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Chapter 4

Earn Your Way

into the Mind of

Your Customer

Concept

It’s an old axiom that salespeople should prepare before going
into a sales meeting. But exactly how do they do that? What do
they need to know? Do they need to understand how the compa-
ny functions internally? Do they need to understand the compa-
ny’s customers? Do they need to know its value proposition to its
customers?

We asked these questions to executives, and their collective

response was overwhelming. Far and away, the most important
knowledge to walk in with, they said, is an understanding of the
company’s business drivers. As our earlier discussion described,
business drivers fall into three categories: global challenges, mar-
ketplace challenges, and execution challenges.

“To provide value to me,” one president told us, “you’ve got

to know the background of my company, what’s important to us,
our culture, and what we’re looking for to drive success in our
business.” A chief medical officer at a health insurance company
said, “You need to understand our business drivers to know why
the value you are selling is relevant to us.” Added the CEO of a
company in the paper business, “The business drivers are levers
on my ability to impact revenue, expenses, and cash flow.”
Salespeople who can translate the use of their product into impact

Copyright © 2006 by Richard Hodge, Lou Schachter, and The Real Learning Company.
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