productizing 101
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Productizing 101sponsored by:MIT Enterprise Forum - DC/VA/MD
in partnership with:Mason Enterprise Center Loudoun Economic DevelopmentLoudoun SBDC
Facilitated by:Andrew Rudin,Managing Principal, Outside Technologies, Inc.
www.outsidetechnologies.com703.371.1242 (mobile)[email protected]/andyrudin
A few things aboutme . . .
•20 + years B2B marketing and sales experience• Focus on risk management, sales strategy & execution• Work with technology companies• MS in management information technology from University of Virginia• Certified Social Media Strategist (2010)
Key Problems to Solve
a) What does your customer want to buy?b) How do your prospective customers want
to buy?c) How do you make it as easy as possible
for them to buy?
Today we will cover . . .
• “About Us”—should it hit us in the head, in the heart, or both?• Mapping your product’s advantages• Prospect information and the discovery model• Key insights about prospects that every vendor must discover
BREAKOUT #1: “What keeps your prospects up at night?” –and why that idea might be worn out.
• Conversation points• Readiness checklists—sales, social media, and conversations
BREAKOUT #2: Creating conversation points, and putting them to use.
• Things to do now . . . • OPEN DISCUSSION and Q&A
“About Us” #1
[Company name] is a technology company serving the greater national security community. We address complex research and development, engineering, and mission support challenges in the areas of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; enterprise information technology; and communications mission systems.
“About Us” #2 At [company name], we support for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and the federal government in the Metropolitan Washington area in all aspects of information technology (IT), from networks and applications to data, voice and security.
We provide IT solutions customized to our clients' needs. For some, we provide fully outsourced, managed services; for others, we provide specific services, such as hosted email or voice solutions. We also offer professional services in the areas of security, network, engineering, and project management. By outsourcing their IT to [company name], our clients enjoy consistent, high-level service, performance, and security - and perhaps this is why 97% of our customers return year after year.
“The purpose of a business is to create a customer.”
Peter Drucker
Debunking a few sales myths . . .• “We basically need someone to just open some doors for us . . .”• “Our product sells itself.”• “We have no direct competitors.”• “I’m really not that good at selling.”• “The most important step in selling is _______.”
It doesn’t matter how good your product is, or how strong your capabilities are, the only way you will achieve your business plan is to be excellent at enabling people to purchase from you.
Customers
. . . And ensuring their success—along with yours . . .
Mapping your product’s advantages
a) High purchase motivators Less expensive than existing Better features than existing
b) Eliminating purchase barriers Reduce / eliminate switching or adoption costs Readily available
But there’s a disconnect:
Customers demand: Simple to install Easy-to-use
Vendors proclaim: Full-featured Sophisticated
“Find out what keeps ‘the customer’ up at night . . .”
Pains!Problems!
Challenges!Limitations!
. . . Oh my!
Knowns
Unknowns
Assumptions
5 Key insights to discover
1. Situation consequence, impact
2. Network3. Motivation4. Attitude/Sentiment5. Vision
How to Discover Capability Gaps
As Is To Be
gap
ProjectsProjects, Prioritized1. 2.
Breakout #1
1. Which limitations do you enable companies to overcome?
2. How are they doing it now?3. Why might the workarounds be
“good enough”? Why might they not?
Conversation pointsResonate Differentiate Substantiate Outcome
Resonate X X “Lots of people are calling us about this.”
Resonate Differentiate X “There’s too much risk!”
Resonate X Substantiate “Send me your brochure and/or pricing, and we’ll get back to you.”
X Differentiate Substantiate “Great , but that’s not us.”
X X Substantiate Not really listening
Are you ready . . . ?
Sales Readiness1. Do you know and understand the outcomes your prospects value?2. Have you identified which opportunities you must capitalize on?3. Do you know the characteristics of your best qualified prospects
and/or what the characteristics are for unqualified prospects? Do you have a solid method for getting the right answers?
4. Do you have a clear vision for the value that Sales must bring to your organization?
5. Do you have a set of sales policies and ethical guidelines in place?6. Do you have a system for capturing, storing, and sharing sales
information? 7. Do you have an organizational policy on risk acceptance that is
congruent with your sales approach?8. Do you have insight into how your prospects buy?
Sales Readiness (continued)9. Do you have a set of basic steps to follow that matches your prospect’s
buying process?10.Do you have a plan for what to do when events deviate from that process
(skew off the ‘happy path’)?11.Do you have a clear, concise, crisp statement about the outcomes your
product provide?12.Do you have a communications strategy and tactical plan, including
messaging that resonates, differentiates, and substantiates?13.Do you have a customer reference(s) that provides information to
substantially reduce buyer risk perceptions?14.Do you have a social media strategy that enables installed customers to
share information with prospective customers, and for you to learn about the needs of both?
15.Do you have a “roadmap” of questions to discover what you must learn, particularly for early-stage qualification?
16.Do you have a compelling sales proposal, and policies about how to integrate it into your sales process?
Sales Readiness (continued)17.Do you have a ready-to-deploy way for your prospects to
evaluate your product or service. Does that tool minimize your risks and those of your prospect?
18.Have you ensured that there will be adequate supply of your product in order to fulfill demand?
19.Have you ensured that purchase and adoption of your product will be as close to drop-dead easy as possible?
20.Do you have a strategy and tactical plan for early-stage lead generation?
21.Do you have a plan that enables ongoing replenishment of your sales pipeline?
22.Are you comfortable asking a prospective customer to place an order with you?
Social Media Readiness1. How does your company currently segment its market for sales? Is it
by geography , industry, company size (revenue or employee), target account lists, another method or some combination?
2. Who are Motivators you are trying to reach? How do you identify them and build relationships with them?
3. In your organization, what prospect categories (industries) are better suited to social outreach and online sales processes? How are you reaching out to them now?
4. Are the social media-based efforts of individual sales people integrated into your core sales management and CRM systems, or are they decentralized?
5. Are you enabling digital re-use? For example, are your employees able to leverage each other’s efforts and connections online?
6. Have you documented clear social media policies and ethical guidelines, and communicate them regularly with your staff?
Congratulations! . . .
You are ready to pick up the phone—if you haven’t done so already!
Phone Call Readiness checklist1. Name. Have the person’s name and company name—and correct
pronunciations—written down in front of you.2. Facts. For the individual you are planning to speak with, know at least nine
facts—three facts each about his or her industry, company, and them personally.
3. Visualization. Visualize who you’re calling, where they are, what’s on their calendar, what matters they might be dealing with right now . . .
4. Hypothesis. Have one about at least one of their strategic concerns that you can help them solve—based on the facts in #2 above.
5. Conversation points. What you must convey to resonate, differentiate, substantiate?
6. Outcome. What do you want from the call, including immediate next step?
7. “Plan B.” What to do if the conversation doesn’t proceed along the “happy path.”
8. Key facts. What must be discovered? Know what you need to know.
Breakout #2
Which messages are you going to use?
1. What will resonate?2. Which messages will differentiate your product or
service?3. Which messages will substantiate your
statements?
Things to do now . . . 1. Create your company’s Sales Readiness Checklist.2. Prioritize the most important items.3. Decide which business opportunities you must
convert in order to achieve your revenue plan.4. Figure out which risks have the highest likelihood
and highest impact.5. Create some messages that resonate, differentiate,
and substantiate. Pick the best ones.6. Read Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.7. Read Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play by Mahan
Khalsa.
