SIEBEL SYSTEM: ANATOMY OF A SALES

Introduction: Founded in 1993 by Tom Siebel By 2000, revenue reached $2 billion,

employed 8,000 people approx. In 2001-World leader in CRM software

with 50% market share in sales management, marketing automation, customer service, and support.

Pioneered market for Employee Relationship Management (ERM)

More than 200 products & marketed Go-to-market strategy with direct sales force

Core Value:

100% commitment to Customer Satisfaction

Professionalism-Committed to do everything it takes to benefit clients with their product

Professional Courtesy-Unmatched level of mutual respect among employees

Bias for Action-Efficiency and spread of response

Critical issue in the case:

Gregg Carman`s Dilemma- Cathy Ridley(VP) wanted to introduce

sales force automation in 1996 Carman was negotiating a $2.1 million

sale to Quick & Reilly FleetBoston (recently acquired Quick &

Reilly) wanted to veto the purchase Should Carman sell the product to Quick

& Reilly or stand by FleetBoston`s wishes?

Que 1

How should Carman respond to the invitation to tell the Quick & Reilly executives what he thought of Oracle?

His response to Cathy Ridley is appropriate1) He does not undercut Oracle2) He launches into a demonstration of Siebel’s

solutionsWhat else could he have done?a) Provided Cathy literature of Siebel’s productsb) Walked her through the various stages of product

implementation and showcased Siebel’s end-to-end solution provision

What features of this particular interaction influence your opinion?

1) Carman has no information about the client requirements or budget

2) Oracle is among Siebel’s leading competitors, so bringing Oracle into focus may not be a good idea

3) Cathy Ridley is a knowledgeable customer4) Carman is not comfortable directly comparing

Siebel to Oracle without prior information on the customer’s requirements

Would your opinion of the right response change if the circumstances were different?

1) Carman has full information about Q&R’s requirements and budget

Carman should push to sell Siebel over Oracle because he knows exactly what the customer wants

2) Cathy Ridley is not very knowledgeable Carman should stick to his original response,

since Cathy would otherwise not appreciate the differences between Siebel and Oracle

How should Carman qualify the prospect?

Q&R is in the market actively shopping for sales force automation systems. If Carman can address Q&R’s requirements, he will quickly and successfully be able to convert the sale.

Que 2

Should he ask, “What’s your budget?”

YES.

The information (Pre-approach stage) Carman gathers will determine his strategy when he sells to Q&R executives. ask, “What’s your budget?”

Should he suppress his curiosity and leave it to the prospect to bring up information about the size and timing of the opportunity?

NO.

The prospect may not bring up the information at all in which case the opportunity will be lost.

If he asks for information, how will he use it?

Sell the product to the powerful buyer, i.e. Q&R top management (“the right set of executives”)