You identified an opportunity to help a client via your prospecting efforts. You have provoked them (and they you) with ideas on how your solution can help their business and you co-created a path forward. You progressed the opportunity via a successful proof of concept, helped the customer get an understanding of how the solution is going to fit into their existing environment, and addressed deployment via the appropriate training or professional services. At the end of the sales cycle, you are now prepared to partner with the customer throughout implementation and to ensure that their organization obtains the business value from their investment and their relationship with you. You have verbal commitments from all stakeholders and it is decision time. The road is rising up to meet you, the wind is at your back, and just as you begin to feel the sun shining warmly upon your face…

…they inform you they have decided to do nothing.

What happened? The ROI was a no-brainer. All technical aspects of the solution made it a perfect fit. It would have given the customer a competitive advantage in their marketplace. Yet you lost. I’m not talking about losing to a competitor. I’m talking about those situations when, despite gaining the technical win and having an agreed upon business case to help the customer make money, save money, or mitigate risk, the client stakeholders decide to not move forward with anything.

So, what do you do? For starters, here is what you don’t do — you do not take on an air of incredulous indignant superiority. You do not proclaim to them what a bad (non)decision they just made. You do not profess to know much more about their business than they do. (No matter what you may think, you don’t. And even if you actually do, you don’t). Remember, those with whom you have been working also invested their time and expertise into the solution you just “lost”. They are likely also quite disappointed that they were not allowed to move forward.

I am as competitive as the next person and the disappointment of a situation like this is certainly palpable. However, winning in the long run is still possible if you have taken the time to build the sort of relationship in which the customer views you as someone with expertise beyond the scope of the current opportunity. During the provoke and progress activities of the cycle mentioned above, you have ample opportunity to demonstrate expertise across multiple business and technology domains.

Remain a true student of your customers’ industry, their place in it, their processes, and their people at all times. If you maintain that curiosity throughout all interactions with each of your customers, you will find that you have much more to offer them than you may have realized. With a little creativity and insight, you will be able to share everything from best practices to solution ideas that span multiple industries. Maintaining relationships and providing additional information beyond the domain of the solution you are currently representing will pay dividends in the long run. Those who choose to do nothing with you will become those who choose to do nothing with you at the present time.

The reality of enterprise sales is that there are many factors that both enable and prevent clients from making an investment. Like you, I have read multiple researchers’ estimates that most corporate investment decisions require the support of 6-10 individuals. Sometimes more. Organizational momentum, shifts in strategy, unforeseen budgetary adjustments, or simply getting overruled by the status quo can rise up in the latter stages of a sales cycle and derail investment in your solution. However, if you have engaged appropriately and strive to add value to your customer with every interaction, you will be well prepared when the “lost” opportunity returns and better prepared for every new one that comes your way.

Relationships are driven by behavior. I have been in this business long enough to have observed sales reps and sales engineers from both sides of the proverbial table – as both a customer and a supplier. Although sellers almost always engage their customers with the best of intentions, they often do not realize how disengaging some of their behavior can be. Such behaviors are sometimes exhibited during even the most routine customer meetings. I am not talking about extreme cases of boorish behavior, but rather some of the more subtle behaviors that can, at best, be annoying to all parties involved or, at worst, derail the entire business relationship. See if you have met any of these “guys”.

Mavis Beacon Guy.  This guy spends the entire customer meeting tapping away at his keyboard like he is engaged in an advanced lesson from the ubiquitous eponymous typing tutor. Sometimes as if lost in a trance channeling Jack Kerouac to deliver On The Road Part II, oblivious to the rest of the room. He may insist that he is taking notes or researching answers to the customers’ questions at hand, and he very well may be. But what he is also doing is annoying and distracting everyone in the room. He can be mistaken for Look at the Top of My Head Guy who, similiarly, spends much of his customer meetings focused on his mobile phone or tablet. Tips for this guy: Leave anything with a keyboard closed unless there is a specific question that comes up and then research it. The attention you draw will then be in response to your customer’s needs. Invest in Moleskine notebooks and a mechanical pencil.

Camper Guy.  Brings an entire office overstuffed into a long-past-its-prime backpack for a 45 minute meeting with the customer.  Besides looking like a special forces sniper hunting for a nest for a 72 hour recon mission (sans the camo facepaint), Camper Guy can distract as he awkwardly navigates his obnoxious rucksack around chairs, people, etc. in tight offices and corporate conference rooms. Tips for this guy: Leave your kit in the trunk of the car, invest in a more professional looking bag, and ask Mavis Beacon Guy where he got that classy looking Moleskine notebook.

