More leads! More leads! More leads! (this is the voice of the sales force) How to create leads? How to make customers come back again and again? The answer is to create a solution driven sales culture - where every one in the organisation plays a part. Read and get inspired on how to do that in the 4 phases of the lifecycle of an organisation. And beware: you could find things scary in this book. But there are remedies - outside your comfort zone. This is a teaser. Order at www.salesamkeover.tictail.com It took me 15 years to come to a point of no return: Sales training alone can not fix a slakes problem, And it took another 3 years to write this piece of art. I think it is a great read with good examples and true doable advices. If you want to try in your organisation; call me first:+467007998800 /jens@salesmakeover.se

1. 1
JENS
EDGREN
SALES
MAKE-
OVERHow to develop a solution driven sales
culture and boost your sales

2. The author has previously published
”How to sell the answer to a problem!”, 2008.
Lindgren & Partners and Sales Makeover are registered trademarks
which belongs to Brainstation AB.
Copyright Brainstation AB
ISBN: 978-91-980067-2-8
Printing: Elanders
Graphic Design: Kredema
Illustrations: Kicki Edgren Nyborg, Kredema
Brainstation Publishers
Fredrikslundsvägen 2
168 34 Bromma
Sweden

3. 3
thanks to
Camilla,
my wonderful wife who has supported me all the way
Ulf Paulsson
On a cold February day, you helped me put names to the different sales cultures
Gunnar Strömberg
You help me with examples of how the supply-driven sales culture can develop
Jim Palmqvist
For putting ideas into practice
Johan Hellström
A motivator and challenger
Lennart Gren
You helped test the theory about the service-driven sales cultures in practice,
19 January 2009.
François Bries
A constant inspiration
Pontus Björnsson, Mads Fischer and Thomas Neubaer
For putting into practice the theory on the talent-driven sales culture
Ronny Nygren
Who helped create a readable book with the right language
Kicki Edgren Nyborg
For your ideas and work with this book
Thanks also to Mikael Jälefors, Robert Carstens, Anders Gustavsson, Bo Strömqvist,
Michael Hakenäs, Susanne Nilsson ,Tommy Borell and Mattias Lundberg who have helped
with opinions and corrections
And I’d like to thank all of my customers and friends for listening!

4. 4
Foreword ..............................................................................................6
Chapter 1 A warning to all readers!.................................................8
Chapter 2 The perfect sales culture doesn’t exist......................12
Chapter 3 An introduction to the theory behind
Sales Makeover..............................................................18
Chapter 4 The technology-driven sales organisation............... 30
Chapter 5 The talent-driven sales organisation......................... 56
Chapter 6 The service-driven sales organisation........................77
Chapter 7 The supply-driven sales organisation......................102
Chapter 8 Selling through partners............................................125
Chapter 9 The solution-driven sales organisation...................135
Chapter 10 Doing a Sales Makeover............................................146
Chapter 11 Developing the technology-driven sales
organisation to become solution-oriented.............162
Chapter 12 Developing the talent-driven sales
organisation to become solution-oriented............. 173
Chapter 13 Developing the service-driven sales
organisation to become solution-oriented.............183
Chapter 14 Developing the supply-driven sales
organisation to become solution-oriented.............195
Chapter 15 The art of changing a sales culture.........................206
Chapter 16 References....................................................................210
Contents

5. 5
This is a book about how you can maximise a sales organisation’s
results regardless of the economic situation and create more satisfied
customers. It’s also a book about how you create permanent changes
with simple means and avoid unnecessary mistakes. I wish someone
else had written it a long time ago. Then I could have read it and
avoided making a load of mistakes. They say that you learn more from
your mistakes than from your successes. So I felt that after all those
lessons it was time to try to draw my own conclusions. At least to try
to structure my thoughts about what I should do to succeed better in
my efforts to develop sales organisations to sell more and have more
satisfied customers.
I got into sales purely by chance. I actually had an idea of becoming
a management trainer and perhaps even a manager myself. After uni-
versity, my career got a flying start. After twelve months I was the sec-
ond best sales person in the sales force for the company where I worked.
The next year I got the offer I had dreamed of: to go back to western
Sweden and become sales manager. My new work colleagues weren’t
all that happy that a rookie from Stockholm was going to come and tell
them how they should sell. I didn’t think about it too much, just pushed
hard as usual. I was full of enthusiasm for my new job and wanted to try
all my ideas at once. After three months rushing between the two major
cities in Sweden, Stockholm and Gothenburg, the managing director
put his hand on my shoulder, looked me deep in the eyes and said: ”Jens!
I think it’s time for you to go back to Stockholm and stay there.” He kept
his hand on my shoulder a long time. It took a while before the message
got through. I had failed in my first attempt to change a sales force.
I could do completely mad things in customer meetings, just to see
where the boundaries were. Once I ended up in a meeting with a ma-
jor transport company. The deal which my colleague Håkan was trying
to make was stuck fast. The customer thought that the quote looked
good but too comprehensive. They wanted to wait for the project until
they had time and energy. I tore the quote out of the managing
directors hand and ripped it up. The customer and Håkan stared at
Foreword

