I have learned the hard way whenever I wish for smarter prospects it means I need to improve my presentation, demo, or proposal: whatever it is that I have offered them that they didn’t understand, or believe, or decide to act on.
If You Need Smarter Prospects, You Need a Better Message Read More »
You can only capture a share of the value that you create if you want to create a sustainable business. While you need to assess the likely return on investment from your efforts and your probability of success, you also need to look at any deal from the other side of the table. It’s as
Q: How Can I Maximize ROI and Minimize Risk? Read More »
You may have been the smartest person in the room for a long time, but getting into a room with a customer changes that because a key knowledge domain of interest is the customer’s situation and needs. Here are some suggestions for how to keep learning instead of acting like the smartest person in the
When You Are No Longer The Smartest Person In The Room Read More »
A recent question from an office hours session on how to handle a prospect asking you to critique a competitor when both of you have new offerings in a new application area.
Q: How To Critique a Competitor? Read More »
David Telleen-Lawton has more than two decades of customer development. This blog post on the nitty gritty of setting up customer discovery meetings is adapted from his presentation at the 2015 Lean Startup Conference.
The Nitty Gritty of Setting Up Customer Discovery Meetings Read More »
In your early customer discovery conversations to assess demand for a new offering a wide range of customer needs and symptoms can trigger a leap to a solution, which just happens to be yours. Guard against this by probing to understand the root problem–have at least three questions that allow you to dig out the
How To Test Your Leap To A Solution Read More »
Only ask your customers for referrals, don’t jump the gun and ask prospects to recommend you, especially if they have not even had a chance to use your product.
Only Ask Customers For Referrals Read More »
Our November 2015 newsletter highlights referrals, which we define as an introduction inspired by your ability to help the prospect with a problem or need.
Newsletter: Referrals / Thanksgiving Read More »
After every Great Demo! workshop we follow up with every participant to learn What results have you observed from applying the Great Demo! method so far? Do you have any success stories to report or share? Are there any questions you’d like to have addressed regarding the methods or concepts? Have you encountered situations where
Abigail Miller on Great Demo Workshop Benefits Read More »
Two key tasks we help early stage teams with are preparing for and executing successful negotiations of complex long-term business relationships. These early sales efforts must foster value co-creation with customers because both parties understanding of requirements will continue to evolve as the product is deployed and gains wider use.
Early Sales Efforts Foster Value Co-Creation Read More »
Esther Derby (@estherderby) presented “Six Rules for Change” at LeanWX NYC 2015 “The Design of Purposeful Work” Congruence. Honor what is valuable about the past and what is working now. Assess the current situation and system. Ascertain who is trusted and who people turn to for advice, and weave them into your network. Guide the
Esther Derby’s Six Rules for Change Read More »
My interview with Gabriel Weinberg was originally published Sep-8-2010. He was doing research for what became his fantastic book Traction. We talked for the better part of an hour and a half and I can remember he kept returning in different ways to what was needed to close your first dozen enterprise customers. He recently
Your First Dozen Enterprise Customers Read More »
I have known Jennifer Berkley Jackson of The Insight Advantage for the better part of a decade. I met her at a Breakfast for Management Consultants and have stayed in touch ever since. She wrote a great blog post last year on “Win/Loss Analysis, Your Secret Weapon for Success” and we recently sat down to
Jen Berkley Jackson on Win Loss Interviews Read More »
Q: My software consultancy has reached the point of needing to hire someone to help manage the sales pipeline. I’ve hired all kinds of technical related folks, but never for sales.
Q: How To Find Help Selling Professional Services Read More »
Trust is built over repeated interactions between people. If your business requires long term relationships then you have to make sure that investments in automation are not deployed in a way that undercut your ability to have real conversations. Unfortunately, some uses of email automation tools are pushing sales conversations into the “Uncanny Valley” because
The Uncanny Valley of Email Automation Read More »
Managing sales people is a straightforward proposition: you get what you reward. Analyze the compensation package and ensure it isn’t encouraging what you don’t want or discouraging what you do. If you are unhappy with commitments the sales team is making you need to make it clear who needs to review and sign off on
Managing Sales People Read More »
Q: I struggle with the value proposition for our product. Either I am too abstract “we offer a positive return on time invested” or too vague “help increase your ability to manage critical challenges.” Do you have any suggestions for how to frame or formulate a value proposition? Here a few questions that a value
Crafting a Value Proposition Read More »
Q: In your blog post “Four Presentation Traps to Avoid” (which drew on Mike Monteiro’s “13 Ways Designers Screw Up a Client Presentation” which I found overall to be very valuable) you highlighted his item 4 “Not setting the stage properly” which ends with “Start the meeting by thanking them for their time.” I feel this puts you
Do I Need To Be A Supplicant In a Sales Call? Read More »
I took part in a great roundtable conversation at tonight’s PATCA meeting on “Low Cost Marketing and Advertising for Consultants” Here were a couple of suggestions that I made in response to situations or challenges that other consultants put on the table.
Tips for Low Cost Marketing of Your Services Read More »
I am a big fan of Jill Konrath and her Selling to Big Companies book. She has good advice on closing the sale: it’s up tot the customer. If you are selling a product that requires consideration or a complex evaluation by one or more employees of your prospect’s organization the following advice is particularly
Closing the Sale: It’s Up To The Customer Read More »
