The Fundamental Framework: Mission

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As painful as it may be, sometimes we have to commit ourselves to a cliche. Sometimes the simple approach really is best. Although I have blogged about topics such as The Mission of Technical Sales, Hiring, and The Technical Sales Balanced Scorecard, I keep returning to a much simpler model of the profession that I developed several years ago. I have found that it is the most concise, efficient, and effective way to engage a technical sales team in driving business and customer outcomes. It sums up the role of the sales engineer in terms of a “why am I here?” purpose and provides a basic management framework for the technical sales organization. No matter how often or in how many ways I hear job responsibilities of sales engineers sliced and diced from product line to product line or company to company, I always return to the following:

“The mission of technical sales is to assist customers in the understanding, design, and deployment of solutions based on our technology, thereby increasing customer business value and expanding our business.”

I tell employees and candidates that the above establishes their role. We will have many tools, techniques, objectives, and initiatives along the way, but if they always keep the above in mind and don’t do anything illegal, immoral, or engage in behaviors that violate our own or our customers’ guidelines for conducting business, they should find success. The mission itself is succinct and descriptive enough that it can be shared with customers to help explain the technical seller’s role in a fruitful business relationship between the two companies.

This mission can be operationalized for the technical sales organization to provide direction and focus areas for which metrics and outcomes can be established. Whether we call them priorities, principles, or the preferred preeminent practices of the profession, the four focus areas each begin with the letter “P”: Prospecting, Provoking, Progressing, and Partnering.

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I will explore each of these further in subsequent posts over the next few days.

Book Review: “To Sell is Human”

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In his 2012 title, “To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others”, Daniel Pink has crafted a work that dispels many of the incorrect preconcieved notions about the sales profession. I do not know where the negative impressions of those in revenue generating professions began, but there are probably thousands of stories of unscrupulous used car dealers, telemarketers, and timeshare reps to support the stereotypes. That traveling sales guy on the TV show “Green Acres” and the desperate souls in David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” did not help. Or perhaps it was door to door reps from yesteryear like that guy who sold my mother a set of encyclopedias in 1972 so her dear children would not end up living in a van down by the river.

Business to consumer examples such as the above make for good entertainment & stories, but they have little to do with the complex, business to business environment that most technical sellers operate in. Even so, I have had to address these stereotypes when recruiting and explaining the role that the technical professionals plays in driving new business. Since many sales engineers got their start as technicians, software developers, systems administrators, business analysts, etc., I often get an anti-sales attitude from potential candidates and even those with years of experience in the profession. I recall mentoring a young professional several years ago. I was explaining how our pre-sales engineers are a critical cog in our business and a true differentiator in the eyes of our customers. I received the response, “I do not know if I want to go into sales because I do not want to have to lie”. Swallowing my derision, I immediately explained that anyone in my organization who purposely misleads a customer or consciously misrepresents the capabilities of our solutions will be dismissed from the organization. I then went on to explain that the role is about helping customers understand how to use our solutions to run their business so they can invest in those solutions. In short, it is about moving others.

This concept of influence is at the center of “To Sell is Human”. Pink asserts that, although only one in nine professionals in the United States formally works in sales, once we define the concept of non-sales selling, the number actually balloons to eight out of nine. That is because most business professionals are selling whether they realize it or not – that is, they are engaged in helping others derive value from their investment in whatever product, service, or capability they are offering. That value takes many forms. Time, money, goods, support, sponsorship, and virtually anything that can be bartered must be given up in exchange for something. Pink characterises this as the rise of the non-selling seller.

This is true in a business environent even though the internet was supposed to transform entire industries from a buyer beware/caveat emptor situation to a seller beware/caveat venditor situation. This “disintermediation”, as it was known, actually served to strengthen the role of the sales professional in many industries. Now that the customer is equipped with an unprecedented amount of knowledge (and, therefore, options), the sales professional plays an even more crucial role in the care and feeding of the business relationship. In the case of the technical seller, differentiating one’s offerings and capabilities, while helping to ensure that the customer gains business value from their investment, is crucial. Over the course of about 225 pages, Pink describes several helpful techniques from the behavioral sciences to improvisational acting to get the non-selling seller to consider better ways to interact with customers. He also humbly includes references to many other publications, and occasionally even implores the reader to simply read other books.

I so enjoyed his approach, presentation, and clarification that I bought three dozen copies for distribution to my employees and colleagues.

Who Are You?

