When our now college-bound daughters were much younger, my wife and I had a code phrase to describe their reaction to any disruption. We called it “The Cry of the Two-year Old” which was Same Good, Change Bad. With research continuing to show that nearly one quarter of all forecast opportunities ends in “No Decision” I contend the prospect’s attitude of Same Good, Change Bad is one of – if not the single greatest reason.
Most successful sales teams work by identifying and quantifying a prospective customer’s business problems solved by the seller’s products and services. The sales team develops a compelling business case for decision makers. Then, in theory, the prospect agrees with the analysis and the sales team places the opportunity on the sales forecast with high confidence. Yet, a quarter of forecast opportunities still end with the prospect deciding to delay or do nothing. Why?
In many cases, it’s because the sales team diagnosed and prescribed a solution without understanding the prospect’s ability or willingness to change to the extent required to evaluate and implement that or any solution.
It’s human nature to resist change – just ask any two-year-old. And change – from a sales perspective – comes in different forms.
Any new solution forces some degree of change in costs, processes, responsibilities, culture, structure, tradition and/or power on the prospect. Just because a proposed solution helps overcome a real, agreed-upon business problem doesn’t mean the prospect can or will justify the amount change required. Although your solution is superior the prospect may not believe your company can really help them affect the amount of change for success. After all, you are just another salesperson, right?
Transforming from Salespeople to Change Agents
Yes, I am proposing you change the way you engage with prospective customers. Converting a sales group – armed with solutions in search of prospect problems – into a more consultative team helping clients identify, quantify and effectively address wide-ranging change is not easy. But the following six steps will get you moving in the right direction:
1. Examine Lost Sales and No-decision Outcomes
Assemble your sales and management team to brainstorm sales that were lost or ended in “no decision.” Which ones could be due to the prospect’s fear of or resistance to change? Did the prospect stay with an established vendor even though your solution was superior? In no-decision outcomes, did the prospect give reasons indicative of aversion to change? What has happened at those “no-decision” prospects since? Have they suffered strategic-level consequences they could have avoided using your solution? Can you quantify the consequences? Did prospect contacts give missed or misread signals which were actually warning signs of resistance to or fear of change? If possible, contact between your respective executive teams might uncover more information.
2. Look at Successful Sales Outcomes
Compare findings from your lost/no-decision sales with similar opportunities where you won. What was different in the way each company approached the change required to evaluate and implement? Look at roles and responsibilities of various people for common change resistance issues. Beyond the raw technical and infrastructure change implicit with your solution; document the cultural, political and personal change the prospect faced. Who was threatened by change and who benefited? What other competitive, market and regulatory pressure did the prospect face? Why was your project prioritized above others? What other paths were open to the prospect (competitor, internal, do nothing, etc.) and why did they choose the one you proposed?
3. Develop a Prospect Model Incorporating Change
Use all of the information from the previous assessments to build or modify your Ideal Prospect Model. Use this model to identify modifications to your sales engagement process. Who are stakeholders for the problems you solve? How do they qualify and quantify the impact of these problems? Which senior-level strategic executives are concerned about these technical or operational problems? How do they measure them? Are you selling too high in accounts too soon – before you have documented the technical, operational, political and strategic aspect of the problem(s) with lower-level stakeholders? “Value propositions” custom-tailored for and using the same “language” as the senior executive will always get more attention than a generic, one-size-fits-all message – especially when it acknowledges the change needed to solve a problem.
4. Project Into the Future
The media technology landscape is so dynamic these days. Distribution, production, acquisition and monetization models are fluid. Pull out the crystal ball regularly and brainstorm with your entire team. Imagine how your Ideal Prospect Model and current customers view the future. What changes will they face tomorrow they don’t see today? You know more about your products and services range of capabilities (both current and future) than your prospects. Use that knowledge to identify future change pressures you could address. Craft new messages targeting all levels of prospective customers. Done right, you set the criteria for buying decisions, position your company as the change management leader and exclude competitors.
5. Big Change Equals Big Sales
Look at your sales deployment. Is your sales force too involved in transactional, highly competitive, low margin or commodity sales? If so, consider moving as much of that activity to the web or inside sales. Companies that successfully help prospects implement and achieve promised value from major change realize higher revenues and larger margins. So, free your best salespeople to work larger, more lucrative change-centric opportunities.
6. Don’t Overlook Changes You Need to Make
Implement changes you need to become Change Management Consultants (or whatever term you feel fits). Make adherence to a change-focused sales process a part of regular opportunity reviews (you are doing regular opportunity reviews, right?). What sales actions are prescribed when a prospect is unwilling or uncertain about the scope of change required to evaluate, buy and implement your products and services? Will these actions be successful? Walk away from opportunities when an honest and objective opportunity review finds the prospect unwilling, unable or unprepared for the amount of change needed for success. Only invest your time and treasure on opportunities where (a) the prospect accepts the impact of change, (b) you can and will win and (c) the prospect will realize the results you promise and they need.
In a future post, I’ll dive deeper into sales processes to help prospective customers identify and accept change. In the meantime, I welcome your thoughts or war stories about the Two-Year Olds you’ve encountered.
Jim Cundiff brings over 25 years of successful media technology sales and sales management experience to his position as Managing Partner of Sales Performance Associates – a firm helping media technology companies achieve sustainable, repeatable and predictable revenue growth by improving sales and tactical marketing processes, methods and execution.