Suppliers are from Mars, Buyers are from Venus
By Kevin Kruse
At a recent conference, the workshop “I’d Like to Be Your Total e-Learning Provider!” played to a standing-room only audience. A humorous video introduction depicted the cold call efforts of an over-eager sales representative who, knowing nothing about the buyer’s needs, still promised to offer one-stop shopping. Despite the laughter in the room, it was clear the presenters struck a chord. In the e-learning market’s post-hype environment of unmet expectations, innovation exceeded by confusion, and cuts to budgets and venture funding alike, relations between buyers and sellers are at an all time low.
In Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, author John Gray argues that there are innate differences between men and women, and only by acknowledging and accepting them can people form positive and lasting relationships. Although I think that there are real dangers in forming broad gender stereotypes, I do think there are some general differences between e-learning professionals when they’re on opposite sides of a transaction.
Personality differences
The most fundamental difference between e-learning buyers and sales professionals revolves around personality. Basically, sales representatives usually have high achievement and socializing traits, while corporate training directors and CLO’s tend to be much more analytical.
To aid in the relationship building process, suppliers will dip into their client entertainment budgets to wine and dine prospects, maybe attend a few sporting events together, or even offer a few gifts. To the socializer representative, acceptance of all these things can be a sure buying signal. To the analytic buyer, however, it’s harmless fun and part of how they stay informed of market offerings. After all, to that type of buyer, it’s always going to be about the product.
But one axiom in sales is that, “All else being equal, people buy from people they like.” Another sales mantra is that “People buy for emotional reasons, and use logic to justify their decision.” Thus, many companies (not just e-learning suppliers) use pre-employment personality assessments to ensure that they’re hiring representatives with the ability to build rapport and relationships with potential customers. It’s ironic, then, that these same reps are then usually taught to mirror the personality and communication styles of their customers. Indeed, good sales people tend to have chameleon-like qualities, or as a CEO colleague once said, “Top performing sales representatives tend to have that indefinable sales lizard quality.”
Cultural differences
Now, it’s time for a pop quiz.
1) What does ABC stand for in “the ABC’s of sales?”
2) What movie included the dialogue, “Coffee’s for closers?”
3) Fill in the blanks: “It takes ten ____ to get to ____.”
4) Fill in the blank: “An objection is just another _____ ____ ___ _____.”
5) What does the “monthly rack and stack” refer to?
And the answers are
1. The ABC’s of sales are Always Be Closing.
2. The all time greatest sales culture movie is Glengarry GlenRoss.
3. It takes ten No’s to get to Yes.
4. An objection is just another request for more information.
5. Monthly ranking of all sales representatives by amount sold.
If you knew between zero and two answers you’re clearly on the buyer side of the training industry. If you scored three or more correct, I’ll bet you are--or have been-- a sales representative. If you scored a five you’re a certified Sales Lizard!
If you’re in sales, you’re probably laughing right now. If you’re not, you’re probably feeling nauseous. This tongue-and-cheek glimpse into cultural differences comes from old-school sales training that focuses on transactional selling situations. (Think used cars or Florida real estate.)
In all seriousness, I’ve heard hundreds of sales people talk about the ABC’s of sales, or coffee for closers—though they were usually uttered in self-parody. And sales professionals may apply their craft using consultative or strategic selling techniques, but the cultural divide is still very real. Consultative reps, whether they’re selling LMSs or content libraries or custom work, really do high five each other after closing a big deal and give play-by-play recalls of how they handled tricky objections. Some sales departments still internally announce a big win by ringing a cow bell or using the phone intercom to hoot and holler.
Meanwhile, contrasting this sort behavior and attitude with buyers is easy. When is the last time an LMS selection committee whooped it up in the halls by high-fiving each other? Can you imagine a monthly report that ranked trainers by the number of students taught, average test scores of learners, or learning objectives delivered?
Different goals and objectives
Another important distinction is that buyers and suppliers have different objectives. At the highest level it may seem as though they’re aligned: someone is tasked with buying an LMS (or a certain course or custom program) and someone else is tasked with selling one. But the ultimate goal of the buyer isn’t to buy but to affect some business process or outcome, such as managing the learning function or improving management skills. Their short-term objectives are to understand how to reach that goal and find the best solution for doing so. To be blunt, a buyer’s paycheck isn’t necessarily tied directly to the purchase event.
But e-learning sales representatives get paid for making sales, which means most reps are paid commission on cash in the door. If you’re a good sales executive your annual commissions will be much greater than your base pay amount. And for the most part, suppliers don’t compensate their sales force for educating the marketplace, offering free consulting, answering prospects questions, uncovering needs, or crafting solutions. Payment is triggered solely by a signed contract and invoice.
Again, this leads to some obvious differences in the ways buyers and suppliers relate to each other. A buyer’s stress around choosing the right LMS comes from wanting to provide the best solution for learners and the organization. A sales executive’s stress around selling an LMS comes from wanting to make the mortgage payment and to send their children to college. When a sales professional doesn’t make a deal, it tends to be an emotional hit, and as socializers they may take it personally. When a buyer doesn’t select a particular supplier, it’s just business.
Exceptions to the rule
Let me be clear: I’m not suggesting that all sales professionals fit this analysis. Each of us can probably name a few sales executives that are truly outstanding professionals. They’re effective at selling and knowledgeable about the industry. They sell you what you need, and tell you when they have nothing to offer. Perhaps they can even discuss March Madness and SCORM standards in the same conversation. But the reason we can call them by name is because they’re unique. How many reps have you worked with that you can’t remember by name because they were so bad at their cold call, wasted your time during their first and last capabilities meeting, or had nothing to offer when you stopped by their tradeshow booth?
To be sure, there are numerous differences between e-learning sellers and buyers—more than this article has room to mention. But the three noted above account for much of the cold war that exists within the e-learning industry. The question worth answering is how can we improve our relationships—and learning efforts?
Working together
First, it’s important to recognize that an uninformed sales representative using high-pressure transactional sales techniques aren’t long for the job in this industry. Increasingly, suppliers are using team selling strategies and lower variable compensation plans to overcome some of the differences noted above. In these organizations, sales executives still play a vital role as frontline contacts with the market, but members from product development or learning strategy will accompany sales executives to meetings so that the company can more fully understand the buyer’s needs and better educate them on possible solutions.
Most important, we should acknowledge and learn to accept each others differences. By understanding the contrasting pressures, we can hopefully communicate directly and respectfully. For instance,