Salesforce.com's Lucky Fender Bender

Salesforce.com has either a brilliant or unlucky sales team. Either way, they recently won a deal by showcasing their product in an innovative way.

On Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting with a software firm that helps organizations make smarter business decisions. During the informal pleasantries prior to the start of the meeting, the topic of discussion turned to their recent selection of Salesforce.com as their hosted CRM solution.

They cited a number of factors for their choice related to Salesforce.com’s flexibility and ease of integration with third-party solutions. Yet, the Executive VP in the meeting explained the clincher for Salesforce.com was of all things a fender bender.

Just prior to a scheduled conference call, the Salesforce.com’s sales executives working the deal were on their way back from lunch and reportedly got into a minor car accident. As a result, several of their colleagues had to step in and handle the call.

Fortunately, the replacements were able to review all of the necessary background information in their Salesforce.com CRM system. The call went smoothly and they made note of how their own use of the technology helped them better manage the opportunity. Their prospect was sold and the next step was a contract.

While I would never recommend a company misrepresent themselves or a situation to secure a contract, unexpected and convincing tactics to demo a product often make all of the difference. Even if this car accident was merely a ploy, I sure give Salesforce.com credit for their creativity.