6. 6
me, shocked. I looked the customer in the eye and said: ”Now I know
what you don’t want to do. Tell me what you do want to do!” We sold
a small project then and there.
While searching for exciting sales methodologies, I found a course
folder from ”Solution Selling®”. I flicked through it. I understood
nothing. Boxes, matrices and scripts. It was like Greek to me. But I
rang up Michael Bosworth, the founder of the concept, in the USA.
He invited me to take part as a guest in a Solution Selling® workshop
in San Diego. By the end of the first day I was shocked at the logic
in the methodology. When the course was over I felt almost like I’d
undergone a religious experience. This was the concept I was looking
for. I believed that the Solution Selling® concept was the solution to all
sales problems. You just had to implement the methodology for sales
to take off. I waved away any objections. At the start of 2008, we were
heavily criticised. Did the method give results? My first reaction was
defence. I was so convinced that the methodology was unassailable.
But gradually I began to think about my own experience of change
and leadership. Could it be that different sales cultures worked in
different ways? Could it be the customers’ behaviour which steered
the sales people’s behaviour? Could it depend on whether the product
being sold was a new or standard product? Did the product’s maturity
have something to do with it?
I began to put names to different sales cultures and tried out how
they should work to be most effective. I thought a lot about the mistakes
I had made in change projects and started to document the character-
istics of the different cultures and which types of customers they are
most effective with. Then I came to the crux. How should the different
sales cultures develop to be maximally effective? How can you know
when they need to change their behaviour?
If I had known how difficult it would be and how long it would take
to write this book, it would probably have stayed as a notebook full of
ideas. The book that you’re reading now isn’t likely to end up on the
list of my kids’ favourite books. But I hope that you find something to
interest and inspire you. Happy reading!
Ekerö, 21st August 2010
Jens Edgren
Foreword

7. 7
Warning! This book deals with how you can maximise sales results
and create the most satisfied customer regardless of the economic situ-
ation. You will be introduced to theories and their significance in how
sales organisations are organised and led which may affect you for a
long time to come. Don’t count on a few easy tips on magical sales
tricks or new theories in personal leadership. If you and your team
are to succeed where others have failed, you must be prepared to plan
and carry out dramatic changes to your sales organisation. Read this
at your own risk.
I’ll show you why most companies (the book’s examples are of companies selling
high technology products but the theories are applicable to all types of company and
organisation) are hit by totally unnecessary sales blockages – and what should be
done differently.
It’s again a time where many companies change sales strategy (from
supplying) to ”selling solutions”. Can you take your old product, exist-
ing sales force, pretty tired supply organisation (after five years’ eco-
nomic boom), and make them into a solution-oriented offer? Will it
succeed? Probably not – because the customers are used to buying
hardware, software, it consultancy or whatever they bought earlier.
Here’s a retrospective to give one view. I want to show you a few exam-
ples of situations where changes in the market forced major changes
in sales organisations.
The economic situation worsens, sales forecasts crumble away, deals
take longer and longer. This situation characterised the start of the
recession in 1999. For certain it companies it was also the start of a
catastrophe: Many it consultants lost 40 percent of their work in just
a few weeks. Dependent as they were on Ericsson, Nokia and a few
Introduction to Sales Makeover
1

8. 8
Introduction to Sales Makeover
other major customers, they were hard hit when these companies were
themselves forced into downsizing and essentially cancelled all devel-
opment projects.
Innovation companies like Icon Medialab, Spray Razorfish and
Dynarc have been history for a long time. Even very profitable companies
saw their market falter. I worked with several of these companies as
a sales developer. Few people in management saw the warning sig-
nals in time. When the figures dropped significantly, sales efforts were
increased. Only to realise that all the customers who had previously
been queuing up for the product were busy trying to survive. A deal
that previously took a couple of weeks to win now had a sales process
that took six months. Accuracy dropped and sales costs increased. The
catastrophe was a fact. Everyone understood that the sales strategy
needed to change, but to what? How do you get sales people who lived
well by taking orders to start selling and prospecting? My answer then
as now is: You can’t. I’ll explain why later in this book.
When the economic situation turned, in around 2003, the compa-
nies which had survived the baptism of fire had slimmed sales organi-
sations. One of the biggest telecommunications companies in Europe
had reduced its sales force from 800 people to 400. Only those sales
people who performed best got to stay. When the market demand
turned around, each sales person had a huge customer list. Success
was assured: a halved budget, 100-200 customers on the list and they
start to order! In such a situation, you just have to hang onto the train.
Because all the sales people had reached their budget objectives by
the second quarter, their working days became shorter and shorter.
Hungry competitors gobbled up many of the ignored customers. I will
show you how this scenario, pleasant at the time, can create major
problems at a later stage.
Now we’re into the second decade of the 2000s. Redundancies are
staring us in the face. Most it consultants are reporting a significantly
reduced occupation level. Some of the stock-exchange quoted compa-
nies we are in contact with tell us of a reduction of between 20 and 40
percent in just a few weeks. The scenario from 1999 is being repeated.

