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Showing posts from February, 2018

Why market pulse is more critical than a superior product design?

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In the early 90s Airbus and Boeing, the two major players in commercial aircrafts decided to come together to manufacture Very Large Commercial Transport (VLCT). Later on both the competitors parted ways as their business strategy could not synergize. Ultimately in 1994 Airbus decided to go solo on this venture and the project was codenamed A3XX. And thus the first flight of A380, the largest commercial aircraft happened in 2007 which is a double-deck, wide body 4-engine aircraft with 6000 square feet of usable space, 40% more space than its nearest rival product Boeing B747-8. A380 could accommodate 500 seats in 3-class capacity (Economy, Business and First Class) or 850 in an all-economy class. With several delays the project cost escalated from the initial 9 billion to 13 billion Euro Product Pricing and Positioning : The A380 had a seating capacity which was 5 times the Airbus A320 Neo but the price point was 4X . The List price of A 380 was $430 Million whereas A320 was $10

Can you Improve Your Negotiating Leverage thro' Sales Funnel?

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I was conducting a program on EFFECTIVE VALUE SELLING FOR CAPITAL EQUIPMENTS last week. One of the main problem the sales executives were facing was that the customers were  insisting on  a target price for the machine rather than through a quotation. The sales executives were falling into the trap and asking their managers to give a revised ( read discounted) price. This problem apart from the market dynamics is also decided by the BATNA of both the parties.  B est  A lternative  t o a  N egotiated  A greement was first coined  by Roger Fisher and William Ury in their book  Getting to Yes: Negotiating an Agreement Without Giving In.  The authors from HBS work on the Harvard Negotiating Project. BATNA is a concept which discusses the options both the parties have in case the negotiation fails. In such  a situation the party ( buyer or the seller) who has more options has a better negotiation leverage. For example if the buyer has 3 other vendors to talk to; and  the salesman

Contextual Selling: A New Sales Paradigm for the 21st Century

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A brief chat with Mr. Rajan Parulekar, Managing Director  of Paradigm Trainers Ltd.,  a firm specializing in Sales & Behavioural /Soft skills training since 1995.     Author of  Contextual Selling:  A New Sales Paradigm for the 21st Century When did you decide to start writing this book? I wonder if there is any salesperson who can say that he hasn’t lost an order. One learns the hard way in life and I have lost a lot of orders too. Back in 1983, when I started out, selling was easier. It was more of a sellers’ market, with fewer brands and less competition. You could revert to the customer’s query the following day. These days, especially post-liberalization, the market has become hyper-competitive and cut throat. The customer expects all queries to be resolved instantly. If not, there is a competitor ready to grab the opportunity! I started writing the book in 2005 and the book was released 6 years later. The reason I decided to write the book is, even though I learned