para destinos perigosos. Levar-nos a explorar o lado fácil e fraco dos clientes com algo que os seduz mas que lhes faz mal à saúde ou à carteira.

"If you want customers to feel good about the relationship and are interested in customer retention, you have to give them what they want.
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Sometimes what a customer wants is not what they need. [Moi ici: Lá está... e quem define o que é que um cliente precisa? E qual é o critério objectivo para definir qual a marca e modelo de carro para um cliente comprar?] As a caring human being you may feel it’s your responsibility to tell them as much. In that case the best you can do is share the information you think they need to know but allow them to make what they feel is the right decision without feeling pressured. Sometimes the customer will agree with you, change their purchase, and thank you for your help. Other times they may completely disregard what you say and still pursue what they want over what you know they need. Still, if you want to stay in business you should be willing to sell them what they want without making them feel bad about it.
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In sales, a need is something that solves a real or imagined problem. A want, on the other hand, is simply something that would be nice to have. Often customers have no idea what they need, they simply know what they want. When you give them what they want, in the long run this enables you to build a lucrative ongoing relationship with them. One in which they feel they’re in control.
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What the customer wants is often more of a powerful motivator than what they need. This becomes clear when you listen to your customer and ask them to tell you why they want what they want. Usually they have a burning desire to get what they want and simply what you to show them how they can get it. Customers tend to get more value, joy, and satisfaction from purchasing what they want versus what they need. [Moi ici: Julgo que falta introduzir uma outra variável neste texto, qual é o propósito de quem vende?] Successful businesspeople understand this and know how to use it to their advantage.
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Businesspeople make their living satisfying consumers’ wants and needs. It becomes clear very early in their careers that the average person is usually willing to spend more on want they want than what they need.
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Understanding what your customer wants and giving it to them at a price they can afford has made countless businesspeople successful. Plus it’s a lot easier to sell people what they want than what they need."

Um texto com diferentes interpretações e um pouco traiçoeiro.
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Ainda ontem de manhã, enquanto esperava pelo comboio na estação em Estarreja, aproximou-se de mim um tipo com vinte e poucos anos, bem vestido, cabelo curtinho, de casaco, parecia saudável. De repente começa a tossir e a revelar uma garganta com problemas. Quando já faltavam menos de 5 minutos para a chegada do comboio, vai ao café e regressa. Nem precisei de olhar para ver o que fazia, bastou-me ouvir aquele gesto que os fumadores fazem de bater com o maço antes de o abrir. Um exemplo de alguém que comprou aquilo que queria, não o que precisava. Contudo, era maior e vacinado, exerceu a sua liberdade.
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Um vendedor vende o que tem.
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Um consultor de compra ajuda a comprar o que o cliente quer.
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Será que existe mesmo o que o cliente precisa? Quem o pode definir? Qual o critério para o definir?

Trechos retirados de "The Difference Between Customer Needs and Wants"

Acerca de sectores estáveis e demasiado homogéneos na oferta (parte III)

Parte I e parte II.
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Outro sector do mercado interno onde se pode aplicar a reflexão da Parte I é o da farmácia comunitária.
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Primeiro, por causa de acções de formação sobre o balanced scorecard que realizei em 2005 e 2006 para a Ordem dos Farmacêuticos e, por causa de alguns trabalhos de consultoria com empresas farmacêuticas em 2003 e 2007, escrevi algumas reflexões sobre o sector em postais como estes:

• Um caminho para a farmácia do futuro (2008) (BTW, 2008, antes da troika, do MoU, dos PEC, da austeridade... quem tem olhos que veja e não se porte como os "lesados" do BES)
• A farmácia do futuro (parte II) (2010)
• A farmácia do futuro (parte III) (2011)
• A farmácia do futuro (parte IV) (2011) 
• Mais subsídios para a reflexão sobre a farmácia do futuro (2013) 

Segundo, voltemos à citação da parte I:

"what steps to take when looking for a new way to compete in a relatively stable and homogeneous industry
...
When you are in an industry where the firms are more homogeneous than the customers,"