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My colleagues and I have been doing a lot of interviewing and hiring lately. Our organization’s recent expansion has blessed me with some excellent opportunities to meet with and learn from many current and prospective technical sales professionals. It has also enabled me to develop relationships with new individuals in my own organization to discuss partnerships, opportunities to help our customers run their businesses, and our overall strategy. The networking has been energizing, but it has also exposed me to what I believe has become a professional epidemic. Yes, I am referring to the dreaded default voice mail greeting. I have found that many are not using a professional voice mail greeting on their mobile phones and opting instead to use the default provided by their carrier.

Now, before I am dismissed as a middle aged curmudgeon entrenched in the 20th century, let me explain why this matters. In this age of relentless advice on personal branding via social media, personalized & individualized service, and the competitive nature of our business, it surprises me that so many are ignoring the most basic means of identifying themselves to those who reach out to them. Let me provide a few illustrations. Imagine that I as a hiring manager am calling to offer someone a second interview or even a position. When I call I receive the default “555-555-5555 is not available” voice mail greeting. Am I likely to provide a personalized, detailed voice message to the candidate or a tepid “this call is for John Doe, please call me back”? Likely the latter because I am not even sure if I have called the person whom I intended. Similarly, imagine that a customer is calling to provide details that could result in a significant new opportunity. The customer was calling looking for someone who would pay detailed attention to their unique needs, but the person whom they called does not even pay attention to a simple detail such as identifying themselves, their company, etc. in their voice mail greeting. Come to think of it, I see a similar loss of professionalism with some who merely answer their phone “hello”, rather than identifying themselves, but that may fit more into a different discussion on the overall disappearance of verbal social graces. That discussion would include how “no problem” has replaced “you’re welcome” and “may I please have a Monte Cristo sandwich?” has been replaced with “I’ll do the Monte Cristo sandwich”. But I digress…or maybe I am turning into Andy Rooney.

My point is, an unprofessional voice mail greeting negatively alters the tone of the conversation long before the real conversation even begins. Small details like this matter. Having a professional looking photograph on your LinkedIn profile matters. Being on time matters. Putting your contact information in your e-mail signature matters. Having a readily available resume that is updated at least quarterly matters. Smiling and looking people in the eye matters. Wearing a watch rather than relying on your mobile phone for the time of day matters. (If you disagree with this last point, ask yourself what goes through your mind when the person to whom you are talking looks at their phone. If your answer is “they are checking text messages/e-mail/Facebook/the stock market” then you have made my point. Checking a phone says “I am not interested in you” while a subtle glance at a wristwatch says “I am a professional aware of the value of time”.)

American hip hop artist and entrepreneur Jay-Z has a lyric that rolls, “I’m not a businessman, I AM a business, man”. It has become a bit of a cliche, but I find it to be a position worth emulating in regard to one’s professional image. When customers, colleagues, recruiters, or anyone reaches out, there is an opportunity to differentiate oneself. And in a competitive marketplace, nothing matters more than differentiation. Ask yourself, are you truly representing yourself? Are YOU a business, man?

Who Owns the Innovation?

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I like the word “innovation”. As opposed to its come-up-with-something-completely-new-completely-from-scratch cousin “invention”, I like the idea of coming up with new uses for that which we already have. Innovative pursuits often lead to the discovery of capabilities that no one had previously considered and can do so in a more economical fashion. Additionally, innovation provides a creative outlet for those types who once turned their mother’s hair dryer into a toy gun or modified their first car so an unused fog light switch in the dash could be used to operate the stereo without the hassle of putting the key in the ignition (many of you will recall when ALL cars required the keys to be inserted into a hole and turned before the car could function).

I have recently read about how companies are paying more attention to how much they are able to innovate or, taken a step further, “reinvent” their businesses. Many are even exploring and implementing methods of tracking and rating these efforts. Whether by exploring the true needs of their customer’s customer or expanding their ecosystems around complimentary products & services, innovative organizations are constantly looking at what they already do (whether they do it well or not) and considering methods to modify those capabilities to engage in or even create new markets. This begs the question of how, as technical sales professionals, can we assist our customers in this regard? Although we have the ability to bring new customer requirements back to our respective labs and R&D organizations for future product enhancements, our mission is to help our customers invest in the here and now in solutions that are currently available (i.e. the old “sell what is on the truck” adage). In effect, we are primarily here to help our customers make money, save money, or mitigate risks in the immediate rather then the longer-term future. (Don’t get me wrong, obviously we also want to help customers for the long term with strategic ideas and solution, but we cannot get there without first securing short term business. And at the speed of today’s business, it is what we are providing NOW that matters the most). So how can we, as a part of the field sales force charged with aiding customer success in the here and now, be innovative?