Bodyguard Guy. Accompanies his colleagues to the customer meeting, introduces himself to no one, and sits in a corner and says nothing to anyone for the duration. He follows the discussion with wide-eyed interest, but contributes nothing to help the customer solve their business challenges. Bodyguard Guy is likely in attendance because there are specific requirements that he needs to gather from the customer or because he was invited by a teammate as a subject matter expert “just in case we get asked about X”. Tips for this guy: If you are gathering customer requirements, you should be asking questions of the customer. If a colleague wants you there “just in case”, tell him you will block the time of the meeting and make yourself available via the phone for immediate remote assistance. Evaluate your current level of job satisfaction – you may be happier and more successful applying your technical skills to a non-customer facing role.

Smartest Guy in the Room Guy.  A knowledgeable and experienced guy, he spends too much of everyone’s time trying to prove that he is the smartest person in the room rather than working to make the customer the smartest person in the room.  Has a deep command of the history of many technologies, industry standards that do not apply to the situation at hand, and detailed technical knowledge that surpasses everyone in every respect.  Tip for this guy: I once had a colleague of Smartest Guy in the Room Guy ask him, “can you please be wrong long enough for us to win this customer’s business?” Taken aback, the sales engineer asked why.  The sales rep replied, “because every time we meet with this customer, you get into an argument about something that is irrelevant to this opportunity”. Before speaking, check your ego and consider how you are going to help the customer with their problem while also expanding your company’s business. Remember, there is often a difference between being effective and being right.

There is a common thread running through the behaviors of each of these “guys”. In each case, the behavior gives the impression that they are concerned more about themselves than their customer. Distracting activities, carrying their entire office with them, or trying to boost their own ego – all of these have the potential to derail the conversation and focus away from the technical seller’s entire reason for existence – to serve the customer.

“…you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view” – Obi-Wan Kenobi

Briefly describing solution ideas can be challenging. Although Obi-Wan may have been interested in the truth via his own personal lens, your customers here in the real world are interested in your recommendations and they need them in an easily consumable format. Even when concepts and tools such as minimum viable product and design thinking are used to shortcut relatively arduous cycles of solution design, getting an introductory value proposition and some basic “what and how” information to customers can still be difficult. This is particularly true when prospecting for new opportunities or delivering unsolicited recommendations.

One of the simplest methods for communicating an idea to your customers is via a simple Point of View (PoV) document. At its core, a PoV is YOUR idea for what your customer should do to address a specific issue and how your products and/or services can help them. The content and capabilities may come from your organization’s standard technical briefs, white papers, or marketing information, but the final deliverable depends on how you adapt this information to the unique situation at your customer.

At its core, the PoV document should include:

– A brief (and I mean VERY brief) description of the customer’s business or technical problem

– Your idea for how your organization can address that problem

– Some sort of solution design, architectural vision, process model, or other “picture is worth a thousand words” artifact that helps describe the solution

– Recommended next steps that you and the customer should take together.

Try this simple method. After your next customer meeting, dive into your company’s trove of marketing, white papers, boilerplate presentations, and technical information, borrow whatever you wish, mix it with your own knowledge, and create a professional quality PDF document that contains the elements mentioned above. Deliver it to the customer within a day or two of your meeting. Either via an e-mail or, preferably, print it on high quality paper and drop it off at your customer’s office.

It will give you an opportunity to:

– differentiate your company and yourself from your competitors and their people.

– leverage your knowledge of your customer and their industry to present your offerings and capabilities in the context of a unique solution.

– reengage with the customer and revisit the topic, thereby ensuring a follow up meeting that lets you further discuss the opportunity to address their challenge.

At best, the customer will engage in further discussions and your recommended next steps will progress the opportunity. At worst, you will learn that you misunderstood their problem or that your recommendation will not work in their environment. This then becomes another opportunity to learn more about how you can better serve your customer. In any case, you will emerge with a better understanding of their business and you will be better positioned for future success.  And bear in mind, this method applies both to new opportunities as well as helping your customers maximize the value of the investment that they have already made with you.

Now put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Imagine what you would think and how you would feel about a supplier who put in that much effort to address your needs. Imagine if the supplier did it constantly, conscientiously, and consistently. Your point of view may very well become your customer’s “truth”.

Now that the new year is three weeks old, you likely have your new territory assignments, understand your new incentive plan, are familiar with your new product offerings, have been briefed on any new organizational constructs, and have refreshed your ideas about how you are going to engage with your customers. With that in mind, let’s ruminate a bit on the possibilities of 2016 by revisiting Peter Drucker’s classic five critical questions that any business should be able to answer. I have a few ideas, but your true path to success in 2016 lies in how you answer these for your own business.

What is our mission?

This answer is pretty straightforward. The mission of technical sales continues to be helping customers design and deploy solutions to help them run their business while expanding your own. Everything that you do, as long as it is not illegal, immoral, or against your company’s or your customers’ policies, should contribute to that mission.

Who is our customer?

