Fit for the face off

Professional buyer Tim Ussher provides the third feature in his series, this time advising on meeting buyers and pitching to them

My introduction to this series to hand – it’s much better to be able to answer a asked if sellers really are buyer query on the spot than have to say you don’t doing everything they should know or will try to find out. to impress buyers, and it Technology plays a vital role these days in highlighted a key question presenting slideshows, charts of data or online for sellers to ask their demonstrations. Get these laptops turned on prospects: “What do I have to do to win this before the meeting, memory sticks ready, have contract?” In the second feature, we aimed to backup hard copies in case of PC failures, even ask improve our understanding of the buyer and their for access to the room to set up before the buyer drivers, and also the importance of information enters. I sat through a key meeting recently with a and preparation. Here, I talk about meetings with large team of 12 stakeholders, waiting almost ten the buyer, and pitching to them. minutes for the seller to get his PowerPoint finally

Suppliers often underestimate the importance of sorted on his PC and matched with the projector. those relatively few meetings they have with the It was painful, and he had a lot of credibility to buyer. A typical tender process, pitch, negotiations recover after that (which he didn’t manage...). and business award, even one for millions of pounds, might only require three or four meetings. FOLLOW THE FORMAT Even if each meeting is, say, an hour, that’s just A well-organised and transparent process will four hours over a period of maybe two to three usually be clearly explained by the buyer, so if they months in which the supplier has the opportunity give you topics to cover or a format they’d like you to be absolutely outstanding in front of the buyer. to follow – follow it. Of course, add any extra bits

I believe the buyer also has everything to gain by you want to cover at the end, but don’t disrespect being highly impressive, them by ignoring their setting high standards and representing both themselves and their company in the best possible light. For your “Buyers love sellers who can ‘fix’ things and solve problems – doesn’t everyone?” guidance on meeting format – it’ll only frustrate them. It’s likely they’re comparing you against part, as a supplier, you must other suppliers, so embrace make the most of these relatively small windows of the opportunity to shine and make it easy for the face-to-face opportunity. The buyer is judging you buyer to pick you out from a crowded field. all the time, so here are some guidelines for meeting and pitching to the buyer. MANAGE YOUR TIME Aside from the obvious rule of being there on BE PREPARED time, I remain amazed at the number of sellers Know what you want from the meeting, plan how and professional businesspeople who, despite being to get it, and agree an agenda beforehand, if told before a meeting how much time they have, possible. Ensure the members of your team all still find themselves incapable of managing this. know what is expected of them and how things They chat away for ten minutes while still on the will be presented. Rehearse, if necessary, and know first slide, or end up leaving the important final each other’s roles in the meeting. Have everything four slides with only two minutes to go, or have

OUR BUYER TIM USSHER has spent his entire career of over 30 years as a buyer. He began buying for a large retail chain with 1,400 stores, moved to cash and carry and then over to manufacturing. He went on to become chief procurement officer (CPO) for several major companies. In the UK he has been CPO for BSkyB and Virgin Media, where he managed procurement teams of over 75 buying staff. In addition, he has led global procurement organisations of up to 340 procurement staff worldwide for multinationals such as Hilton, Williams Cleaning and Security Group and Regus. In 2002, Ussher won the inaugural Purchasing and Supply Chain Professional of the Year award from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), the procurement industry’s top individual award. In his current role of independent consultant CPO, he has carried out major reviews and established new or improved procurement functions for the London 2012 Olympics, EMI, Diageo and British American Tobacco. Ussher is passionate about continuous improvement within both buying and selling to drive up performance and professional standards. As he explains, “I want salespeople to be better at what they do, because sellers on top of their game helps buyers do their job more effectively. That’s what buyers want – brilliant suppliers with outstanding salespeople.”

to be reluctantly prompted by either their own team or the buyer on timekeeping. Plan your time and rehearse if necessary. The buyer is busy and may have another (more competent) seller waiting for their meeting slot. They may also have agreed with their team not to time-keep for the seller as part of treating everyone the same. Poor time management simply scores against you, and the buyer may even start to wonder if they want the risk of dealing with So that concludes my pitch… oh, did I run over?someone so unreliable. HAVE A CAN-DO ATTITUDE these days: to the point, with great graphics, and Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. well rehearsed. If yours isn’t, it’ll be remembered Buyers love sellers who can “fix” things and solve for the wrong reasons. If modifying a deck from a problems – doesn’t everyone? Try to respond to previous presentation to another firm, be careful issues or problems with “leave that with me” or not to leave any mentions whatsoever of the other “I’ll sort that”. A positive, helpful attitude really customer in the deck. Any feeling you may have wins over the buyer. Even if sometimes you come engendered in the buyer that they are special will back with less than the buyer wants, at least you’ve go straight out of the window. I’ve seen it happen... tried. You’ve empathised with their requests and it feels like you have their best interests in mind. DO WHAT YOU PROMISED Buyers are offering a big contract, not getting Take meeting notes, which ideally should be quotes from builders who draw in their breath shared and agreed, and ensure you have carried mumbling how hard the job could be... One out everything reasonably expected or asked of salesperson, when pitching for an important you. The buyer wants to be dealing with someone award, stated halfway reliable, proactive, efficient through that they probably wouldn’t be able to supply us immediately as they were “If the buyer wants to ‘control’ their meetings, let them” and trustworthy. Impress the buyer by fulfilling your actions as soon as possible. so busy – unbelievable... Keep them appraised of

I once asked my procurement department how progress and completion – you can’t build a good they valued a seller’s experience compared with reputation on what you’re going to do “sometime”. their attitude. They started off by favouring experience, but as the conversations went on, they DON’T PRESSURE BUYERS swung right over to attitude being more important: Trying to put the buyer under pressure will usually “They may be knowledgeable, but no-one wants to backfire. They simply resent it. This review is their deal with someone who is unlikeable or arrogant.” process, they run it, they are the customer. The end vote was 80% for attitude – a powerful Occasionally, the odd larger and more arrogant message.