9. 9
Why must the same situation be repeated again and again? Do we
never learn? Unfortunately, it seems like today’s management groups
haven’t understood the expression ”tunnel vision”. Have you ever driv-
en a car really fast, perhaps upwards of 200 kilometres an hour? The
road narrows, your field of vision becomes concentrated, your nerves
are on edge. You’re filled by a strong sense of intensity and elation.
The phenomenon is called tunnel vision. If a sales organisation suc-
ceeds too well and becomes too successful, it’s also affected by tunnel
vision. The whole sales strategy and the sales organisation are focused
on the same objective. The company increases speed still further, with
more sales people, more consultants, new offices and invests in more
countries. Let’s assume that the road bends, an animal runs out – the
economic situation falters, competitors launch new products. We’re
forced to slam on the brakes. It’s only then that we see how fast we were
going. To suddenly change sales strategy is like going into four wheel
drift at 100 kilometres an hour. The only question is how bad it’s going
to be. In the USA this is called ”damage control”. Let me give you an
example. An it consultancy company’s profitability is controlled by two
factors: the number of charged hours and the charge per hour. The
more consultants, the more hours. When the occupation level falls,
follow-up of charging, which is normally done every month, changes
to every week and then to every day. Severe pressure is put on the
sales people. Customer visits and quotes are followed up in the same
way. Are there better results from more strict follow-up? No, because
the big problem is that the customers have reduced their purchase of
their ”raw material” – the consultants. They have dropped projects
and re-prioritised. These are initiatives driven by the management’s
cost cutting (cost killing if it’s really bad). If the sales people made a
thousand customer visits a week, nothing would change. Perhaps the
company can take a few percentage points of market share from lazier
colleagues. That’s all. Soon both the sales people and it consultants will
have to leave their well-paid work.
The problem isn’t selling the it consultants’ hours. The problem is
only selling them.

10. 10
The focus must be shifted to value-added services. The customers
buy a value, not just consultancy hours. Of course it’s just as wrong to
fail to meet the market’s desire for skilled resources.
What am I saying with this introduction? We must adapt the sales
organisation and the sales strategy to the market situation. Are you
surprised? Probably not, but be patient, because I’ll be offering you a
reference framework for how you can drive at 200 kilometres an hour
even when the road bends.

11. 11
The perfect sales culture doesn’t exist!
Many studies have been done which show the characteristics of the
best sales people. Investigations always come up with the characteristics
that quick-footed product sales people possess: goal oriented, energetic
and convincing. All too many sales managers have accepted the results
and begun to value their own sales organisations according to the same
stereotyped standards. I have had hundreds of conversations with sales
managers who, compared to the ”ideal image” feel that their sales peo-
ple are passive and product oriented: Really low achievers. Despite
this, many of these low achieving sales forces are very successful. One
of the reasons is that the sales organisations have adapted themselves
to their customers’ purchasing behaviour and purchasing motives. In-
vestigations of the ”perfect sales person” never look at this. I therefore
argue that the clever sales person’s characteristics should be compared
with the customers’ purchasing behaviour in the relevant industry and
environment. There’s no ”one size fits all”, a type of sales person and
sales organisation who is always the best performer. The same sales
behaviour will be effective or ineffective depending on the customers’
purchasing behaviour and the product’s degree of maturity.
The sales culture often lacks dynamism
Most companies have a single-minded view of how sales should be
driven. They are too bad at letting the sales culture change with the
maturity of the market and the product. The result is low sales ef-
ficiency over time.
What affects the sales culture most is the period at which the com-
pany was most successful. The way in which the sales people worked
then lasts a long time. In construction companies who rode on an eco-
The four sales organisations
2
The four sales organisations

12. 12
New managers bring their view of how sales should be run.
The new sales manager’s view is also built on an inheritance from
when he or she was most successful (in his or her previous job), which
is often the motive for why he or she has got the new job. For exam-
ple, managers with a background from a company selling photocopiers
value the number of customer visits as the most important thing, while
managers from consumer oriented telecommunications companies fo-
cus on the number of mobile phone subscriptions, and managers in
consultancy organisations on the profitability of the consultancy team.
nomic boom, the sales culture is replaced with a project culture, in
other companies which were started in a cellar by talent-driven sales
people, those who run ten kilometres every morning and train on clos-
ing techniques in the shower, the closure is the holy of holies. I was
in contact with a company which sold alarm installations. Their sales
people had a fixed salary of around 30% and a variable share of 70%
or higher. The sales culture was driven by short sales cycles and quick
money. This is an example of an ideal which managements praise. It
affects the sales culture immensely. If you want to know quickly what
drives the sales people in your company, you can study the salary sys-
tem. If the sales people have fixed salaries, the sales culture is probably
service or supply-driven. If they have a high share of commission, the
sales culture is talent-driven and ”closers” are praised. Because salary
systems are difficult to alter, they ”cement” a sales culture which may
have outlived its usefulness. Despite most companies selling several
different types of products and solutions, they are managed in the
same way. An example of this was an it consultancy company which
sold both consultancy hours and complex solutions.
These products had completely different sales processes and buy-
ers. Despite that, the sales people were rewarded for quick closure,
which had the effect that the solution deals were never prioritised.
To avoid the sales culture becoming a dinosaur, the management
must continuously reassess the reward system and actively guide the
development of the sales culture.

