Field Intelligence: Executive Summary
The regional manager in Upper Myanmar was observed spending significant time sourcing seeds and providing advice to customers, beyond typical sales responsibilities.
- This personalized service fostered deep trust and strong relationships with customers, leading to increased sales and easier interactions with new prospects.
The experience highlighted the importance of prioritizing customer service and relationship building, especially in last mile distribution scenarios.
What Was Observed in Myanmar?
I was in Kume, a populated village in Myittha Township, Kyaukse District, Mandalay Region, Myanmar. It is a place where farmers grow chili, beans, and pulses. Many also cultivate bananas and papaya. Villages are densely packed here, close enough for word to travel fast, especially in a place near Myanmar’s second-largest city. I was visiting with one of my regional managers who oversees all of Upper Myanmar sales operations. Even though his region was performing well, we had a habit, no matter how strong the sales were, to regularly coach both sales reps and managers. That morning, while we were eating breakfast, my regional manager was on the phone with a customer. The customer had just placed an order for our product but also asked for a specific type of chili seed that was difficult to find in the area. My manager promised to help him source it before the planting season started. A few minutes later, another call came in. This time, it was a customer looking for papaya seeds. Then another, asking for advice on which engine model to swap for his irrigation pump. I sat there, watching him take call after call, and quietly asked myself: “Should he really be doing all this? We pay him to manage sales, not to source seeds for farmers.”It did not feel like the best use of company time.
How Did the Manager Build Trust?
I have known this manager for a long time. He is one of those people who genuinely wants to help others, not just his team but also the farmers who buy from us. His customers deeply respect him, and they listen when he speaks. Still, I planned to tell him during our evening reflection, “Yes, help customers, but not too much. You are spending too much time on things outside our work.” That was my plan until I saw what happened in the field that day. Every house we visited, every old customer we met, they greeted him with respect and warmth. Even though they knew we came to sell, it did not feel like selling. There was trust in the air. The customers did not see him as a salesman; they saw him as part of their lives.
Field Data Evidence: The manager was observed sourcing chili seeds, papaya seeds, and providing engine model advice to customers.
What Was the Impact of This Trust?
And that made me pause. Because of that trust, even when we approached new customers in the same village, the conversation felt easier. They were open, honest, and willing to listen. Some told us straight when they could not buy with true , specific and honest reason. Most of them did buy, because the manager had already done the selling before we arrived. By evening, my perspective had changed. During reflection, I still told him to balance things. “Help customers, but make sure the benefit outweighs the cost.” But I ended with something I had not planned to say: “Whatever you are doing here, it is working. I have nothing to change for this region.” That night, I wrote in my notebook: “Sometimes sales is not about the numbers. It is about the service that earns trust.” Because in the last mile, relationships grow faster than any crop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What region was the manager overseeing? A: The regional manager oversaw all of Upper Myanmar sales operations.
Q: What specific services was the manager providing to customers? A: The manager was sourcing seeds (chili, papaya) and providing advice on engine models for irrigation pumps.
Q: What was the key takeaway from this experience?
A: Sometimes sales is not about the numbers; it is about the service that earns trust.
FAQ
Q: What does a Fractional CRO engagement from Sai Han Linn look like for Southeast Asian businesses? A: A Fractional CRO Southeast Asia engagement is a 90-day embedded sprint covering revenue architecture, pipeline qualification, pricing discipline, and CRM deployment. Designed for B2B operators in Myanmar and Southeast Asia who need enterprise-grade RevOps coaching without the cost of a full-time executive.