Actualmente, porque ando a facilitar o desenvolvimento de um balanced scorecard para uma farmácia comunitária, acabo por, nas pesquisas na internet, encontrar textos muito interessantes, por exemplo "Designing Pharmaceutical Services Using the Multilevel Service Design Methodology" (tese de mestrado na FEUP). A página começa assim:

"The pharmacy sector has led a rather static business model for the last decades, highly depending on the sale of pharmaceutical drugs to ensure its economic viability. In Portugal, such business model was threatened with the decrease in the sale margins of pharmaceutical drugs. The decline in margins’ values which were implemented since 2010 triggered the average revenue from the Portuguese pharmacy sector to be negative for both 2011 and 2012."

Claro que este "decline in margins" obrigou a actuação, uns seguiram o caminho mais fácil, o instinto, o preço, o desconto, o "Grab & Go". Outros, o caminho menos percorrido, o do valor (volto à tese de mestrado):

"In order to face the loss of profitability and the low integration in the healthcare system, the pharmacy sector as a whole was forced to change customers’ perception of pharmaceutical services and how these can deliver tangible value to clients. Pharmacists are diversifying the settings in which they practice by expanding and upgrading their business operations while evolving towards providing services beyond the dispensing of medicines. In fact pharmacies are now differentiating in number, level, type and quality of services they provide, developing service offerings aiming at increasing their customer satisfaction.
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a new paradigm is emerging within the definition of pharmaceutical services which can be defined as “an action or set of actions undertaken in or organized by a pharmacy, delivered by a pharmacist or other health practitioner, who applies their specialized health knowledge personally or via an intermediary, with a patient/client, population or other health professional, to optimize the process of care, with the aim to improve health outcomes and the value of healthcare”" 

 O interessante é estar a abordar o desafio recorrendo à service-dominant logic, e ao poder da interacção, para co-criar valor, bem na linha de Gronroos, por exemplo:

E, depois, perceber que os especialistas do sector e eu andamos sintonizados. Em "Are YOU a “value-driven” pharmacy?":

"Pharmacy is the fastest growing occupation in Canada, he added. “This is a problem in an industry with an internal focus on costs savings and cost containment, where the only differentiation between pharmacies is based on price and product offerings,” he said.
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With value-driven pharmacy, however, the focus is from the customer’s perspective and pharmacy is seen as a consultative service.
In order to facilitate the shift to value driven pharmacy, a longitudinal focus is required. This involves focusing on the customer/ patient, seeing health not products, assessing what needs the pharmacist is satisfying per patient, and determining what the pharmacist’s job is actually doing for the customer. “Pharmacy should be practiced as a specialized service. This is where the focus has to change,”"

 Momentos de mudança exigem reflexão estratégica e escolhas!
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Continua.

"Uma outra abordagem (parte VII)

Parte I, parte II, parte III, parte IV, parte V e parte VI.

Gostei neste artigo, "What service transition? Rethinking established assumptions about manufacturers' service-led growth strategies" de Christian Kowalkowski, CharlottaWindahl, Daniel Kindström e Heiko Gebauer, publicado em Industrial Marketing Management 45 (2015) 59–69, da sistematização dos caminhos como os fabricantes de equipamentos podem subir na escala de valor acrescentando serviços:

"we identify three distinct service growth trajectories, including both the expansion and standardization of service offerings to become: (1) an availability provider; (2) a performance provider; and, (3) an ‘industrializer’.
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The transition from a transactional to a relational nature of the customer–provider relationship encourages a gradual implementation of increasingly proactive, flexible, customized, and long-term relationships with customers and partners. The transition from product to process-oriented offerings highlights the need to gradually move towards more complex offerings, add service components, and change the earning logic from discrete to continuous cash flows.
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Additionally, rather than making a complete transition, many suppliers ‘increasingly work towards becoming more of a certain role’.
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rather than transitioning from products to services, firms expand their business through the addition of new, and the bundling of existing, services to their portfolio, infusing higher levels of service into their offerings.
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This paper shows that system suppliers generally perform several distinct roles simultaneously, rather than transitioning from one role to another on a product–service continuum."

