In the movie, Butch Cassady And The Sundance Kid, Butch is confronted by a huge gang member who is twice Butche’s size and who wants to fight him for the gang leadership.
Butch says, “Okay, what are the rules?”
His opponent says: “There ain’t no rules,” whereas, Butch kicks him in the crotch, and his opponent drops to the ground, totally disabled.
Unfortunately, this is somewhat the same thing experienced by many business managers or their subordinates in their evaluation of phone system proposals. They often expect the vendor reps who are submitting proposals to be honest and forthright about their systems, to follow a set of rules that are fair to both seller and buyer. But, like Butch’s opponent, these naive buyers sometimes find themselves on he short end of the stick and asking where they went wrong.
Where they went wrong, though they may not be aware of it, is that they have followed the wrong set of rules. They have followed vendor sales rules that are designed to give the sales rep a competitive edge. These managers often find themselves realizing they could have done something different. They could have used a set of Telephone System Buyer Rules, instead of Sales Rules designed to leave the sales people standing.
With buyer rules it is the buyer who remains standing:
Buyer Rule #1: Don’t hound us. Don’t give us inflated information we haven’t asked for. Don’t tell us negative things about your competitors. We’ll decide things like that for ourselves. We’ll call you–after we’ve looked at your information.
Buyer Rule #2: Level the playing field. Give all sales people the same shot at success. Compare apples with apples. Take away the “sizzle” selling.
These rules have worked for professional consultants for years. Consultants create a list of telephone needs parameters, or specifications, that each sales person is required to follow, questions each sales person is required to answer if they want to qualify. The vendor rep who fails to get past this list is dropped from the buyer’s short list of prospective vendors.
This Parameters List is not only useful in qualifying vendors and their systems, but in reducing or eliminating pesky sales calls, inflated claims, and the usual sales hyperbole. It also helps avoid potential misunderstandings between buyer and seller about seller responsibilities during, and after, system installation.
Here are some parameters you may want to add to your buyers list of rules:
* Service Provider Hourly Service Rates — what does the vendor charge?
* Equipment Warranties — how many months service does the warranty cover? Is labor included?
* Remote Maintenance – provided by vendor? What does he charge for this service?
* Back-up Maintenance Service — does the vendor offer this service in case of an emergency when his own technicians aren’t available?
* System Grounding — is it included in the vendor’s quoted installation quote? Is it included on the installation planning sheet he submits to you?
* Installation planning — ask the vendor to submit his planning form with itemization of items to be included (such as system grounding, programming, etc.)
* Custom Programming — ask the vendor to submit forms identifying programming options offered to you, the customer.
* Installation Down Time — how long will your system be out of service during cutover of the new system? Ask the vendor to describe arrangements that will be made to avoid system down time during cutover.
* System Technology — is the system the vendor is proposing Digital TDM, or VoIP? If VoIP, are stations connected to the KSU using conventional station cabling or LAN wiring?
* Call Conferencing — how many conference parties will be provided per conference call? Are conferences supervised, or unsupervised?
* System Expansion Capacity — What can the system expand to? Stations____ CO Lines____
You will find yourself feeling less stressed, less confused, and with a more efficient and cost effective system, if you will create your own set of rules and require phone system vendor reps to adhere to them. Vendor reps who believe in their system and their service will not hesitate to agree to your rules.
Author: Garry Steck
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rates
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