1. LOGO
Dealing with
Ashraf Osman
Sales Effectiveness Consultant

2. Differentiation among competitors
• Fear affects the way customers differentiate among
competitors:
– Fear of
– Fear of
– Fear of
– Fear of
Author: Ashraf Osman

3. Fear of change
• New solution will disrupt the way they do business.
• Even if the solution is cheaper , manageable, efficient, still it is
a change.
• Consequences of change could be :
– Loss of authority.
– Loss of job.
– Change of job.
– etc..
Author: Ashraf Osman

4. Fear of conflict
• New solution might induce conflicts.
• Conflict can be Inter-department or intra-department.
• Conflict with their own customers.
• Conflict with suppliers.
Author: Ashraf Osman

5. Fear of work
• Customers are afraid of the additional work that your solution
might induce.
• Current work methods will change; that’s additional work!
• “I used to send an email, now I have to fill 3 forms”.
• “Where am I in the new system?”
• “How long will it be before we go home on time?”
• “Executives are involved, the new system delivers more
capabilities which is more workload for us”
Author: Ashraf Osman

6. Fear of failure
• What if we fail?
• Bad publicity internal and external, social media, customer/
constituents rage.
Author: Ashraf Osman

7. Customer reaction to fear of change
• Your feature : we will deliver the parts you need in one hour
to your facility
• Customer response :
I am not sure we are equipped to handle such a fast
delivery , our warehouses have a wok process that we
should follow
Author: Ashraf Osman

8. Fear of conflict
• Your feature : we will deliver the parts you need in one hour
to your facility
• Customer response :
We cannot ask all our suppliers to speed up delivery just
to keep up with you.
Author: Ashraf Osman

9. Fear of work
• Your feature : we can have your project fully implemented in
6 months or less.
• Customer response :
That’s too quick, it means we have to start training our
Technical staff to support the new technology and print
relevant forms in short time
Author: Ashraf Osman

10. Fear of failure
• Your feature : we will reduce your cost year after year
• Customer response :
Will you be able to maintain quality year after year ?
Author: Ashraf Osman

11. Fear of All
• Your feature : We will fully revolutionize & automate your operation using
latest IT system
Fear of Change  We can not have that , too much change at the same time !
Fear of conflict  Will this mean our IT people will get paid at a higher rate
than other departments?
Fear of work  How many other systems we will have to change if the IT
systems changes ?
Fear of failure  What if it doesn’t work , that’s a big risk !
Author: Ashraf Osman

12. Fear fighters
• Emphasize what will NOT change.
• Make certain your customer clearly understands which of its
many systems will not change as a result of doing business
with you.
Author: Ashraf Osman

13. Fear fighters
• People : not CV’s but Bio’s that include what customers want
to hear. Resources experience and knowledge pertinent to
customer’s project.
• Process : how you implemented before and how will you
implement this one.
• Technology: your unique technology advantage.
• Experience: Prior experience & accumulated knowledge.
Author: Ashraf Osman

14. Handling fear of change
• Your feature : we will deliver the parts you need in one
hour to your facility
I am not sure we are equipped to handle such a fast delivery ,
our warehouses have a wok process that we should follow
You control delivery day and time , but if you have an
emergency we can deliver the parts in as little as one
hour
Author: Ashraf Osman

15. Handling fear of conflict
• Your feature : we will deliver the parts you need in one
hour to your facility
We cannot ask all our suppliers to speed up delivery just to keep
up with you.
You control delivery day and time , but if you have an
emergency we can deliver the parts in as little as one
hour
Author: Ashraf Osman

16. Handling fear of work
• Your feature : we can have your project fully implemented
in 6 months or less
That’s too quick, it means we have to start training our techies to
support the new technology and print relevant forms in short
time
We have developed a step-by-step transition map and
we will deliver the needed training to your employees
Author: Ashraf Osman

17. Handling fear of failure
• Your feature : we will reduce your cost year after year
will you be able to maintain quality year after year ?
Once we have the system up and running, the cost will
reduce each year while we continue to deliver the same
results
Author: Ashraf Osman

18. The 90%-10% rule
90% of your competitors will talk about :
• History and background.
• Company stability.
• Commitment to the project.
• Belief in your company.
• Basic price structure.
• Emphasis on quality.
• Well-qualified staff.
• Latest technology.
• Flexibility.
• Modern facilities.
• Dedication to customer satisfaction.
Author: Ashraf Osman

19. Find out your 10% advantage
• Take away the fears (change, conflict, work, and failure) using
the fear fighters (people, process, technology, and
experience)
• Your advantage is superiority & uniqueness.
• You should have at least 3 advantages that affect
performance.
• Tie these three claims to money, time & risk. This is your 10%
advantage
Author: Ashraf Osman