Take stock in sales process to avoid getting burned - bizjournals:

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He spent three months working on the and if he got it he woulddmake quota, get his bonus and finally be able to take his Michelle, on that trip to Europed he had promised her for Charlie had no reason to doubtr the sale was his. The experienced salesman for ABC knew Greg, the customer’s purchasintg agent, for most of a decade. The two oftenm spent long afternoons on theback nine, playinbg golf and sharing stories about their families. Both had two kids graduatiny fromhigh school. When they met last Thursdayy for drinks, Greg did everything but promised Charlie that the orderd was inthe bag.
But when Charlie heard the toneof Greg’sx voice on the line, he knew something was terribly wrong. I did everything I could and untiol about four days ago I was sure that my recommendatio to give you the order was a explainedGreg sheepishly. “But the CFO and the executiv vice president of marketing intervened and decided that the sale should go toXYZ Corp. Your price was but the sales repat XYZ, Tom showed us how his approach would increasd our cash flow and revenue growth. Tom also had some good ideasz that our executive vice president of marketinf said would help us to differentiateour brand. I’mm really disappointed.
In fact, I need to do a realitty checkon myself: I can’t help but wonder if I’m losing credibility in the eyes of the Greg confessed. Charlie had seen Tom Robinsobn more than once atthe customer’s offices talking with people Charlie had never met. “Wse had the cutting-edge technology, the lower price and better cost savings for Greg’s company,” Charlie thought to himself. “ I was sure we would win. But Tom somehoww beat me to the punch.” Charlie felt deeply disappointed, but for the first time, he also felt His wife told him that the phonre call seemed to age himfive years.
For the past 12 Charlie has been on the receivingf end of four similarcalls — all from thosed whom he had knownh and trusted the Suddenly, fear struck him to his ­marrow. He doubtexd himself in a way thathe hadn’ for a very long time. “Have I lost my he wondered. He knew he had just lost his his bonus and that tripto Europe, but he didn’r know whether he would still have his job this time next Nobody bats a thousand, but when you keep losingg sales ­despite having great products and it’s time to take a step back. You have to reconside r what you’re trying to accomplisnh and how you’re goingv about doing it.
In fact, it might be time to reinvent the way you Consider that the traditional salesprocess hasn’t changed much for more than a hundredc years. Its roots are in a time when supplies were tight and suppliers held the Orders were booked months in advance and anxious for a steady supply of material and lacking informationabout availability, had little room to negotiat price. Salespeople were basically order takers, but that now is the exceptionj and notthe rule.
As the numbetr of suppliers has increased, salespeoplr have evolved from order takersto ambassadors, plying thei social skills to learn what a customer needs and usint their product knowledge to presenf products and services to match those This is a great time to take stoco of your sales process to avoie walking in Charlie’s shoes.