13. 13
The four sales organisations
When new sales managers are recruited to take over established sales
teams, the culture shock is more evident. Unfortunately the new sales
managers rarely spend sufficient
time learning the market position and the customers’ purchasing
behaviour. The problems arise when the new sales manager wants
sales to increase as a result of a higher activity level in terms of sales
activities (which are always too low) and begins to measure the num-
ber of customer visits and submitted quotes. What isn’t measured is
whether the sales people meet the right people and have sales meet-
ings which lead forwards. Moreover, companies which often answer
requests for quotations have a great deal of difficulty in assessing the
value of the sales time expended. A snowball has a greater chance of
surviving in an oven than 80 per cent of the quotes which are submit-
ted. It can therefore be completely counter-productive to measure, for
example, the number of quotes. The results of the increased activity
don’t materialise.
What happens instead? The old sales people complain to the man-
agement who are forced to choose between the sales people and the
new sales manager. The result is unfortunately that the new sales man-
ager gets the sack after a year. New sales managers would do best,
then, to try to understand the sales culture and how it has been created
before they try to get the sales force to take the next development step.
1 2 3 4
Sales evolution curve
Markets
C
H
A
S
M
Technology-driven Talent-driven Service-driven Supply-driven
“Many management groups
have solved sales manage-
ment by praising ideals,
consciously or uncon-
sciously. By highlighting
and giving public attention
to top performers, a stan-
dard is set for the rest of
the organisation”

14. 14
The sales culture is created by the customers
The customers’ expectations and purchasing behaviour create the
sales cultures. The sales people are quick to adapt themselves to their
customers’ wishes and few sales people guide the customers’ behav-
iour. This means that the customers’ knowledge and view of the prod-
uct will determine if and how they want to buy. If the product is new,
it’s the technology interest that drives the buyers. The sales people
get technical questions from the customers and a technology-driven
sales culture is created. When the customer’s management is driven
by maximum economic yield, a talent-driven sales culture is formed.
The talents can translate the possibilities of the technology into value
to the customer. When the product matures and becomes standard,
the buyers take command and place the orders. They know what they
want. The customers’ demands for service form the service-driven
sales organisation. When the product is late in its life cycle, the cus-
tomers want to buy it as a service. This purchasing behaviour creates
the supply-driven sales culture.
It’s therefore the customers’ purchasing behaviour that decides
which sales behaviour is most effective. But as the product matures, the
customers’ purchasing behaviour changes and the sales people must go
with it if they are not to lose sales and effectiveness.
The different sales organisations
1. The technology-driven sales organisation
This sales organisation works best when new technologies and prod-
ucts are to be launched on a market. Customers who are interested
in new technology don’t buy the product: They start a development
project together with the supplier. The sales people aren’t driven by
selling, but by a genuine technology interest. They love to find new and
exciting applications for the product.
2. The talent-driven sales organisation
The talent-driven sales organisation works best when a technology is
established. The market consists of visionaries: Managers who want to
knock out the competition with the help of new ideas. The sales people
are driven by personal satisfaction. The result is in focus. The talents
The four sales
cultures:
– Technology-driven
– Talent-driven
– Service-driven
– Supply-driven

15. 15
The four sales organisations
work extremely hard and have a high activity level. The sales people
have developed their talent for selling ideas. They help the customer to
understand how they can develop their business with the new product.
When the deal has been landed the sales people leave their organisa-
tion to deliver as best it can. New deals are waiting around the corner.
3. The service-driven sales organisation
The service-driven sales organisation is characterised by the fact that
the sales people have very strong personal relationships with their cus-
tomers. There are often contacts at a lower level in the organisation
such as: purchasing, production and IT. The customers are platform
buyers and have a cost ceiling to implement system solutions. The sales
person sees it as their job to personally solve all of the customer’s prob-
lems. Sales is not idea-creating here, but rather reactive. The customer
knows what they need. The organisation is best off in a growth market
when the customers’ demand for the market leading products is great.
4. The supply-driven sales organisation
The supply-driven sales organisation focuses on delivering the de-
manded products or services, often specific projects. The sales people,
if there are people so designated, expend a lot of time on coordinating
internal resources and on the ongoing delivery questions. Personal re-
lationships with the customer are not central. Deals often involve ma-
jor projects, sometimes driven by the purchasing organisation, often
with the aim of achieving savings targets set by the company manage-
ment. The organisation is best off when it wins many procurements
with long-term projects which build on standard deliveries.
Myth and reality about the solution-driven sales organisation
It’s a myth that it’s possible to create a solution-driven sales organisa-
tion that works in exactly the same way in all phases of the market’s
development. The customers’ priorities will shift and therefore their
need for “solutions” will too.
The reality is that all sales cultures, regardless of their driving force,
can act in a solution-oriented way. How this happens will vary. The
management can measure and reward solution-driven selling and in