The most obvious “Sales 101” answer is the customer is the person who has the authority to make the purchase. However, in a complex business-to-business selling environment that is driven by long-term relationships and past successes, it is never that simple. There are always multiple stakeholders to consider. This answer will vary opportunity by opportunity, customer by customer, and depend on the stage and the status of each opportunity pursuit. As you map out your strategy and win plan for each of your opportunities, you have to consider all of the individuals who will have some influence over the investment in your solution. In some situations, the true customer may actually be your customer’s customer.

What does the customer value?

The new year is a great time to establish what goals and targets have been assigned to your customer. Remember, your true goal is to help them run their business using your solutions, so you need to understand their definition of success. In addition to your technology, what else can you personally, your company, or your colleagues bring to your relationship with the customer to add value? Zeroing in on the values and desires of your customer’s customer may also pave a path to success. In fact, one way to differentiate yourself from your competitors may be a design thinking approach that helps your customer better identify the true needs of their target market. These sorts of discussions can sometimes illuminate new products, solutions, and alternative uses for your technology that neither you nor your customer had previously considered.

What are our results?

It is easy to answer this question with fundamental business results such as pipeline, revenue growth, profit, and market expansion. And all of those are absolutely essential to your business. However, is it possible to focus on your customers’ results or successes? Is it the launch of a new product offering? Is it a reduction in business cycle times or release cycles for new products? Is it a more efficient supply chain? Since customers typically only invest in new solutions to make money, save money, or mitigate risk, how do they quantify these? Quantifying customer value and using it to help define your results may be the true path to differentiation for your business.

What is our plan?

Or, more directly, what is YOUR plan to bring the answers to the previous four questions together to run your business? This should be answered not only in the context of your broader territory, but at every moment in the sales cycle for your individual transactions. You own the opportunity and the customer relationship, so what are you going to do to progress it? What team needs to be assembled? What are the team members’ assignments? What is the timeline? Does the customer agree with your plan? If you do not know your next steps to move the opportunity forward, secure the technical win, or advocate for your solution with your customer, how do you expect to win?

Thoughtful and actionable answers to these five questions, revised as appropriate throughout an opportunity’s life cycle, will keep you focused on the most important elements of your business. The beginning of a new year is when many operational aspects of a sales organization hit the proverbial reset button. Your success in 2016 lies in your ability to answer and execute on these key questions. Good luck and good selling!

I spent a couple of days last week in the beautiful San Francisco Bay area. Like many of you, when I travel I like to ask taxi drivers about some of the local happenings that I have read about or seen on the news. When I asked one particular driver about the wildfires raging in northern California and whether they were having any effect on him or his family, he had no idea what I was referring to. Thinking that it may have been due to a language barrier, I asked the question a couple of different ways, mentioning that the human and natural impact had gotten a considerable amount of attention in the world news. He insisted that he knew nothing about any wildfires in the state of California. He did switch the radio to NPR, which may have suggested he wanted to find out what he had missed. Or he just wanted me to stop talking to him.

It occurred to me that this discussion mirrored a few that I and my employees have had with customers throughout my career. Perhaps you have experienced it as well – you ask your customer about a recent press release, earnings report, or news story about their company and they have no idea what you are talking about. Or perhaps you have brought up an emerging business technology trend that will impact the way your customer does business or the manner in which the individual you are meeting with will do their job and they are equally uninformed. Recent trends such as cloud computing and big data come to mind when I think of areas in which a few of my customers have only recently begun to grasp the possibilities of how these new solutions can help them transform their business. Similarly, customers choosing not to upgrade their existing solutions to the latest supported versions of products often create “fires” that both customer and supplier would rather avoid. The smoke on the horizon can indeed come in many forms.

These types of situations are perfect opportunities to engage with your customers and differentiate yourself from your competitors. In fact, such discussions should be a regular part of your post-sales customer care conversations. First, take the opportunity to educate your customer about forthcoming product releases and your company’s support plans for the solutions that they already own. This can be done via some type of “health check”, reports from your product support organization or a custom crafted scorecard. Then provide information about complementary offerings that they should be investing in and the current and future business and technology needs addressed by those investments. This may include educating them about products from your company that they already own but have chosen to not implement or may be used by another division of their company. Finally, spend some time on issues affecting their specific industry and their profession. Recent changes in the regulatory environment, trends you are seeing from your other customers, and information you have gathered from your colleagues can always create new conversations with customers about how they can get more value from their relationship with you.

Although my cab driving friend may have been completely oblivious to the tragedy that many of his fellow Californians were experiencing, I don’t hold it against him, as the nearest fire was nearly two hours away from where he lives and does business. The smoke was not even visible to him. But in the case of your customers, the next fire that impacts their business may be much closer. Imagine the impression you can make if you help them prepare for it before they can see the smoke.