Be a Customer of Your Customer – There is no better way for you to get to know your customer than to be a consumer of their products and services. This truly puts you in a position to provide them with feedback on how they are doing as well as ideas for what else they can do for you. I have a colleague who, upon getting assigned to work exclusively with a large financial services customer, moved all of his personal financial services business to that customer. Being “all in” with his customer has enabled him to provide ideas and recommendations based on first hand experience working with several of their lines of business. In taking a similar approach, your unique position as both a customer and a supplier could result in a scenario where you get to create a better consumer experience for yourself, while helping your customer expand their business, while also selling more of your company’s offerings. Forget win-win, this is win-win-win.

Know Your Customer’s Industry & Competitors – Knowing your customer’s industry is sales 101. However, knowing how their competitors run their businesses and, if possible, how their competitors may be using some of your company’s solutions will provide you with insight into proven ways that they can also utilize those solutions. There are obviously situations in which confidentiality may prevent you from disclosing specifics about new offerings, differentiating processes, etc. However, those situations are likely few and far between, as most industries already collaborate on similar issues and problems via trade associations, user groups, and good old-fashioned human networking. Knowing how CompanyX used your offerings to streamline their roll out of ProductX will undoubtedly help you help CompanyY as they seek to roll out ProductY.

Know Other Industries’ Application of Your Solutions – Pay attention to how customers from other industries are using your company’s products. There are many examples of customer contact scenarios, business processes, and supply chain situations that can be easily adapted across industries. For example, from a solution perspective, there are parallels between warranty claims processing and the adjudication of insurance claims. Methods for delivering a first class retail sales experience can be leveraged to meet the packing and shipping needs of small businesses. With a little knowledge and creativity, it is not hard to share ideas from other industries to help your customer drive their innovation.

A senior executive once told my team, “in the final analysis, it is the CUSTOMER who owns the innovation”. Having been a customer before I was a supplier, I can guarantee that this is true. But it does not absolve us from the responsibility of bringing innovative ideas to our customers. If we are constantly provoking our customers with new ideas on how they can use our solutions to run their business, as well as providing them with ideas for how they can get more value out of their existing investment with us, we will be viewed as innovators. Because we are part of the sales organization, we do not necessarily “innovate” in terms of directly developing or enhancing new products for our customers. Rather, we must be innovative in the manner in which we bring them new ideas, develop relationships with new buyers, and contribute to the success of their business.

Optimizing Opportunity Pursuit Plans

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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.

Your 3 Critical Customer Conversations

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Ensuring that your customers are getting maximum value out of their investment in your solutions is the most fundamental aspect of any enterprise technology sales organization. It ensures the development of deeper relationships, which lead to an expansion of mutually beneficial business opportuntiies and higher levels of customer satisfaction. It lays the foundation for everything you do to differentiate your organization from your competitors. This requires constant follow up and regular discussions with your customers. Of all of the possible topics, trials, and tittle-tattle that you might engage in, there are three conversations that you should ALWAYS be having with your customers.

1) Thank you

Thank you for your business. Thank you for the opportunity to help you run your business. Thank you for the trust that you place in my organization and my people to contribute to the success of you and your team. Thank you for your investment in our solutions, which helps us continue to invest in enhancing those solutions for the benefit of your business. A simple expression of heartfelt gratitude always goes a long way (and if you do not truly feel at least a little heartfelt gratitude towards your customer, a gut check on your career choice may be in order). This is still a universal truth. I find it amazing how rarely that I, as a consumer, am actually THANKED by the individuals at establishments with which I do business. It seems that more often I am the one verbally expressing thanks to them, which far too often elicits the tepid response of “no problem” (I won’t waste space here splitting hairs in the ever-evolving English language between the implied meaning of “no problem” vs. “you’re welcome”).

2) Are you hiring?

Are you hiring for new positions on your team? Are you backfilling recently vacated roles? How about in other areas of the company? Are you targeting recent graduates or experienced candidates? What sort of skills are you/your company looking for? Questions like these can lead to all kinds of discussions about your customer’s business, their needs, and their plans for the future. It will help you get an idea of which areas of their business are growing and which are contracting. From a practical prospecting perspective, it will help you uncover new opportunities for your solutions in other areas of their company. Depending on your tenure in the industry, experiences with other customers, and the breadth of your professional network, you may also be able to provide them with references of skilled individuals who can help them meet their staffing needs. As a manager, I have also found that the conversation eventually traverses into my own hiring needs. This has led to some outstanding hires on my part over the years. If you are not in management, I am sure that you are equally interested in increasing the talent level at your own company.