16. 16
this way get the sales force to go into “turbo gear”. It’s worth the ef-
fort. You’ll notice that the sales people stay longer in their jobs if they
get greater appreciation from their customers. The customers will stay
longer too, and will give more honest feedback when something goes
wrong. You can read more about how sales management systems can
support a solution-driven sales culture in Chapter 9.
Summary
– The sales culture is most often an inheritance from a previously suc-
cessful period
– Managers from companies with clear sales cultures take their recipe
to their new jobs
– Sales management drives a behaviour which was successful in a pre-
vious situation but which perhaps is not suitable for the current mar-
ket position
– The formation of the sales organisation rarely takes place with the
customers’ purchasing behaviour as its starting point
– Four types of sales culture can be defined: technology-driven, talent-
driven, service-driven and supply-driven
– All types of sales cultures can act in a solution-oriented way with the
right management system

17. 17
An introduction to the theory behind Sales
Makeover
3
This chapter gives an introduction to the theory behind Sales Make-
over. Geoffrey Moore’s book “Crossing the Chasm” has created a
foundation for understanding how customers’ purchasing behaviour
changes after a product has matured. He has also laid down a frame-
work for how sales strategies can drive the market forwards and how
they can be adapted to different market situations. The theory creates
the basis for how the different sales cultures are formed, and when
they lose their momentum. After the introduction, which you can skip
if you have already read the book, you will understand the importance
of understanding the signals of the different customer groups, particu-
larly when they are undergoing change. Then the sales force can ride
the development wave and maximise their sales because they drive the
market, instead of being driven by it.*
The answer to why some succeed and others don’t
My first meeting with the book “Crossing the Chasm”1
, was via an
e-learning course, an early PowerPoint course with stilted quotations
from the book, delivered in a computer inspired voice. Hardly the best
way to learn, but in 1998 it was a glimpse of future e-learning. I be-
came interested in how different customers adopt new technology as
they become more experienced and the products become standard-
ised. Geoffrey Moore showed why some technologies survive and why
certain companies cope with keeping up with the market’s develop-
ment while others disappear or get bought out.
The soundtrack of “Crossing the Chasm” is now stored on my Ap-
ple iPhone 3Gs. As you read this it probably doesn’t mean much to
* A company can, of course, have products and services in all maturity phases simultaneously.
“The Apple iPhone is a
symbol for how technologi-
cal development creates the
first customer group in a
bell-shaped curve which
symbolises the market’s
acceptance of new technol-
ogy”

18. 18
The technology-driven sales organisation
you. But in 2008/2009, the Apple iPhone became the symbol for a
new type of mobile telephone where the ring function was only one
of many applications. Surfing, viewing images and films, endless music
and new games were only the touch of a button away. The iPhone
became a symbol for how technological development creates the first
customer group in the “Crossing the Chasm” curve – the innovators
who buy new technology from a passionate interest in technology.
About “Crossing the Chasm”
A brief background
During his time as a consultant with the American company Regis
MacKenna, Geoffrey Moore carried out research into how new tech-
nology was accepted by the market. The company supported custom-
ers during new launches and worked as strategy consultants for risk
capitalist companies around Silicon Valley in the USA. Since the book
was written in 1984, many technology waves have swept through so-
ciety. The most significant is the Internet. Geoffrey Moore has writ-
ten more books, including “Inside the tornado”2
, where he develops
theories about how companies can take and retain the leadership of a
market in development.
Crossing the Chasm
The theory around how a market accepts new technology was devel-
oped during the 1950s in the USA. A link was discovered between the
willingness of different customer groups to take risks and the time it
took for them to accept the new technology. Five main groups were
identified: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and
laggards.
The different groups can be illustrated with a bell-shaped
curve:
1. Innovators = technology enthusiasts (3–5 per cent)
They like new technology due to its new technical functions. They are
convinced that the technology can give us a better quality of life. They
are fascinated by the new technical possibilities. Nearly all organisa-
tions have space for a “technology nerd”. We need them to test and

19. 19
solve problems. Whenever you have a technology problem, he’s there
(because it’s most often a man) behind you with shining eyes. “May I?”
From a market perspective there are two disadvantages with selling
to technology enthusiasts:
– They constitute only 3-5 per cent of a market
– They rarely have any money
These disadvantages are offset by the fact that they have influence
in the organisation over the choice of technology. If they don’t like the
technology, it’s dead. If they give the “thumbs up”, they have opened
the door to the rest of the market.
2. Early adopters = visionaries (12–15 per cent)
They are the real revolutionaries in industry. They have an unerring
ability to see how new business concepts can be developed with the
new technology. They want nothing more than to knock out their com-
petitors. Sometimes they are so early that the technology isn’t fully
developed – the idea can’t be put into practice until much later. So they
start development projects instead of buying a finished product. The
visionaries are very important for suppliers because they can come up
with sufficient money to develop what they want. Their contribution
creates the conditions for entrepreneurial companies. Because the vi-
sionary is eager to stand in the spotlight, publicity is created around
advances, which speeds up the development of the market still further.
Market maturity
Relativemarketshare
1 2 3 4 5
Technology adoption cycle, TAC
“Visionaries are the real
revolutionaries in industry.
They have an unerring ability
to see how new business
concepts can be developed
with the new technology”