Bom para relacionar com "Uma outra abordagem (parte I)"

Previsão acerca do futuro das vendas

Recordar o caso da Xiameter e da Dow como exemplo do que são as vendas transaccionais e as vendas consultivas.
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Assim, é fácil enquadrar esta previsão "1 Million B2B Sales Jobs Will Vanish by 2020 [New Research]":

"Order takers vão ser dizimados."
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"Consultants vai aumentar a sua necessidade"

"In addition to changing sales models, he also suggested reexamining business models. "The reality is a lot of B2B companies we talk to are getting out of the product business entirely -- they're now doing services," he said."

E a sua empresa, em especial se é uma PME que não pode competir com as ofertas comoditizadas e automatizadas, como se está a preparar para esse futuro? Qual é a aposta estratégica?

ir mais além e agir como consultores de compras

Muita da dificuldade identificada em "Uma sensação de vitória" está associada ao tema deste artigo "How You Can Leverage the “Why” Behind a Customer’s “What”".
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As empresas, os comerciais, têm tendência a comportarem-se como vendedores, concentram-se no quê.

"It is good to know, but there is so much more to a sales presentation than simply knowing what a customer wants.
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If we only focus on what buyers want, then we behave just like every stereotypical sales person who unloads an avalanche of feature and benefit jargon in an effort to make a sale."

As empresas e os comerciais devem ir mais além e agir como consultores de compras (recordar aqui, aqui e aqui):

"What did we discover in this version? The customer’s WHY!
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Once you discover what specific factors that turned them into a customer to begin with — the why — you hold the most powerful sales tool of all.
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The what is secondary. Aim for the why and change someone’s world!"

O que se compra é um instrumento, um recurso para processar e obter uma experiência, um resultado.

Meter código nisso com batota misturada

Via André Cruz tive acesso a "Kinematix encomenda "faixas" a campeões ingleses de râguebi".
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Um texto que nos remete para:

• A série "É meter código nisso!";
• A série ""the Internet on crystal meth" e Mongo";
• A interacção entre fornecedor e cliente;
• A venda consultiva e os consultores compra;
• A evolução do retalho físico e a aposta na batota

E, numa vertente muito pessoal, ele também sabe que eu preciso deste serviço, para minimizar as lesões geradas pelo calçado inadequado e incorrecta postura de corrida.

""este é o único equipamento que permite obter informação dentro do sapato".  
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"Hoje o calçado desportivo é muito técnico ou segmentado e isto permite, numa questão de minutos, comparar vários pares de sapatos e ter um resultado muito visual sobre quais são os mais equilibrados, por exemplo, para a sua forma de correr", explicou."

"you get the behavior you reward"

Em conversa, durante almoço familiar, ouvi várias estórias, contadas em primeira mão, sobre a abordagem dos vendedores dos ginásios e, como a mesma é contraproducente criando desconfiança junto dos potenciais clientes.
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Imaginei logo que por trás destas abordagens estarão bónus ou comissões por vendas obtidas. A diferença entre os consultores de compra e os vendedores é impressionante. O consultor de compra primeiro pensa no cliente, o vendedor primeiro pensa em si.
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Interessante, pois, este artigo "Bonuses Should Be Tied to Customer Value, Not Sales Targets":

"we realized that “how” we do our job is just as important as what we do. Ultimately every leader knows that you get the behavior you reward. At GSK, we’ve decided that bonus incentives for our sales professionals should be tied to the value we bring in ensuring that patients are appropriately treated with our medicines.
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This patient focus is a core value for us, along with transparency, respect, and integrity. So instead of specific prescriptions sold, we began to reward our representatives for their patient focus, understanding of their customer, problem solving, and level of scientific knowledge as measured by tests and other assessments.
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Renewing focus on our values by reshaping employee incentives is helping us do more to help doctors help their patients. We are not the only industry that needs to better meet society’s expectations.  Every one of us in the corporate world must look at our business through the eyes of our customers and nimbly respond to their changing expectations."

