SDM – Batch 1

CASE
ASSIGNMENT - 1
on
SUBMITTED BY:
Group 6
Siebel Systems: •
•
Aaditya Verma - 19PGDM071
Aastha Khanna - 19PGDM072
Anatomy of a Sale • Devesh Kumar Singh - 19PGDM090
• Gaurav Gupta - 19PGDM094
• Kumar Kartik Jain - 19PGDM104
• Rajiv Gusain - 19PGDM117
 Carman’s response to the invitation to tell Quick & Reilly executives
Q. 1 about his opinion on Oracle was appropriate under the given
How should Carman circumstances due to the following reasons:
respond to the invitation • At the given moment, Carman had not introduced Siebel’s products
to tell Quick & Reilly to the client. Hence, making any sort of comparisons would have
executives what he seemed like he was not concerned about needs of the client.
thought of Oracle?
• He believed in first getting well acquainted with the requirements of
What features of this
the customers such as budget, number of users etc. and then
particular interaction proceed to any comparisons with the competitors.
influence your opinion?
Would your opinion of • Cathy Ridley was a knowledgeable customer who understood the
the right response complexities involved in implementing CRM systems and therefore
change if circumstances would have appreciated a technical explanation of the differences
between Siebel Systems and its competitors. Carman wanted to
were different? avoid sharing incomplete information to them about any technical
aspects of his product and that of the competitors.
 Q. 1 The features of the interaction that influence the opinion are:
How should Carman • Quick & Reilly executives were not aware of the systems and
respond to the invitation software available in the market to meet the requirements of their
to tell Quick & Reilly organisation.
executives what he
• Carman was not aware of the exact requirements of the customer
thought of Oracle?
with respect to their budget, size of the users and other
What features of this specifications.
particular interaction
influence your opinion? • Carman was uncomfortable in directly comparing his firm and a
Would your opinion of competitor until he knew the client well.
the right response
• Cathy Ridley, VP Marketing, Quick & Reilly was a knowledgeable
change if circumstances customer who understood the complexities involved in
were different? implementing CRM systems and therefore would have appreciated a
technical explanation of the differences between Siebel Systems and
its competitors.
 Q. 1 Yes, under a slightly different set of the circumstances, we would have
expected a bit different response from Carman. These variations in
How should Carman circumstances could have been:
respond to the invitation
• Client had prior knowledge of the Softwares and Systems available
to tell Quick & Reilly in the Market
executives what he In such scenario, Carman would have directly introduced Cathy with a
thought of Oracle? catalogue of the product offerings of Siebel Systems along with the
What features of this customer references and research report data.
particular interaction
• Client had clearly stated his requirements to Carman
influence your opinion? If Carman had exact knowledge of the size, timing and budget of the
Would your opinion of client, then he would have been in a better position to understand
the right response problems Quick & Reilly is facing with the current system and what are
change if circumstances their expectations from the new system.
were different?
• Meeting was arranged in advance
If meeting was arranged in advance then a proper agenda for the same
could have been prepared beforehand.
 • To Qualify the prospect, Carman must ask to himself that does
Q. 2 Cathy really have a need for his product. To get this answer, he
should not only ask questions to know their responses but also try to
How should Carman see their body language and voice modulations while conversation.
qualify the prospect? • From the given case, Carman has noticed Cathy seeing their product
Should he ask, “What’s and its demo from the distance and having conversation with her
partner and also when he bought them to his booth, they were
your budget?” Should enjoying the demo.
he suppress his curiosity • Cathy also indirectly informed Carman that they are looking for
and leave it to the software that can manage and fulfil leads effectively. She also asked
prospect to bring up him questions like how to get budget approved which signals that
information about the she might be looking for some software’s budget for approval.
size and the timing of Thus, we can say that Carman should qualify Cathy (Quick & Reilly) as
the opportunity? If he good (strong) prospect and not a suspect.
ask for more
information, how will • To further strengthen his understanding he can ask questions like,
he use it? “Have your business requirement documents is approved?” to know
if the top management has recorgnised this need.
 No, he should not suppress his curiosity and ask for information from
Q. 2 Cathy.
• Asking for information about size/capacity of the CRM (number of
How should Carman users) to be deployed and timing of the opportunity will help
qualify the prospect? Carman to know the scale and urgency of the project.
Should he ask, “What’s
• He should not ask for their budget as it will depend on number of
your budget?” Should factors like size, timing, complexity involved and must be decided
he suppress his curiosity when two parties sit for a presentation. However, he can ask for a
and leave it to the budget range they are considering.
prospect to bring up
information about the Carman must ask for more information from Cathy as this will help
him understand their needs and their expectation from CRM.
size and the timing of Some of the places where he can use the acquired information are:
the opportunity? If he • Distinguishing their product and services from their competitors.
ask for more • Having a smooth conversation with Quick and Reilly executives.
information, how will • Accurate analysis on cost that will be incurred, the benefits and
he use it? return on investment Quick and Reilly will have.
• Establishing accurate timeline in which their product will be
deployed.
 Evaluation of Carman’s interaction with the customer:

• Initially Carman was focussing on building a rapport with the

Q. 3 customer to break vendor-versus-customer mindset and gain their
confidence to gather more information.
Evaluate
Carman’s • Through questions and answers he gathered information to better
interactions with understand the customer’s requirements.
the customer up to • He demonstrated the product nicely which was evident from the
this point. Is he attention and interest of the customer.
doing a good job?
How effective is He did a fair job but could have improved on few points which are as
Siebel Systems’ follows:
• He could have tried to understand the pain points or problems of
approach? the customer with the existing solution. This would have helped him
to showcase product features as a solution to those problems.

• He missed to catch the reply to one of the questions and didn’t

bother to ask again.
 Siebel Systems’ approach is effective due to the following reasons:

Q. 3 • They perform in-depth assessment of the opportunity by answering

number of questions about the customers.
Evaluate • They analyse competitor’s sales strategy and based on that develop
Carman’s a counter strategy.
interactions with
the customer up to • Their process helps in structuring all the information about the
this point. Is he customers to consider each and every critical information that might
affect the sale. It is further used for providing a customized solution
doing a good job? which in turn projects its core value of customer satisfaction.
How effective is
Siebel Systems’ • Continuous customer involvement to provide complete or end to
approach? end solutions.

• It ensures that customers are benefited from the use of the product.
 He should have handled the situation in the following way:-
• Zitzner being a President should try to make the customer feel
important and exchange greetings on the call.
Q. 4 • He should try to understand the problems that Cathy and his
company is facing with their existing solution. He should additionally
Put yourself in probe to identify the additional problems they are seeking to solve
with new solution
Zitzner’s position • He should also have sent a small briefing about the offering, post
as he picks up the understanding the customer requirement.
phone. How • He should have suggested sending an executive to meet them in
should he handle person to take it further and thus closed the call by fixing an
the conversation? appointment with the client.
What is his His objective from the call is to capture the leads and measure its
objective in this effectiveness for Bradley systems. Even under a scenario where the
call? assessment cannot be done immediately, he should engage the
customer and try to establish a rapport by scheduling a future meeting
for the key account manager or a sales representative.