Alberta\'s Supernet

1. www.criticalsuccessfactory.com
CASE STUDY: APPLIED SALES
Creating Demand
Finding and then targeting a windfall revenue opportunity are keys to creating
demand. Funds and people are also essential to be able to pursue and win a deal.
An objective Sales assessment helps executives to justify their commitment of
corporate resources.
TM
Fortunately, there exists a Creating Demand Analysis formula, described by Holden Power Base
Selling that helps a Seller to target:
a) the right opportunity and,
b) to broadly gauge the degree and duration of strategic Sales commitment.
Business Degree of
Political Business Impact Supplier's ROI Supplier's
Connectivity Significance Potential (for Potential Business Unit
Client) Investment
What does this business equation mean?
Simply, that the Seller’s ability to win the Client business is measured by the quality and the quantity of -
• Influence the Seller has upon the Client’s buying decision, plus the
• Importance of the Seller’s offer to the Client, plus the
• Client’s perceived high value of the Seller’s service or solution, plus the
• Seller’s outlook on Client relationship and repeat revenue, equals the
• Seller’s degree of willingness for a broad and sustained sales campaign to win a strategic business
opportunity e.g. Cost of Sales Effort
© 2009, Critical Success Factory. 1

2. www.criticalsuccessfactory.com
CASE STUDY: APPLIED SALES
Alberta’ Digital Divide
In 1998, the Alberta Science and Research Authority (ASRA) shared how Alberta could lead the world
and become more productive and competitive in the global economy. ASRA remarked how the
Government of Alberta could redefine its own role in the digital age by delivering better services to all
Albertans – both rural and urban.
The ASRA report called for a ubiquitous enabling infrastructure from which Albertans could have an
outstanding quality of life via life-long learning, e-commerce, and distance healthcare.
The information communications technology (ICT) strategy listed government goals for broadband
connectivity (below):
• 90% of Albertans within 3 years
• 100% of schools with high‐speed access
• 95% of businesses
• 80% of residences
The ASRA report went unnoticed and unanswered for more than a year.
Answering the Call
TELUS was the incumbent partner of the Government of Alberta (GoA), and provided that enterprise
with legacy telecom services. Static GoA revenues led TELUS to re-think its relationship with the
Province. Eager to garner a larger overall share of the government’s annual technology spend, an
inspired few in the strategic Sales group came upon the ASRA report. Sales submitted its own white
paper outlining an innovative way to enable the ASRA vision.*
This watershed document sparked an enthusiastic debate within Government Caucus and among key
bureaucrats. GoA quickly invited TELUS Sales to examine together the political, socio-economic,
ownership and financial aspects of the venture, along with the technology architectures.
*The TELUS Sales co-strategist and author of that first unsolicited ICT white paper and of subsequent others to GoA,
is a founder of The Critical Success Factory, and is also its Practice Principal for Applied Sales.
© 2009, Critical Success Factory. 2

3. www.criticalsuccessfactory.com
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CASE STUDY: APPLIED SALES
U D
Broadba
and Bonanz
za
TELUS offe ered to sole so
ource the ventu with the GoA GoA would instead formall procure the best-
ure A. ly
in-class consortium propoosal from amon the ICT indu
ng ustry’s top players.
North Ame erican telecoms and cablecos were in the hu The winner would be awa
s unt. r arded the right to
design, bui co-own and operate a 13,
ild, d ,000 kilometre fibre-optic netwwork connecting over 4,200
governmen and municipa buildings, lib
nt al braries, hospitals, and schools in all 429 Alb
s, berta communit ties.
The partneership with GoA would last for decades; the dollar investme for the cons
A r ent struction alone would
be in the hundreds of mill
lions. As furthe incentive, a m
er multi-million do
ollar annual revenue stream fo the
or
successful bidder would be guaranteed, since the GoA would be the network’s anc
b A chor tenant. Theere
would even be secondary market revenues from new network applications.
n y
Politicians would rally Alb
bertans with pro
omises of a new knowledge-b
w based economy With the adv
y. vent of
same-price high-speed connections to the Internet, w
e, c whether one live in an urban or a rural settin
ed ng
would no loonger matter. Commercially, t broadband network was d
C the designed to be provider-neutr too.
ral,
All service providers receeived equal acc
cess to Albertan wanting cho
ns oice for their co
ommunications
needs.
© 2009, Critical Success Factory.
0 s 3

4. www.criticalsuccessfactory.com
CASE STUDY: APPLIED SALES
Converting Demand
Having created such exceptional GoA demand, TELUS could hardly withdraw from the year-long
procurement that followed. The incumbent owner of Alberta’s public switched telephone network, and a
former GoA Crown Corporation, TELUS had political savvy, influential business ties and strong
technology bona fides. TELUS could easily fund a sustained all-out Sales effort.
To most, it was TELUS’ deal to lose. There was another risk. A successful ‘dark horse’ bid seeking that
TELUS contracts with the GoA, be assigned to the winner. This extra compensation would help the
winner to recoup their share of the network build capital.
Due diligence and a ‘Plan B’ contingency was completed. TELUS Sales, along with the Board and
senior executives, vigorously pursued the opportunity for fifteen months. A 20-member strategic Sales
team eventually submitted over 2,000 proposal pages to the GoA. Of the nine original bidders, TELUS
became one of the two consortium finalists. The cost of the entire TELUS Sales effort is thought to have
been nearly $4 Million.
© 2009, Critical Success Factory. 4