Consultores de compra e delírios da gestão

Excelente reflexão "A Branch Doesn't Just Sell Products — It Is a Product"
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A diferença entre o vendedor só interessado em impingir algo mais ao cliente, e o consultor de compra, aquele que aconselha o que faz sentido para esse cliente em particular.

"When branch personnel begin to appear more focused on selling additional products to a branch customer than in professionally and cheerfully servicing the business they've already been given by that customer, a vicious cycle is created.The "product" is weakened in the customers' mind when interacting with a living, breathing banker inevitably involves fending off sales pitches. And, fairly or not, there are few professions less trusted than salespeople."

A diferença entre estabelecer metas razoáveis, de acordo com a situação particular e metas estabelecidas em momento de delírio directivo.

Acerca dos consultores de compra e dos modelos de negócio que os vão promover

"It turns out, though, that the ease of making a choice isn’t inherent in the choices themselves, according to the new research, but has much to do with the state of mind of the chooser. This finding overturns the notion, widely accepted by choice researchers and ordinary people alike, that some choices are intrinsically easier than others. And, if properly understood, the study results can help marketers make it easier for buyers to reach a buying decision.
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But the researchers also knew of previous research that indicates that thinking of another person puts people in an abstract, big-picture frame of mind. When we think of a problem or a decision on behalf of another person, especially a person we’re not close to, we tend to get to the crux of the issue instead of getting stuck on distracting details."

"Abundance of choice is today the norm. That is due to the Internet. A physical shop is always limited by its physical space. The Internet knows no limit.
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The first battle cry in e-commerce and on the web was that now people have more choice than ever. More choice, the better was the value proposition. There was no limitation any more. You find any product today on the web in thousands of variations.
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We have now more choice than we can cope with.
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The next years we will see many new business models that put the right choice in the center of the value proposition and build a business model around this."

Trecho inicial retirado de "Uzma Khan: Making Hard Choices Easier for Customers"
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Trecho final retirado de "The Abundance of Choice. A Call For a Fresh Value Proposition; The Need For the Right Choice"

Items or insights?

"To the surprise of many, these firms are showing that commissions can sometimes do more harm than good—and that getting rid of them can open a path to higher profits.
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contingent rewards—I call them “if then” rewards, as in “If you do this, then you get that”—work well with routine tasks social scientists dub “algorithmic.” Think stuffing envelopes quickly or turning the same screw the same way on an assembly line. The promise of a reward, especially cash, excites our attention, and we focus narrowly on getting the job done.
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However, those same if-then rewards turn out to be far less effective for complex, creative, conceptual endeavors—what psychologists call “heuristic” work.
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That leads us back to sales. In the middle of the last century, selling was fairly simple. Memorize your script, open your sample case a certain way, fire back standard responses to predictable objections—and do it over and over again until the law of averages works in your favor.
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Today, though, the transactional aspects of sales are disappearing. When routine functions can be automated, and when customers and prospects often have as much data as the saleswoman herself, the skills that matter most are heuristic: Curating and interpreting information instead of merely dispensing it. Identifying new problems along with solving established ones. Selling insights rather than items.
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Should every company forswear sales commissions? No. But simply challenging this orthodoxy helps us recognize that selling today is sophisticated, complex work—and that the people doing it therefore require incentives beyond a dangled carrot."

E recordo a diferença entre vendedores e consultores de compra.
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Trechos retirados de "A Radical Prescription for Sales" de Daniel H. Pink

Acerca dos consultores de compra

Sim, já o afirmo há muito tempo:

"Vender é mais importante que produzir!"

