Thoughts about solution selling. What makes it different from selling a product and what differentiates you in the perception of your audeince

1. solution selling
Simply Notes
1 32#8/5/16
solution selling
moving from an idea and concept into action

2. solution selling
Simply Notes
2 32#8/5/16
what this is all about
1 management knows it bestmanagement knows it best
challenge of solution sellingchallenge of solution selling2
simple steps - hard to dosimple steps - hard to do5
4 be honest to yourselfbe honest to yourself
6 the actual selling...the actual selling...
3 know your audienceknow your audience

3. 3 32#8/5/16
Simply Notes
solution selling
Management knows it bestManagement knows it best
management knows it best
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4. solution selling
Simply Notes
4 32#8/5/16
managementknowsitbest management knows it best
 in many companies that's almost a given.
 once successful with a product, solving pressing
problems, and once the market has adapted the
solution, there is always the point in time where
management decides to move up the value chain and
sell solutions!?
 that's typically where it goes bust!
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5. solution selling
Simply Notes
5 32#8/5/16
managementknowsitbest why is it important to sell solutions
 become less comparable with your competition
 Use your solution approach as differentiator
 solutions are embedded in strategies – features are not
 focus on the value to your client in order to increase
value to you
 Revenue
 Feedback
 Insight
 Change your standing within the client's thinking
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6. solution selling
Simply Notes
6 32#8/5/16
managementknowsitbest what will / what has to change
 your audience
 from problem owner to business owner
 your value proposition
 from features / functions to possibilities
 your sales cycles
 from now to when it is the right time for your client
 your revenue
 From small transactions to larger strategic sales
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7. solution selling
Simply Notes
7 32#8/5/16
managementknowsitbest from features to solutions
 Turning a technical solution, which got sold by
outstanding features and functions to a very specific
audience, into a solution sale is challenging.
 Why is it that challenging?
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8. 8 32#8/5/16
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solution selling
challenge of solution sellingchallenge of solution selling2222

9. solution selling
Simply Notes
9 32#8/5/16
challengeofsolutionselling the focus for your selling
 Easy put, it is no longer about you and your product. It is
about your audiences priorities.
 Not only this, it is also about your audience's perception
of the problem, your technology and the business value it
potentially may bring
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in your audiences perception

10. solution selling
Simply Notes
10 32#8/5/16
challengeofsolutionselling start with your elevator pitch
 Look at your elevator pitch or your standard
presentation. It typically talks about
 how great your solution is
 how successful your company is
 how much better your audience will do if they just
start using your solution - and therefore buy it from
you.
 Right?Right?
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11. solution selling
Simply Notes
11 32#8/5/16
challengeofsolutionselling will you be successful with your pitch
 Well, you only will sell something if, by luck, your
audience has to solve a tactical problem just now.
 You will not be perceived as a strategic partner nor will
your audience reach out to you for advice or to sync up
with you on initiatives.
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12. solution selling
Simply Notes
12 32#8/5/16
challengeofsolutionselling does your elevator pitch sell solutions
 rethink the pitch, are you talking mainly about you and
not about your audience?
 does your pitch indicates you understand your audience's
 actual situation
 strategies
 competition
 market
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13. solution selling
Simply Notes
13 32#8/5/16
challengeofsolutionselling become strategic
 Wouldn't it put you in a different position if your pitch
highlights
 Your understanding of the client's situation
 The market your client is in
 Creates a vision for your client reflecting market
drivers and his strategies to respond to the market
 Get “extra points” if you know what's motivating /
driving your audience
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14. 14 32#8/5/16
Simply Notes
solution selling
know your audienceknow your audience3333

15. solution selling
Simply Notes
15 32#8/5/16
knowyouraudience know your audience...
 ...and use this intelligence for a purpose
 answer yourself 3 simple questions
 what do I know about my audience's expectation and
motivation to take this meeting
 why do I have this meeting
 what do I expect out of this meeting
 be prepared to take a hit if the meeting doesn't go as
expected
 visualize upfront what would be the best and the
worst outcome
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16. solution selling
Simply Notes
16 32#8/5/16
knowyouraudience know your audience's motivation factors...
 What are the career aspirations
 What is the personal motivation like
 What is your audience interested in
 Job related
 Personal (Hobby)
 Talking
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17. solution selling
Simply Notes
17 32#8/5/16
knowyouraudience the worst meeting outcome is...
... when your audience doesn't share insights into their
strategy, actual needs and problems and limit the discussion
to your product's features and functions
...
that's when youyou missed your audience's points
or
you reached out to the wrongwrong audience
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18. solution selling
Simply Notes
18 32#8/5/16
knowyouraudience the best meeting outcome is...
... when your audience starts envisioningenvisioning a future with their
problems solvedproblems solved because of you
...
that's when youyou will be successful
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19. 19 32#8/5/16
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solution selling
be honest to yourselfbe honest to yourself4444

