orts of all those in the organizations to shift their emphasis and become more sensitive to the spirit intended by the relationship plan, and to make sure that this spirit is delivered to the customers. RELATIONSHIP PLAN-BASED SALES ORGANIZATION Assuming that the relationship plan approach is adopted, the sales and promotion organizations must take the lead in making it a reality. Because the change will be more than just a modification in the number and types of offers made to consumers, the sales organization will have to do more than simply conduct business as usual. eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook Being More Selective about Who You Sell What to The sales organization will need to be more selective when choosing which relationship plan it sells. The relationship plans will be much more complicated than the rate plan previously offered. More importantly, the sale of the wrong relationship plan to the wrong customer could have disastrous impact for the firm. Increasing the Sophistication of the Sales Process The job of the sales and promotion groups of most telcos is fairly simple and straightforward. One network, one level of quality, and a set of rate plans that you attempt to sell to customers. Sales people usually differentiate on price, or extras (such as new handsets or promotional giveaways.) As a result, the level of sophistication involved for the sale of the products is quite low. On the other hand, when the telco begins creating and offering internally differentiated services; the entire sales landscape changes drastically. No longer can the sales organization blindly push the network based on price and ignore the other consequences. Qualification The first thing that the sales rep will need to do is a better job of matching the prospects with the appropriate packages. The economic viability of the relationship plans will be based, in no small part, on the assumptions that the designers of the plan make about the people that purchase it. For example, a company might create a 