Não é de ontem, nem do ano passado, nem de há cinco anos.
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Contudo, quando falo em vender, falo de vendas que não são feitas por vendedores, falo de vendas feitas por consultores de compras, gente que ajuda a comprar. Gente que ajuda a comprar não impinge, logo, vai procurar ter para oferecer aquilo que os potenciais clientes precisam mesmo, aquilo que é adequado à sua vida.
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Levado à letra, chega-se a este extremo, qualquer opção obriga a fazer trade-offs, é o espaço de Minkowski.
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Ontem, encontrei este texto de Rags Srinivasan, "Don't be a Product Person, be a Merchant":

"You can obsess over the product, about its velvety finish, beveled edges, etc., but if you fail to understand how and why those features add value to customers that compels them to pay a premium price for it, being a product person is pointless.
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When you are a product person you start with features, think of your product as a bundle of features, speak about features, obsess about features, throw a tantrum when engineering wants to drop a feature because of resource constraints, use words like ‘awesome’, ‘uniquely positioned, ‘award winning, and ‘remarkable’ without explaining what that means and finally price your product as a sum of its parts.
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When you are a merchant you start with customers, those you want as your customers over others, find out what they value and deliver it at a price that matches the value perception and at a cost that makes you a handsome profit.
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A product person keeps iterating on what is at hand, moving along the same curve and failing to jump to another curve.
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A merchant is laser focused on the customer and what job they are hiring the product for. They keep adding many different  curves that are relevant to that customer.
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An ultimate product person is not one who has products in their blood. The ultimate product person is really a ‘merchant‘ who understands that a product is simply a value delivery mechanism."

Vender soluções passa por...

O caso "Case Study: Escaping the Discount Trap" é um desafio interessante e comum a muitas empresas.
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Não se resolve mudar e abandonar uma política de descontos para ganhar negócios de um dia para o outro, para começar a praticar uma "venda de soluções".
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Vender soluções passa por calçar os sapatos do cliente, passa por ver o mundo na óptica do cliente, passa por esquecer o que se vende e concentrar a atenção no que se compra, passa por deixar de confundir o que o cliente pede ou compra com o seu problema ou desafio.

Basear os preços no valor (parte V)

Parte IV.
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O quarto motivo mais invocado para justificar a dificuldade em transmitir valor é, uma consequência natural de tudo o que já se escreveu nas etapas anteriores:
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"Difficulties with sales force management
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value leakage often occurs at the level of sales teams as they attempt to realise annual volume targets and qualify for annual bonuses by extending discounts to customers. In many cases, they do so without understanding the long-term consequences of these discounts.
In many cases, they do so without understanding the long-term consequences of these discounts.
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Companies have traditionally rewarded sales personnel on the basis of sales volume, rather than profit. In contrast, value-based pricing strategies require a system that rewards sales personnel for profitability, rather than for sales volume or market share. (Moi ici: Recordar o título do livro de Hermann Simon - Manage for Profit, Not for Market Share". Ainda há dias estive numa empresa em que os comerciais não tinham qualquer pista sobre as margens de cada um dos produtos da vasta gama que podiam vender... como se podem concentrar no lucro?)
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The effective implementation of value-based pricing requires a fundamental shift in the attitude of sales personnel and therefore entails a significant change in the way sales personnel are trained and developed.  (Moi ici: Recordar o exemplo recente do postal "Chocante" onde se ilustrou o comportamento típico do vendedor do século XX) To identify the subtle wishes of customers, sales personnel must learn to become good listeners;  (Moi ici: Não é vender o que se tem, é ajudar a comprar) moreover, they must learn to be comfortable in selling solutions (rather than products or services) to customers."
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A minha experiência diz-me que esta barreira é bem real, vendedores educados, treinados, moldados, forjados a vender através do preço mais baixo, não sabem vender valor, não sabem fazer venda consultiva. Não só porque não têm experiência, como não têm o material, o argumentário, a reflexão, para pensar em valor. Não têm as ferramentas adequadas!
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A quinta barreira invocada é também  importante:
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"Difficulties with senior management support 
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What really made value-based pricing difficult in our company was senior management claiming to want price premiums and profitability, but then punishing people for not meeting their volume quota.  (Moi ici: Sem comentários... )
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Migrar para um novo modelo em que os preços se baseiam no valor é uma luta titânica a ser realizada empresa a empresa, comercial a comercial, gerente a gerente, é uma mudança de modelo mental que não vai ao encontro da intuição. Contudo, as recompensas são enormes!!!
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Pense nisso, fugir da guerra dos preços, fugir da tirania dos custos.

