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Unfortunately, we’ve moved on. To quote Bob Dylan (also from a
simpler time), “The times they are a’changin.” Now, we find
ourselves involved in all aspects of document imaging within each
of our accounts. We’ve moved beyond monthly copy volume to
something called a “workflow analysis.” What is a workflow
analysis, exactly? Ask five imaging system vendors (and, what’s an
imaging system?) and you’ll get at least five different answers.
We migrated to a new level of confusion. Here’s what happened.
• Initially, both the sales rep and the prospect understood the
issues.
• Next, the sales rep understood the issues, but the prospect did
not. Remember fax?
• As the sale became more complex, the prospect knew more than the
sales rep – consider the early days of selling printers to the IT
manager.
Currently, I suspect that neither the sales rep nor the prospect
under-stand the issues. But, the problem here is that both parties
think they do. Why? Because they don’t understand one another.
But, you ask, aren’t they speaking the same language? Technically,
yes. But, they have assigned different meanings to the same words.
To put it another way, they are speaking the same language in that
they recognize the words but they have assigned different meanings
to them. Here are but a few examples. How would you define these
terms?
* Asset Consolidation
* Asset Management
* Business Color
* Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
* Device Management
* Digital Restriction Management (DRM)
* Document Assessment
* Duty Cycle
* Facilities Management
* Graphics Color
* Life Cycle
* Load Balancing
* Print Management
* Remote Device Management
* Remote Diagnostics
* Workflow Analysis
Use any of the Internet search engines, asking to see “imaging
systems glossary”, and you’ll find hundreds of terms defined –
some the way you thought they would be, but most with a completely
different explanation. Yet, you no doubt assumed that you knew the
meaning of the words you looked up. Your sales reps assume they
know what those words mean. Your prospects assume they know what
the sales rep is talking about. But, there is no common
understanding because there is no common language.
I recently had the opportunity to conduct a dealer training
session where I threw out a few of the terms listed previously to
the group of about 40 dealers. No one could define the phrases in
a way that the other dealers could understand. If dealers as a
group can’t agree, what hope is there for understanding between
your sales reps and their prospects?
I was reading some commentary regarding the biblical Tower of
Babel (an apt metaphor, don’t you think?) and came across an
article written by Henry M. Morris (The Confusion of Tongues)
where he states,
“If people could not communicate with each other, they could
hardly cooperate with each other. … When [people] could no longer
understand each other there was finally no alternative for them
but to separate from each other.”
Get it? The common language keeps us together. It defines mutual
goals and strategies for reaching them. Most of all, it captures
the concept of mutual success.
Listen to the presentations your reps are making. List phrases or
terms that might confuse prospects. Check with your vendors for
definitions. Surf the Internet for non-biased definitions. Ask
your prospects what they think the terms mean. Begin the evolution
of a common language to define common strategies for success.