20. 20
The technology-driven sales organisation
There is a disadvantage with selling to visionaries: they have such
specific wishes that nobody else would dream of bothering with them.
This implies severe strain on the suppliers’ development departments.
The suppliers are sooner or later forced to find customers who purchase
standard product and services in order to survive and get a return on
their high development costs.
Technology enthusiasts and visionaries constitute the key to the rest
of the market.
They awaken interest in the pragmatics who in their turn open the
door to the majority of customers, who buy standard solutions. The
purchasing motive develops and changes after the pragmatics take
over.
3. Early majority = pragmatics (34 per cent)
They don’t love technology for technology’s sake: They believe in evo-
lution, not revolution. They are therefore careful to create the right
conditions for their business through introducing effective business sys-
tems. They are neutral to the technology and look for strong references
and proven results before they take decisions on making changes. The
pragmatics are most often responsible for the organisation’s most criti-
cal systems. They know that these systems are sensitive and are careful
not to force development.
When they finally decide to buy, they choose the market leader for
two reasons:
– Everyone else is building their products around the market lead-
er, which means the biggest opportunities to get support. Perhaps the
market leader’s product isn’t the best but it will be the most stable.
– The market leader is building their market position together with
other market leading third party suppliers. This secures future needs
for development.
The pragmatics take their decisions based on ROI, Return On In-
vestment. They perhaps don’t have responsibility for results, but they
are in the management or have a direct relationship to those people
who are. Therefore their infrastructure decisions will be a direct conse-
quence of the operation’s business needs.
”Conservative customers re-
present a major unexploited
potential for those suppliers
who choose to focus on
them. However, other rules
of the game apply to create
satisfied customers: the
product must be simplified
to a level where it works
entirely without disruptions”

21. 21
4. Late majority = conservatives (34 per cent)
These customers are essentially doubtful as to whether the new tech-
nology can provide any value at all.
They wait a long time to make the technology shift which their
pragmatic colleagues have done long since. Their needs are rarely
filled, because they don’t want to pay extra for the ser-
vices to create the best solution. This just confirms their
negative view of the new technology.
However, this group represents a major unexploited
potential for those suppliers who choose to focus on
them. Other rules of the game apply to create satisfied
customers: the product must be simplified to a level where
it works entirely without disruptions. Conservative cus-
tomers are happy to buy the most advanced microchips,
provided they are built into a BMW’s electronic system. I call these
customers platform buyers.
5. Laggards = sceptics (12–18 per cent)
These eternal critics of new technology constitute a major challenge
for a sales force. The key to winning them over is not to sell to them
(which is nearly impossible) but to sell around them. When everyone
around them is working with the new technology, they will join in!
These five profiles create the technology adoption curve (TAC).
Market strategy for new launches according to Crossing the
Chasm
The market strategy is built up in the following way:
1. Create interest among the technology enthusiasts by getting them to
try the products and introducing yourself to the visionaries
2. When you have the visionaries’ interest, create good references
which you can use to win the pragmatics
3. Earn the most money from the pragmatics by creating volumes,
becoming market leader and setting the standard
4. Create an economic lever through the large volumes, develop the
product’s stability and drop the prices so that you can attract the
conservative customers
“I see”
Visionaries see with
their eyes closed,
pragmatics do it
with their eyes open.

22. 22
The technology-driven sales organisation
5. Leave the sceptics. They will take on the technology shift when the
next one is on the way
“The Chasm”
Despite the logic in the strategy, it was shown not to work particularly
often. Especially when the company had won the visionary buyers’
hearts and set course for the pragmatic buyers. The process got stuck
here. The problem was that the two groups, despite coming after each
other in the life cycle, have completely different values: So different
that communication between them is nearly impossible.
Visionaries Pragmatics
Intuitive Analytical
Support revolution Support evolution
Stand out from the crowd Stay with the group
Set their own rules Consult with their colleagues
Take risks Manage risks
Are motivated by future opportunities Are motivated by solving current
problems
Look for limits Carry out what is possible
A metaphor which describes how differently the groups think is how
they use the words “I see”. Visionaries see with their eyes closed. Prag-
matics do it with their eyes open. Pragmatics don’t rely on the vision-
aries in the same way that most people wouldn’t rely on a pilot who
navigated with the help of “the Force” (from Star Wars) 3
.
The idea of the chasm is simple. When new technology is intro-
duced, it is accepted with a welcome from the early market which is
made up of technology enthusiasts and visionaries. Sales soon take
off. When the early market is drained, sales fall off. If the product can
get a foothold with the pragmatics, it can get over the chasm and lay
the basis for a technology shift. Unfortunately there are few products
which make it over the chasm. This is often caused by the risk capital-
ists’ exaggerated expectations of quick results. When product sales fall,