20. solution selling
Simply Notes
20 32#8/5/16
behonesttoyourself be honest to yourself
 are you prepared to sell nothing in the first place
 is solution selling about your solution
 no, it's about the other ones problem and priorities
 do you understand the revenue potential
 Hint, it is not based on market potential nor price list!
 what do you know about the clients business
 it is very unlikely he is in your business, also that's
what you like talking most
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21. solution selling
Simply Notes
21 32#8/5/16
behonesttoyourself have you done your homework
 Vertical information
 Client related information
 Share price
 Press releases
 Initiatives client is driving / has announced
 Organizational changes
 You main contacts interests
 Professional  career related
 Personal  family / hobbies
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22. 22 32#8/5/16
Simply Notes
solution selling
simple steps - hard to dosimple steps - hard to do5555

23. solution selling
Simply Notes
23 32#8/5/16
simplesteps–hardtodo simple steps - hard to do
 understand the problem through your clients eyes
 not with a solution in mind!
 think outside of your solution context
 obvious things are hiding the real challenges
 challenge / confront your contact with questions
 he/ she may want to be polite not giving you the full
picture but only the jigsaw piece expected to be of
relevance to you. This decreases the likelihood for a
sale
 understand the priority of the problem for your audience
 helps you forecasting
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24. solution selling
Simply Notes
24 32#8/5/16
simplesteps–hardtodo what drives decisions
 how long is he/she dealing with this problem
 has the business impact been quantified
 who suffers most
 who will benefit most from a problem resolution
 do they really care
 be specific - use numbers
 make assumptions to get to real numbers
 Assumptions are an easy way to
 determine audience is serious if they start discussing the
assumptions made
 get to the truth – real numbers
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25. solution selling
Simply Notes
25 32#8/5/16
simplesteps–hardtodo what's in for your audience
 how does your solution help your audience to achieve
their objectives
 thing longterm, knowing your audience's objectives
 even if a short term solution is required to address an
immediate need
 you want to be strategic and not a nice to have fix
 Quantify the solution benefits
 What does success look like for your audience in
terms of numbers
 e.g. savings, reduction in support cases in % ...
 map solution benefits to objectives and prioritize them
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26. 26 32#8/5/16
Simply Notes
solution selling
the actual selling...the actual selling...6666

27. solution selling
Simply Notes
27 32#8/5/16
theactualselling... the actual selling...
 ...starts way before you talk products and prices.
 create a vision in your audience's mind
 how it would be like if the problem on their mind
vanished, new capabilities they struggle with become
available or simply give them a competitive
advantage like faster time to market or production.
 Make your audience envision how their world would be
like if their most pressing problem don't exist anymore
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28. solution selling
Simply Notes
28 32#8/5/16
theactualselling... Learn from Antoine de St.Exupery(from “Le Petite Prince”)
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men
to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders.
...
Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and
endless sea."
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29. solution selling
Simply Notes
29 32#8/5/16
theactualselling... be crisp
 ever tried to condense your standard presentation down
to 5 slides, or even 3?
 did you succeed?
 a big applause if you did! one question so? Are you
sure the same message been delivered than with your
standard deck?
 if so, why did you do the extended version in the first
place?
 why did you waste someone's time going through
many slides you don't need and are likely to be
irrelevant to your message?
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30. solution selling
Simply Notes
30 32#8/5/16
theactualselling... be crisp - homework
 take your standard deck and extract the most valuable
content to a client you have in mind so you end up with 5
slides max. the first slide must include client specific
information why you are presenting and why you believe
this is relevant to the client.
 do this when you have time to do so
 allow up to 4 hours for this task.
 It is easy to compile a presentation with 40+ slides in
1 hour - copy paste does the trick -coming up with 3-5
slides only usually takes a couple of hours
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31. solution selling
Simply Notes
31 32#8/5/16
theactualselling... tell a story
 the easiest thing to do and mastered by most sales people
is to tell a story
 the easiest way to loose attention of an audience is to tell
a story
 the most difficult way getting an audience's attention is
to tell a story....
 ...which is relevant to them, will impact, reflect their...which is relevant to them, will impact, reflect their
actual situation and makes them envision a betteractual situation and makes them envision a better
futurefuture
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32. solution selling
Simply Notes
32 32#8/5/16
theactualselling... be relevant to become relevant
 be realistic what the impact of your solution is to your
audience’s problem
 don’t talk about your cycling pace if your audience
drives formula 1 cars
 talk numbers, numbers, numbers – if they are relevant to
the total project size your audience is dealing with
 Make sure you’ve done your homework to quantify
the value of your solution
 It is not about cost – it is about savings in OPEX,
time, incidents and increased customer satisfaction
 Become the trusted go-to person by walking your talk
and be knowledgeable about your audience’s business
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