Problem

1

What Do Customers Want to Know?

The “Typical” Customer Pitch • Starts out asking me to “Define my Problems”

• Moves to “Burning Market Need” argument for solution – “World is desperately in need of <x>”

• Dwells on “Great Features” of the solution

• Stays on “Great Features” for ~60% of pitch

• Very little attention to vendor/client fit

• Very little attention to competition/substitutes

• Very little attention to costs/ROI

• The “ask” is at the end

2

What’s Wrong with the “Typical” Pitch? • “Person at a Party” test:

– Someone comes up to you at a party and asks you “what are your current dating concerns?”

– Then discusses their “proprietary date formula”: E.g.., “Lots of research shows that eating at an Italian restaurant and going out to a jazz concert is vital to building relationships”

– Eventually they ask you for a “trial date” to check out the applicability of the formula to your concerns

• Reaction?

An Intelligent Customer Pitch

• Take cognizance of four customer thought patterns that are essential to understanding an “Intelligent Pitch” – Is This the Right Solution for My Problem?

– Chemistry

– Total Cost of Solution • Non-monetary as well as monetary

– End State • What will my organization look like/do after the

solution?

3

Customer Mind 1: Right Solution?

• Most client problems are multi-factorial

• Many vendors are vying to apply their solutions to all problems

• “Education sale”  help the client understand how the various solutions fit together

• “Progressive promise”: Help them pick the best solution even if it is not you

Customer Mind 2: Chemistry • Need for chemistry is emotional, not intellectual

• Cannot explicitly tout or promise chemistry, you must imply it

• Chemistry is not necessarily “rah-rah” stuff (although it can be)

• Always safe to be straightforward, honorable, kind, empathic, and to do what you say

4

Customer Mind 3: Costs/ROI

• Customers want a “cost promise”: – (BEST): “Flat Rate of $<x>”

– (GREAT): “No more than $<X>”

– (GOOD): “Priced According to <Y> Algorithm”

• Customers are jaded and wary of ROI promises – Best to have a range for ROI, based

on an algorithm

Customer Mind 4: End State

• Customers want a vivid picture of the end state

• What will my organization look like/be/do when you are done? – How will this result from the project?

• What could happen that would be bad? – How will you prevent bad things from

happening?

5

Key Takeaways

• Customer Mind 1: Is this the right solution?

• Customer Mind 2: Do I have chemistry with this seller?

• Customer Mind 3: Can I afford this solution? – More than money

• Customer Mind 4: How does this impact my end state?