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Passionately Pursue Prospect Informati= on

Karen Hayward:&nb= sp; Sell!ng All-S= tar

By Jenny McCune
1 February 2004

Like other Xerox sales people in t= he early 1980s, Karen Hayward was vested with selling the company's first personal computer.

What's left untold from the larger story is the role Hayward= played in launching the product in her native Montreal. "We ended up selling mor= e in Montreal than the rest of the country combined,"= ; Hayward recalls. =

She outsold her fellow Canadian salespeople because she's always stuck to a bas= ic rule: "Follow the voice of the customer."

Hayward spent time talking to her custome= rs. They wanted computers to help with accounting. Based on that feedback, Hayward struck a = deal with an accounting software company. She bundled their software with the Xe= rox machine and managed to peddle more of the fledging PCs than just about anyo= ne else in Canada.

That lesson shows up in Hayward's approach to selling, whether it was at a high-end ladies' fashions<= /span> store, a ski school, or today at CenterBeam Inc., a technology outsourcer b= ased in Silicon Valley, where she serves as executive vice president, sales and marketing.

During her 18-month tenure at CenterBeam, she has taught the company's 15 sales re= ps to engage the customer in polite, in-depth conversation. Hayward found that talking inevitably l= eads to action--and sales.

CenterBeam recently landed a contract with the Colorado University Foundation to supply information technology services to the fund-raising organization because Ce= nterBeam's sales reps could demonstrate how they could save the foundation money and g= ive it better technology by taking over its IT operations. They were only able = to make that argument by probing to understand how the foundation worked and h= ow CenterBeam could help.

Of course, while sales often rest on fact, passion also plays a part. "You have to believe in what you're selling," Hayward says.

She still recalls selling a chain of lunch wagons in Canada on Xerox copiers.

"Everything went wrong. A trial product didn't work well and was more expensive than a competitor's," she recalls. So it wasn't a surprise when the customer = sat Hayward down and = said he had settled on a competitor.

That rejection spurred Hayward on: "I realized I had to really let the customer see my absolute, sheer conviction that what I was selling was the best. When he told me he was goi= ng with the competitor, I smashed my hand on his desk and said, 'No, you are g= oing to listen to me.'"

So with passion and conviction, H= ayward proceeded to tell the prospect why he should do business with Xerox. The canteen owner said he admired her spunk and that he'd buy from her, after a= ll.

She not only believes in what she sells, but also believes in her staff. When a Xerox rep was in a slump, Hayw= ard went on the offensive. She removed the pressure by telling the rep not to w= orry about quotas, but to focus on the day-to-day mechanics. <= /p>

By relieving the pressure and having faith, Hayward transformed the rep.

Hayward believes a common mistake many co= mpanies make is to keep sales and marketing separate. Her philosophy is to marry the two and make sure both sides talk to each other.

Above all, talking and listening are two of the things Hayward says make the difference. And t= hat's true whether it means sales reps communicating with their supervisor or exchanging thoughts and ideas with prospects and customers. All talk can le= ad to all action.

= Karen Hayward

Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing CenterBeam Inc.

Years in position: 1 1/2 years.

Previous experience: Close to 25 years in the technology sector, including 20 years = with Xerox Canada Ltd. Before joining CenterBeam, Hayward was a senior vice president of No= rth America Sales and Alliances at Accelio Corp., a global enterprise software = provider.

Secret of her success: "Continuous learning. I never shy away from a new challenge. New technology is just an opportunity to learn more." =

What motivates her: "Working with a great team ... From a sales perspective, the recognition and success."

Best advice: "Follow the voice of the customer."

What drives her crazy: Sales reps who don't deal with decision-makers.

How she copes: She's instituted a series of milestones her sales reps must make= .

Secret Weapon: "I'm a big believer in sales training, a methodology called Executive ConversationÔ= . They really teach you how to demonstrate the business value to your client." (Executive Conversation Inc. is a sales consulting company based in Seattle that trains sales professionals= to sell to executive-level buyers.)

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