3) Are you getting everything you need from us?

At the risk of splitting hairs again, this is not “are we giving you everything you need?” because the focus should always be on the value the customer is getting from your business relationship rather than what they may think you should be “giving” them.  This should drive a discussion towards the specific products, services, & intangibles that you are providing and how they are benefitting the customer. It should lead to discussions of other technical or business domains in which you can provide assistance. It will give you some idea as to how you stack up in terms of post-sales support vs. your competitors. It will provide you with some headlights into areas of dissatisfaction for you to proactively address. It reiterates to your customer that you view your relationship as a long-term partnership and that you are always interested in providing more value to their business.

Continually having these three discussions with each of your customers will help you further cement and expand your business and professional relationships. There is no simpler way to affirm your appreciation for their investment in your organization and put you in the best position to expand that investment.

Loose Lips Can Still Sink Your Ship

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It happens at airline gates, on planes prior to takeoff and immediately after landing when mobile phones are allowed. It happens in hotel lounges, in coffee shops, and (quite disturbingly) in public restrooms…

“I don’t know if we are going to get <customer name withheld> what he needs. These guys at <customer company name withheld> are being completely unreasonable.”

“We have got to do something about <customer company name withheld>. These guys at <presumed competitor name withheld> are going to be al over them if we don’t address this.”

Discussions such as these remind me of some of the U.S. propaganda campaigns from WWII that reminded citizens of the dangers of talking freely and in public about their manufacturing work and military personnel deployments.

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I recently overheard both of these conversations within a 15 minute span in an airport club lounge. Although I admit that on a (very) few occasions I have allowed my mobile phone speaking voice to get a touch too loud in public, it is overheard discussions such as these that make me cringe. Like many of you, I travel frequently to spend time with customers and employees. Like you, I overhear many conversations in public spaces that I believe should be considered confidential. Of course all of us in the sales profession know that intentional eavesdropping on others’ business conversations is unethical – especially if we attempt to use that information to our advantage. This is especially true if we happen to overhear something that pertains directly to one of our customers, our competitor, our own company or, at the very worst, a specific individual by name at any of the above (I have overheard all). But it is considered eavesdropping when someone is in a public space providing details of their job to everyone within earshot? Unknown to the offender, many co-travelers consider such acts a bit of a show if the offender is animated or agitated enough. What truly amazes me is that these transgressions are often committed by what appear to be experienced professionals.

I’m not a complete Luddite and I realize that the proliferation of mobile communication and computing technologies has redefined many of our social mores. However, much as the Allies’ intelligence services knew of the existence of Axis infiltrators, the possibility exists that individuals from the companies omitted in the quotes above are nearby when they were mentioned. Based on my experience in some of the smaller markets in the midwestern United States, there is a very strong possibility that employees of the largest employers in those cities are present when their company name is yelled across the departure gate. So, a bit of advice…

Imagine if someone from your customer heard you blurting the status of a current proof of concept while seated at a table at a restaurant…

Imagine if the spouse of a customer stakeholder heard you bellow their beloved’s name in the line at the coffee shop…

Imagine if your competitor heard you discussing the roadblocks to obtaining the technical win with a new customer initiative…

Imagine if the VP of vendor relations at your customer heard your vitriolic verbiage about the challenges of doing business with them…

How would any of the above effect your ability to gain customer support and win the privilege of helping them use your solution to run their business? Lifejacket, anyone?

And besides, it simply makes the offender look like an obnoxious dolt. This is not the sort of professional that any enterprise IT supplier would want representing them in the marketplace. Professionalism and discretion should still rule the day, even with our new social mores. Although the fate of the free world may not be resting in the balance, loose lips can still sink ships.

Do You Have the Technical Win?

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It typically happens in the latter sales stages. Your team and management are engaged in forecasting and reviewing all of the details of an opportunity and trying to make a meaningful estimation of whether you have or will actually win the business. Inevitably, the question comes up, as it well should, “do we have the technical win?”

As the sales engineer on the opportunity, everyone looks to you for the answer. Well, do we? How do you know and how can you be sure? Or, what exactly is the “technical win”?

