The MBET Experience

The University of Waterloo – Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Program

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The Sales Process – Rod Foster

January 8th, 2007 · No Comments

Semester Two started off well today with a great sales session delivered by Rod Foster. Rod is the CEO of Covarity , a startup software company located in Kitchener. Rod has an interesting background, with over 20 years of sales experience. He has grown a number of organizations from the ground up, to sales of over $100 million in just a few years.

One of the great things about having someone like Rod in to talk is that he speaks of his experiences. To me, this makes the entire presentation more authentic – you know that he is not talking about stuff he read in a book, he is sharing his experience and what made him successful.

There were a few gems in the class today that I wanted to share:

  • Forecasting should be based on what the prospect is doing (are they willing to work through requirements with you), not what the sales rep is saying
  • You get a customer’s attention by showing value!
  • Show the customer value in every interaction.
  • Sell the way your client buys. If they lease, you need a leasing program. If they buy in bulk, you need to sell in bulk.
  • It is essential to build up trust with your customer during the sales process. That way, when things go wrong (and they will), the customer will trust you to fix things.

For any job seekers out there, here is one more good one:

  • Your resume is your value proposition to an employer.

Anyway… we’re getting back into things here. Check back soon for more stories from MBET Semester #2!!

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