One cliched phrase after another has been appropriated from the military (as well as athletics) and used to illustrate points and concepts used in business. Like all cliches, they continue to be used because they are effective descriptors of situations. And few are more effective at accomplishing objectives under incomprehensible-to-most-of-us pressures than the free world’s best military organizations. So how, once an opportunity to help a customer has been identified and qualified, does the technical seller plan the engagement and get themself into the best position to win the business? The United States Special Forces have a simple framework that is used to guide leadership judgement that is also useful in technical sales. The framework is known as METT-T: Mission, Enemy, Terrain, Troops, & Time.

Mission:

What is the CUSTOMER’S true objective? What do they need to accomplish? It is easy to focus on sales methodologies and textbook opportunity progression techniques & deliverables and overlook the entire reason that you are in business in the first place – to provide your customers with solutions. Although their objectives are ALWAYS business driven (make money, save money, mitigate risk), sometimes they are more obvious than others. They may be driven by a new business initiative such as launching a new product or increasing the effectiveness of their employees; or technology driven, such as fixing an overly complicated existing duct-tape-and-baling-wire systems integration solution. Understanding your customers’ motivations and desired outcomes is key. This should be well documented and communicated to both your team and the customer to ensure that everyone stays on target.

Enemy:

This element deals with the human elements that will hinder your success. Who might keep the customer from choosing you? Who – politically, financially, or otherwise – might keep you from being selected? Why, and how? How will you address their objections or help them understand the benefits of your solution? Is there a group within your customer who feels that they can build everything themselves faster, for less money, and with better results than an enterprise technology provider? Each of these should be documented and a plan put in place for how their concerns will be addressed.

Terrain:

This deals with the non-human elements that will hinder your success. What are the customer’s alternatives? Is there an incumbent solution already in place that might meet their needs with minimal modification by the customer or a competitor? Is their something unique to the customer’s specific business or their overall business environment that would prevent them from selecting your solution? What about conditions that might make the customer choose to simply do nothing? Similar to the Enemy, risk mitigation plans should be developed for each of these.

Troops:

What skills do you need on your team? This includes not only the technical skills but an examination of who might have the most appropriate relationships with the decision makers at the customer. Do you need to bring in additional financial expertise to establish the right level of ROI with the customer? Do you need to get your management involved to further demonstrate your company’s commitment to delivering the customer’s solution in the timeframe that they need it? Who else is in the best position to help you win this business? Documenting who is going to do what when is crucial and will help ensure that both your team and your customer know what the next steps are.

Time:

When does the customer need to have the solution in place? Your plan should backtrack from this date and use that timeframe to plan your opportunity pursuit and establish a decision date with the customer. As the saying goes, “time kills all deals”, so the sooner you can demonstrate the superiority of your solution, the better off you will be. Similar to the mission mentioned above, this date should be highlighted in all of your communications with your team and the customer to ensure that everyone remains in agreement with when a decision will be made.

My personal respect for those who serve and have served in the armed forces of the free world runs deep. I would never dream of suggesting that the enterprise technical sales profession is comparable to the challenges that they face or that the skills we require compare to theirs. But as a method for organizing a team and rapidly pursuing an objective in a fluid environment, METT-T serves as an enabling framework that can help you win more business.