Autodesk is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for architecture, engineering, construction, and other industries.

Today, Bolaji Ayodele, a senior business development representative for Autodesk, is meeting with the construction manager for the Woodlands Town Center, a major community-development organization. The Woodlands is a planned community outside of Houston. The recently added Woodlands Town Center includes restaurants, shops, and a hotel and convention center.

The construction manager’s goal is to manage the construction of the Woodlands Town Center as efficiently as possible. Up to this point, the construction team has relied mainly on Excel sheets and competitors’ software; now, the construction manager is interested in using Autodesk software and has scheduled this meeting with Bolaji to learn more about the possibilities of using software from Autodesk.

As a rule, Bolaji uses relatively informal presentations on his sales calls. The most significant part of his presentation is a demo of Autodesk software; showing potential customers a demo allows them to see the software’s overall look and feel and to have a good look at the technology.

Over the course of the informal presentation, Bolaji also shows the customer statistics on the customer base of Autodesk as well as a price sheet for various license types for the software.

After listening to what the construction manager needs, Bolaji proposes a range of software.

Although the price depends on the number of stand-alone licenses ordered, he estimates that the software cost would be about $50,000. The construction manager and Bolaji agree on a timeline for a more formal proposal that can be shared with the rest of the construction team, and Bolaji moves on to the rest of his day.

Questions

1 Explain how Bolaji Ayodele can use the three prescriptions for a product-selling strategy in preparing and presenting product solutions.

2 What are the major benefits that Bolaji incorporates into his presentation?

3 What are the most likely objections that the construction company might raise?

4 In addition to the actual product strategy, how important will information about Autodesk

(its history, mission, past performance, etc.) be in closing the sale?