PRESENT PROFESSIONALLY Tailor your slides to your audience. By that I mean format and topics to cover. Do they like facts and charts, or lighter bullets to talk through and pictures? Remember, a buyer will absorb everything on each slide within a few seconds, so the last thing they want is to have to sit through it being read out. Put bullet prompts on the slide for you to expand on and bring to life.

Don’t use moving pictures, cartoon GIFs or too much colour. Go for a clean, professional look, with white backgrounds. Place the buyer’s company logo with yours on each slide – this subtly starts to present your firms working together. Buyers expect presentations to be pretty amazing

corporation (usually a software behemoth) still tells my team they can only do a discount if the contract is signed by the end of the month. Sounds more like a double-glazing salesperson to me. Come on, what discount is there on a Wednesday 31st that disappears on the morning of Thursday 1st? We know suppliers have monthly or quarterly targets, and possibly a bonus at stake, but be patient. It just looks desperate if you try to impose deadlines on a buyer, who won’t let a discount be taken away once it’s been mentioned, in any case.

CONCEDE CONTROL, SOMETIMES Suggest and agree the agenda, and chair the meeting, if that’s what the buyer you’re seeing likes. But if the buyer wants to control their meetings, let them. There are no points on offer for a personality battle just to run a meeting. After all, it’s their meeting you’ve been asked to attend.

I’ll never forget sitting at the head of my meeting table and the supplier’s managing director deliberately sitting at the other end of the table, 15 feet away from me, because he wanted to be at the head of the table as well. It was embarrassing for him, his staff and me when I had to insist that he move down the table so he was closer to me.

NO SURPRISES Nobody, including buyers, likes surprises that catch them out, embarrass them or make things unnecessarily difficult. Again, there are no points for surprising a buyer. Quite the opposite; they won’t forget it. If you feel anything will be brought up that the buyer isn’t aware of – and it doesn’t interfere with your negotiation tactics – tip the buyer off in advance. They’ll appreciate it and you’ll earn some valuable trust points.

NO PETTY POINT-SCORING There are some salespeople who come in to see the buyer and seem to forget the end goal of making a sale. Instead, they concentrate on winning a war of words, where there’s absolutely no prize on offer. Of course, people must stand their ground and not be pushed around, but don’t try to make the buyer feel inferior. It might make you feel better at the time, but once you’ve left the office you may not be invited back again. Furthermore, buyers will ask the senior management of a selling company to change their account manager if they feel entirely unhappy with a particular individual. I’ve never heard of a seller asking to change the buyer they deal with, so be careful.

SET AND GET YOUR GOAL Remember what it is you need to achieve from the meeting and do whatever it reasonably takes to get it, professionally, calmly, positively and courteously. Buyers may have different agendas, so try to steer them towards the things you need to address, as well as items they want to cover. And no subjective pleading – buyers like to deal in facts and logic.

BUILD THE RELATIONSHIP Use this precious face-to-face time to build trust and a degree of familiarity, while always acting professionally. Find out if you have any shared interests, support the same team, or have children the same age. Anything you have in common will help to lower the drawbridge of the buyer’s castle. Impress the buyer, share their goals and work with them – you both want a satisfactory outcome.

SHOW RESPECT Do not underestimate the buyer, but respect their position. A quiet, scruffy, uncommunicative buyer has just as much ability to reject you, or award a high-value contract, as the professional, smart, “top of their game” buyer. Just like you, they deserve some respect – they’re in an important position within their company, choosing suppliers and awarding large contracts for big spends. There’s no harm in rolling out the red carpet for them – a little flattery can only help. ADOPT THE DRESS CODE If in any doubt, ask the buyer what their company’s dress code is, to make sure you match it. Do they wear formal business suits, with or without ties, or are they smart-casual or casual – or perhaps casual only on Fridays? This is simple two-way respect, or mirroring. Once you enter the room you can’t change what you’re wearing, so it’s better to get it right first time. Watch out for the final feature in this series in the next edition, which will cover those important topics of tendering and negotiating with buyers.

WINNING SELLING... TO IMPRESS THE BUYER! by Tim Ussher gives a concise insight into the mind of the procurement professional, with no-nonsense tips, tactics and practical advice for salespeople. Recently published, it is endorsed by Lord Alan Sugar, entrepreneur and star of the BBC’s The Apprentice, who, having personally sat across the table from Ussher in sales negotiations, describes him as “one of the best purchasing professionals I have come across in business”. The book is available on Amazon as a colour paperback and Kindle ebook. For further information, visit: winningselling.com