Chocante...

Há anos que decidi usar as notícias do quotidiano como uma forma de estudar e dissecar casos da vida real, para os relacionar com algumas linhas de pensamento da gestão, da estratégia, da ...
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Hoje, recordei-me dessa decisão ao encontrar um texto que ilustra bem porque tantas e tantas empresas são reféns da proposta de valor do preço mais baixo.
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Não, não se trata de mais uma PME comandada por um empresário com a 4ª classe, escrevo sobre os maiores bancos que operam em Portugal... os bancos com as suas sedes luxuosas, com os milhões de lucro que tiveram ao longo dos anos... e não foram capazes de investir no seu capital humano, e não foram capazes de acompanhar as melhores tendências de desenvolvimento das relações com os clientes.
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E escrevo eu aqui sobre clientes-alvo, sobre proposta de valor... reparem:
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"Esta semana, a meio da manhã, o cliente mistério entrou na CGD, o primeiro banco a ser confrontado com esta pergunta. Foi atendido por um comercial, que não estando a par de todas as ofertas, o encaminhou para um segundo funcionário. Mesmo sem perguntar qual o perfil do investidor, (Moi ici: Sim, eu sei, impressiona. O vendedor típico do século XX, um perfil mais do que obsoleto, deve ser dos tais que olha para o espelho e diz "4º secretário, um cargo muito importante". Nem uma tentativa de agir como consultor de compra!!! Tem um produto e há que o impingir ao potencial cliente. Nem uma tentativa para perceber qual o perfil do cliente, para depois usar um argumentário adequado. Não! Dispara logo a arma do preço... e quero eu que as PMEs comuniquem valor em vez de venderem preço... quantos milhões é que a CGD gasta por ano em formação?)  este bancário começou por sugerir um depósito a prazo com capital garantido (Depósito Crescente Mais a 3 Anos).
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No decorrer da conversa, o funcionário revelou também que com um investimento superior, na ordem dos 100 mil euros, conseguiria negociar uma taxa de juro a rondar os 4,5%, mas apenas por um período de seis meses. Uma estratégia pouco persuasiva para quem tinha apenas disponível um quinto desse valor para investir. (Moi ici: Sim, eu sei, impressiona. o cliente fala e não é ouvido... é uma das piores mensagens que damos numa negociação, o sinal de que não estamos atentos ao que a outra parte diz)
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Ao contrário do que o cliente-mistério estava à espera, foi também aconselhado o investimento em bolsa. "As acções bateram no fundo e esta é uma boa altura para investir parte do capital. Pode comprar da EDP", acrescentou.
Apesar dos mercados financeiros estarem em queda, os funcionários do Millenium BCP e do BES também tentaram convencer o cliente mistério a investir uma fatia dos 20 mil euros em acções dos respectivos bancos. (Moi ici: Nesta altura? Ao nível de um vendedor de carros em 2ª mão pouco, muito pouco escrupuloso. Especulo, só o poder do Estado deve ter protegido os bancos portugueses da entrada de bancos estrangeiros um pouco mais "user-friendly")

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"Mas que garantias dá este produto?", perguntou o cliente-mistério, lendo no documento informativo que existe o risco de perda total ou parcial do capital investido em caso de evento de crédito. "No caso do BES há uma história com 140 anos", tentou tranquilizar a funcionária.  (Moi ici: Sem comentários... )

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Apesar da concorrência e das estratégias comerciais para a captação de depósitos serem diferentes entre os funcionários dos bancos, há uma característica comum a todos eles: simpatia, cartões-de-visita e a promessa de um telefonema   (Moi ici: Treta do vendedor do século XX...) para saber se já decidiu em qual dos bancos vai investir. Em tempo de crise, a perseverança ainda é a melhor técnica para conquistar os clientes com dinheiro."