Tom works for a large payroll outsourcing firm. One of his key customer’s contracts is set to expire in one month. Competition has heated up in this industry and Tom’s customer asked him to make a presentation to the top management team about his firm’s services. In his presentation, he thanked the customers for their loyalty, talked about industry trends, highlighted how his firm has been successfully serving firms for decades (unlike the new players in the market), and then asked them to renew their business again by showing them pricing options. Tom didn’t get the contract renewed and wonders if his presentation had anything to do with it. Which of the following actions should Tom do in order to IMPROVE his future presentations?

a. Spend less presentation time thanking the customer for his/her loyalty.
b. Provide arguments that his firm can meet the customer’s specific needs.
c. Assume the customer will renew and present pricing options upfront.
d. Spend more time talking about the competitions’ low quality services.

b. Provide arguments that his firm can meet the customer’s specific needs.

Explanation:

According to the statement, Tom talked about the industry trends, how the firm has been successful and presented price options. However, there is an important point that Tom didn't address and that is crucial in these cases: it is to explain why your firm is the best option for the customer in terms of what you can do to fulfill the customer's needs and help them achieve their goals. This because you can find different competitors offering the same services and what would set your company apart is how it can better address the customer's needs. According to that, the answer is that to IMPROVE his future presentations Tom should provide arguments that his firm can meet the customer’s specific needs.

The other options are not right because spending less presentation time thanking the customer for his/her loyalty won't have an impact in the customer's decision. Also, assuming the customer will renew and present pricing options upfront and spending more time talking about the competitions’ low quality services can have a negative impact.