KILL-ONE-AT-A-TIME...

Can you do it? These were the words of my boss ringing in my head with my immediate supervisor looking at me to respond to it. I was silent, dead silent. I was just looking at the paper in the hands of my boss on which department agenda was written. I don’t recall why but 4 months back I had asked my boss to give me more challenging task than taking care of the regions which I already did. Working in Siemens in International Sales for power sector was a big deal for me as I had not been long here and also with no prior sales or marketing specialization or experience. Was comfortable with handling the already acquainted Gulf region and had converted many offers into orders. But this was something new and huge. I thought ‘Why my boss asked me that question?’ But then I asked myself ‘Do I have a plan?  Have I done my homework to live upto the expectations of my management? Am I going to fetch more than what my management is spending on me? Above all, am I going to break the stint of series of contracts being lost over the past 2 years?’ I had no answer but one thing I was sure of that I will find the answer to this question. 

No orders in last 2 years from Brunei, a South-East Asian country near Malaysia. Siemens had lost the winning note which it enjoyed 2 years back and I was asked to make a re-entry into the market. With pressure from HQ, Siemens Germany, and my initiative to do something more challenging had landed me at a juncture where I was given complete freedom to ensure that Siemens makes a re-entry into the market. Where to start from and how do I start? I started thinking and taking one problem at a time.

First question – Where is the lead? To answer this, I found myself standing at the doors of the record room where all the old files are preserved as per the ISO guidelines. Checked some 18 odd box files full of papers and brought about 4 files back to my desk. I checked the files thoroughly and tried to understand the way the orders were acquired and executed some 5 or 6 years back. I checked for the names on the client side and their designation and started making a note. On one side I thought of taking help of seniors who had worked on those projects earlier but now they were transferred to another department and also were at a much better position. But at the same time another tiny thought was troubling me and pushing me to do it all alone and keeping that option last. I checked the internet and tried to find out the existing players in the past 2 years. I tried to understand the key players on the client side and found 3 key people. One of them was the decision maker while other 2 were his subordinates who used to feed their boss with information.  All techies!  I arranged my trip to meet them to pursue them to buy Siemens product over competitors at the price which my boss has told me to.  All the while in the flight to Brunei, I was thinking how my approach would be however nothing clicked. Reached Bander Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei and met my local counter part in Brunei. Suddenly something clicked and I told him to arrange meeting with each of them separately the next day. To this my colleague was surprised and said that it would be better if we meet all of them together as it was hard to get the appointment. I denied.

The next day morning I met one of the subordinates who preferred the competitors’ product more than ours and discussed at length the details of their requirement and also their apprehensions with the current products of all the vendors and expectations from us. Presented the catalogue and the working presentation to him and got him convinced that our product was good and superior to others. I went one step ahead and informed him that their specifications were old and thus should be changed to be in line with the new technology to get the best out of their vendors. He was convinced and floored. One down! I didn’t touch the price issue at all. 

Then I had arranged the meeting with the 2^nd subordinate who apparently knew our product well and he was concentrating more on the issues like delivery time, price and services. I informed him that not only the services but we can package the current product with other small products that we manufacture and are used by them and give a bulk discount. Also informed him that their workers in the substations would be trained and certified by Siemens for which we would send our service representatives to help them out however these would be one time charges but would save them a lot of money in long run. His happy face conveyed that he was convinced too.  Two down!

Then the next day I arranged for an appointment with the main boss which was the main agenda for coming here. Sitting in the conference room, the boss came with both his subordinates and then asked me to proceed. I did the usual blah blah to which the boss asked his subordinates to come up with any apprehensions. Instead both recommended that the product and services provided by Siemens would be preferable and their prices are lower for the product and service they are providing. Their boss had nothing to say but to accept our proposal and include our product in their next tender evaluation. 

All I did was adopted a very simple way which I then called as ‘Kill-One-At-A-Time’ approach. Had I gone directly into the conference meeting, it would have been difficult to convince all the three of them together. I just divided them, heard their apprehensions, addressed them and had their mindset to my tune before the big meeting with their boss. I tried to show them value for their money and helped them have a look at a technologically superior product. A simple approach paid well for me. A couple of weeks later, we received the first order. Carrying its copy to my boss’ cabin I stood silent there, but this time I managed to silence two more people.