23. 23
they become nervous and develop new variants. The new versions of
the product attract a few new technology enthusiasts and visionaries
to commit to it, but the product is still sold on its characteristics, not
on the customer value which the pragmatics are interested in. Devel-
opment of the product drives up the costs for development and takes
significant resources from the sales and marketing organisations which
creates further limitations in communication with the pragmatics.
The art of crossing the chasm
When the visionary sees that a new product can solve 80 per cent of
his problem, he says: “Fine, let’s develop the missing 20 per cent to-
gether”. The pragmatic waits to buy until the product solves 100 per
cent of his problem. “It must be completely finished and have refer-
ences”. The pragmatics want the “whole product”.
Theodore Levitt 4
from Harvard Business School launched the idea
of the whole product, which was later developed by Bill Davidow in
the book “Marketing High Technology” 5
. The whole product is de-
fined as: “The least amount of products and services required for the
selected customer to achieve their goal with the purchase.” With this
definition it became clear that many high-tech companies were stuck
at the chasm for an unnecessarily long time because they didn’t fully
develop their product. But many people missed one of the most im-
portant points in the definition: “the selected customer”. Most people
don’t want to put all their eggs in one basket and invest in a narrow
customer group. They work on many segments and branches simulta-
neously.
Before each new development, all of these important target groups
are visited, their needs analysed and a mix of needs taken into account
in the new product release. Now the product is definitely more com-
plete but unfortunately it gives a little more to everyone. This other
words, no customer group gets 100 per cent of its requirements ful-
filled. The selected customer’s requirement list has not been fully an-
swered. It’s this that the pragmatics require before they buy.
After having analysed a number of successful examples, Geoffrey
Moore 6
came to the conclusion that the only safe way to cross the chasm
“The whole product is de-
fined as: ‘The least amount
of products and services
required for the selected
customer to achieve their
goal with the purchase.’
With this definition it be-
came clear that many high
tech companies were stuck
at the chasm for an unnec-
essarily long time because
they didn’t fully develop their
product” 5

24. 24
The technology-driven sales organisation
was to put all the eggs in one basket. To invest in a target group and to
establish a bridgehead, before the next market segment was cultivated.
How to choose the pragmatic customer
A company in the USA, “Documentum”, drew up criteria before a
customer-adapted development of the “whole product”. They suc-
ceeded very well in making a breakthrough and expanding their sales
to new markets.
1 Is the selected customer economically strong and available for our
sales force?
2. Is there a compelling reason for them to buy a “solution”?
3. Can we today, with the help of our partners, deliver a whole product
which matches their expectations of the “solution”?
4. Are there any established competitors who can prevent us from cre-
ating the sales opportunity?
5. Can this segment create a lever for the next segment?
Apple, a supplier who crossed the chasm with desktop
publishing
Many of us have an Apple product. Their breakthrough came when
they created the “desktop publishing” segment. Today we take it for
granted that we can design and print attractive material from our
computers without having to lay documents and photos on a drawing
board and cut and paste together finished pages that we then send to
a printer’s. This became the Macintosh computer’s bridgehead. Ask
anyone in advertising: The chances are 99.9 per cent that they love
their Mac. When Mac broke through the chasm, they could solve all of
the advertising agencies’ needs. Computers and programs developed
by partners (such as Adobe) and printers (HP) could supply the whole
product.
A new view of the Technology Adoption Cycle (TAC)
This view of “the whole product” meant that the life cycle for new
technology, the TAC, had to be further developed. How could a com-
pany harvest the fruits, when the chasm had been crossed, from the

25. 25
pragmatics and then the conservatives? How could development and
market strategies be developed? How could a company win, rather
than its competitors? How can a company build up and maintain its
partners?
The TAC was developed to include six purchase groups:
1. The Early Market
A time of development when technology enthusiasts and visionaries
fight to be the first who jumps aboard the new technology (paradigm
shift).
2. The Chasm
A time of desperation when the early market’s interest is reduced, but
when the main market has not yet been awakened. Customers are not
yet convinced that the technology is mature.
3. The Bowling Alley
A period when the supplier focuses on individual market niches, whose
success opens doors to similar applications for other customers. The
decision makers are high up in the customer’s organisation: The “ROI
buyers”. The focus is on the organisation’s value for the new technol-
ogy. The aim of the bowling alley is that the first skittle knocks down
the next and the next knocks down yet more. The skittles are the mar-
ket segments which are won. They help to win new markets.
4. The Tornado
A period when most buyers exchange the old technology for the new.
A paradigm shift has taken place. The buyers are now project manag-
ers and function managers. We call these platform buyers. They have
a budget given them by the company management.
The platform buyers act as a group and prefer to buy market lead-
ing products and services from stable suppliers. The focus is on intro-
ducing a standardised technology platform.

26. 26
The technology-driven sales organisation
– The Early Market
– The Chasm
– The Bowling Alley
– The Tornado
– Main Street
– The End of Life
SIX GROUPS IN THE
TAC
Crossing the chasm
1 2 3 4 65
C
H
A
S
M
“Inside the tornado” Geoffrey Moore 7
5. Main Street
The new technology’s potential is developed. Variants for different seg-
ment shares are created and new services are created. The focus is on
user friendliness.
6. The End of Life
When the product is no longer developed or supported, or can no
longer be integrated with new technologies, the product dies and is
replaced with other more vigorous technologies.

