In Conversation with Roger Mader, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ampersand.

Roger Mader

• As co-founder of Ampersand, Roger works with senior executives to unlock the potential of their companies—to redeploy their assets to a higher return—producing uncommon growth by uncommon means.  He guided strategy and new service design for Ernst and Young. He served as SVP Global Accounts in the consulting practice for Business Objects (now SAP) in San Jose and Paris. He led global accounts for design strategy firm Doblin/Monitor Group (now Deloitte), and led commercial strategy for innovation agency Fahrenheit 212(now Cap Gemini). He also served as the Global Chief Marketing Officer for Subway. 
• Roger Mader believes that selling is a diagnostic activity. Sellers should not flog the product they are selling. Instead, they must attempt to diagnose the problem of the customer and suggest a remedy or solution for that problem. 
• Sellers must understand that this process is iterative, and there is no quick hack solution to any problem. Just as in medical science, where the doctor tries a remedy and observes how that works, often relying on tests to probe deeper, the seller has to probe the customer and dig deeper to try remedies that may work. 
• Often, the diagnostic process means foregoing a sale today, to build trust that will garner a greater volume of sales in the future. The aim is to establish oneself as the subject matter expert. If a hammer manufacturer engages in conversation, they may very well discover that the buyer needs a screwdriver. In that scenario, the hammer manufacturer may collaborate with a screwdriver manufacturer, and provide an integrated solution to the buyer- without investing in the manufacturing process themselves. 

These and more insights you never find in the public discourse around Sales and Buying in this candid episode of The Buyer Side Chat.

Run time – 47.20 mins.