The technical win is assurances from the customer that the product or solution that we are proposing meets their needs and the subsequent support to whomever is responsible for making the purchase to go ahead and do so. The “win” is determined by customer stakeholders who are typically responsible for ensuring that the technology meets the specific requirements of their project or initiative and fits well into their existing technology environment. It is essentially a vote of confidence and support that the solution can be successfully implemented to meet the needs of the business and produce value for the organization. There are many potential indicators that can let you know if you have the technical win. Such as:

  • The customer is investing in or has expressed significant interest in the necessary training to enable them to implement the solution on their own.
  • The customer has informed you of their implementation timeline, the details of the project and it’s supporting business case, and has asked you to be involved throughout the entire implementation lifecycle.
  • The customer is asking for skilled resources from your organization or from your business partners to help them implement the solution.
  • Your outstanding relationship with the technical stakeholders before and during the opportunity sales cycle has established trust such that they have shared the results of any evaluations or proofs of concept that they have conducted with your and your competitors’ products. You have seen that your product emerged as the most appropriate for their business.
  • The customer responded favorably to the simple question, “when will you be moving forward with implementation of our solution?”

Opportunities are often won and lost based on existing business relationships, strategic direction of either the customer or the supplier, contractual Ts & Cs, and even pricing. Most of these conditions are beyond the influence of the technical sales professional. What IS within the sales engineer’s scope of responsibility, however, is ensuring that you never lose because you failed to demonstrate the technical merits of your solution to the customer, how it fits in their environment, and how it will help them run their business. In other words, it is up to you to gain the technical win.

Technical Sales Balanced Scorecard: Customer Perspective

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The final perspective of the Technical Sales Balanced Scorecard is the most important. Arguably, it is by far the most important, as it is concerned with how the organization is viewed throught the eyes of its customers. A thorough understanding of how customers perceive the company, its products, and its people is the true measure of the organization’s viability in the marketplace. Not necessarily specific to technical sales, this category also considers any corporate initiatives that contribute to the betterment of customers’ communities.

Some attributes to consider might include:

  • Frequency, responsiveness to new requirements, and ease of product upgrades
  • Market share (as previously mentioned in the Financial Perspective)
  • Post sales product support incidents, time to resolution, frequency by product or solution, and their nature (question, problem, outage, etc.)
  • Consumption of white papers, guides, etc. designed to ensure customer implementation success
  • Customer satisfaction surveys
  • Implementation of pre-purchased offerings (in the software business, for example)
  • Community volunteer hours & participation
  • Educational support and involvement in STEM academic initiatives within local schools and universities

“Perception is reality” as the saying goes. And the organization that is perceived by its customers to offer the best products that deliver the greatest value and is supportive of their customers’ local communities has the best shot at gaining and maintaining market share relative to competitors.

Technical Sales Balanced Scorecard: Learning & Growth Perspective

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The next perspective of the Technical Sales Balanced Scorecard is a view of progress on organizational learning and growth. This view not only encompasses the organization’s efforts to maintain a highly skilled workforce that can add maximum value to its customers and its business, but also the manner in which a culture of innovation is being fostered to bring new solutions to customers and position the organization for the future.

Some aspects that might be worthy of following for this perspective might be:

  • Technical certifications that demonstrate various degrees of competence with the organization’s own products
  • Technical industry certifications, such as those administered by the Open Group, IEEE or other associations specific to the organization’s industry
  • Industry certifications and credentials that demonstrate competence in customers’ businesses, such as LOMA, the Mortgage Banker’s Association, or ASQ
  • Internal programs tied to diversity, career movement, the support of high potential employees, education, etc.

Many proponents of the use of balanced scorecards as measures of organizational health include the term “innovation” in this measure and I want to acknowledge this as quite valid for technical sales as well. Some might question how the sales organization can play a role in driving innovation for the company. After all, the primary purpose of technical sales focuses on driving revenue by representing existing products and solutions to customers. Therefore, one might assume that any innovation regarding new features or products would happen in the company’s engineering labs rather than from its customer-facing sales organization. This is true to a certain extent. However, focusing on innovation from the customer’s perspective is where the most effective technical sales professionals can really shine, because a great deal of innovation happens when a new business problem is solved via a unique application of an existing product or combination of products. The technical seller who fully understands their company’s offerings, their customer’s environment, and their customer’s industry is best positioned to bring this sort of innovation to the marketplace. And it is every bit as important as any new offerings or the evolution of features that come from a company’s engineering labs. As a matter of categorization, I do not mention it in the bullets above because it is ultimately the customer who determines when the organization has delivered innovation, and therefore this notion lies in the Customer Perspective of the BSC.