So you think selling complex solutions is difficult? Try buying one.
One way to think about leading with ideas is to focus on the customer’s decision process in making a purchase. Dean McMann, co-founder and CEO of McMann & Ransford, has a particularly elegant framework for understanding the executive decision process. Generally, McMann says, an executive will move through three sequential decisions when evaluating a new idea and determining whether to buy:
- Why Would I Take Action? Why is this issue important? Is this a big enough opportunity – in terms of dollar impact and other strategic objectives– to warrant my attention as a senior leader? Also, are the potential solutions realistic, or are they “pie in the sky”?
- How Might I Take Action? What are my choices of ways to solve this problem or take advantage of this opportunity? For each of my choices, what are the estimated investment, risk, and ROI?
- With Whom Should I Take Action? Can I solve this problem using in-house resources? If not, which vendor should I engage on this initiative?
A customer engagement approach that guides the executive through making these decisions will allow the solutions provider to build customer intimacy and win a higher percentage of sales. When executed properly, it also allows the seller to get paid for some of the business development effort.
According to McMann, many solution providers make the mistake of jumping to the third decision first. They focus on trying to convince the customer to “choose me” before the customer has decided that the problem is worth solving. We see this in technology solution firms in “demo hell,” as they keep responding to requests to demonstrate their product to customers who cannot seem to make up their mind. (In many cases, that’s because the customers themselves haven’t thought through the first two decisions.)
We also see this occurring when solution providers propose primarily (or only) in response to RFPs they had no input in creating. An RFP is a signal that the customer is making the third decision: “With Whom to Act?” It assumes the first two decisions have already been made. Experience shows that the solution provider who helps guide the customer in making the first two decisions stands a much greater chance of being selected at the time of the third decision.
Notes and further reading:
“Customer Intimacy as a Business Model” by Dean McMann — http://www.deanmcmann.com/
“Thought Leadership is the New Sales Pitch” by The Basis Group
“In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers” by Philip Lay, Todd Hewlin, and Geoffrey Moore. Harvard Business Review, March 2009
PDF 