27. 27
Summary
The conclusion of the “Crossing the Chasm” theory is that the busi-
ness strategy must be changed as the market moves along the technol-
ogy adoption curve.
1. The forces that control the bowling alley (early pragmatics) are cus-
tomer centred. See Chapter 5 on the talent-driven sales force.
2. The tornado market pulls in the other direction, towards a mass-
market strategy, in order to develop a joint infrastructure. See Chapter
6 on the service-driven sales organisation.
3. On Main Street, the forces push back towards a customer oriented
approach in order to give individual market segments higher value. (cf.
Microsoft’s different Office packages for large businesses, small busi-
nesses, students and home users). The focus can shift from the product
to a service with the same functions (“SaaS”, software as a service). See
Chapter 7 on the supply-driven sales organisation.
4. The suppliers must know where their customer groups are posi-
tioned in the adoption curve.
5. To be able to quickly adapt their strategy to the next market seg-
ment will determine whether the company survives.
To understand these stages and to dare to meet them without preju-
dice is perhaps one of the biggest challenges in the development of a
sales strategy. Now you can move on and learn about the five sales cul-
tures: technology-driven, talent-driven, service-driven, supply-driven
and finally a form which can meet the customer oriented needs of all
market segments – solution-driven.

28. 28
The technology-driven sales organisation
My comments on Crossing the Chasm
My main lesson from Geoffrey Moore’s theories is that a sales method which is
successful in one stage doesn’t work at all in the next. Looking after your customers
seems even to be counter-productive for growth in the tornado market. An example
of this was when one of our customers became market leader and could begin to
charge a lot for their product. When the product then matured, the platform buyers
woke up. They wanted a simpler standard product and quicker implementation. The
competitors launched new products at 30 per cent of the price but with fewer func-
tions. Our customer didn’t just lose market share at breakneck speed, but also self-
confidence. Despite the fact that they worked hard to adapt to the customers’ needs,
most customers didn’t seem to want to pay for the service. After a lot of thought,
my customer realised that the market had matured and now consisted of platform
buyers. They succeeded in reversing the trend by accepting the new market situation
and successfully launched a series of products which were directly aimed at platform
buyers. Simpler, cheaper and standardised. This is an example of how a company
can reverse a difficult situation with the help of the theory in Crossing the Chasm.

29. 29
Jens Edgren, born 1964, started his career in
the selling and training industry after extensive
studies in marketing, organizational psychol-
ogy and management. Both in the University
of Växjö, Eckerd College in Florida, US and
at Handelshögskolan in Gothenburg, Sweden.
He has been a sales man, sales manager, product
manager, project manager and MD since he
graduated 1989. Jens and his team have had
assignments for Microsoft, Oracle, Visma,
Schneider, Tieto, Philips and as a guest teacher
at Universities in Sweden. He has four children,
lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Jens is especially
interested in paragliding, climbing and diving.
Jens started writing the book Sales Makeover
already 2008 because many companies were looking for a way to
continue the development of their sales organisations. Some of these
companies were clients of Jens training organisation. Despite the sales
training programs they suffered from the recessions. They were look-
ing for ways to create a more stable sales situation and had a wish to
be more strategic to their customers. Jens wanted the Sales Makeover
concept to fill a gap between traditional sales trainings and highflying
management theories, difficult to apply in every day life.
“It took me one year to write the book, one year to make it
readable and one year to publish it. Sometimes I felt like trying to
climb Mount Everest without any clear route. Now I feel that it was
good to have time to practice the theories in my trainings. Also to get
valuable feedback from friends and clients. So you could say that the
book developed a great deal underway. For me a professional in sales
and sales management it feels so good to provide my piece of the
puzzle to the world of sales theories.”

30. Sales MakEover – how to develop a
solution driven sales culture and boost
your sales
Warning! This book deals with how you can maximise
sales results and create the most satisfied customers
regardless of the economic situation. You will be intro-
duced to theories and their significance in how sales
organisations are organised and led which may affect
you for a long time to come. Don’t count on a few easy
tips on magical sales tricks or new theories in personal
leadership. If you and your team are to succeed where
others have failed, you must be prepared to plan and
carry out dramatic changes to your sales organisation.
Read this at your own risk.
This book will show you why most companies are hit by totally
unnecessary sales blockages – and what should be done differently.
Solution driven sales organisations are more profitable, creates
higher customer values and attracts the best salespeople. But how
to do it? This book will give you a practical guide to develop your
sales organisation to become solution driven. You will find check-
lists for when you need to act, what to do and what pitfalls to avoid.
Sales Makeover is based upon more than twenty years of research,
practice and execution of sales development.
Jens Edgren has since
1989 helpt companies to
become solution driven and
improve sales. Jens and
his team have worked as
consultants to many noted
companies in Europe. Jens
Edgren has trained over
thousands of salesmen
and managers in solution
driven sales methology.
Jens Edgren has previously
published the book “How
to sell the answer to a
problem” (2008).