Selling Complex Solutions

Published: May 9, 2005

Technology, regardless of its form, isn't purchased solely on features or the perceived value of the seller. It also isn't purchased due to incredible multimedia presentations, smoke and mirrors. Instead, technology is purchased based on the perceived value of the buyer. No matter what the seller does, the value is assigned by the buyer and that fundamental issue must be taken into account. For people selling technology, to internal or external buyers, this realization is key. It isn’t about selling features, it is all about selling a solution that addresses the buyer’s needs.

If you take two systems of identical capabilities and pair them off against a buyer, the differentiating factor will be the salesperson. The salesperson can make, or break, the deal by understanding the needs of the prospective buyer and tailoring the demonstration to his/her audience. In fact, a skilled salesperson can sell despite huge disparities between systems by understanding the needs of the audience. The probability is quite high that the buyers are most interested in 20% of the features of the system. This inequality where a relatively minor number of inputs generates the majority of outputs is know as “Pareto's 80/20 Principle” named after the Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto. The key to applying the rule, of course, is to understand what capabilities the prospects value and stressing those items appropriately.

For any buyer, or group of buyers, there is a hierarchy of needs that must be understood. Let's broadly categorize those needs into three groups entitled "pains", “strategy" and “general needs”. The ranking is based upon their relative value to the buyer and the sales process starting with pain as being the most important. If these needs are stacked on the basis of volume and value, they form a pyramid with general needs at the bottom, strategic needs in the middle and pains at the top. The purpose of this mental model is to illustrate that there are a lot of general needs but their cumulative value is actually relatively low.

In the pain category are requirements that, if met, will deliver immediate relief from something that is causing damage or negative emotions. The pain may be screaming managers, nagging users, disappointed investors, inability to achieve goals, increasing expenses, lost revenues, etc. Regardless of the exact source of the pains, the point is that there is something in the mind of the buyer, or group of buyers, that needs to be addressed right away. The better the salesperson understands the pain points and addresses them during demonstrations or presentations, the more attention will be paid by the attendees and the greater the odds they will buy the salesperson’s system. In a sense, the need to avoid or eliminate pain is an incredible motivator.

Continuing along, if pains open the door and get the prospect’s attention, it is the addressing of strategic needs that captures mindshare. Far from a dot com era buzzword, “mindshare” is as relevant as ever. For our purposes, mindshare is the percentage of the audience's attention that is riveted on our offering by virtue of demonstrating how the solution addresses their pains and strategic needs. It is the combination of pain and strategic needs that create the 20% of needs that must be focused on and addressed in order to address 80% of what the prospect is looking for during the sales cycle.

At the base of the pyramid are general needs. The odds are that there are far more general needs than pains. If we again apply Pareto’s Principle, these are the 80% of items that will only contribute 20% towards the intended goal of the prospect buying the system. The exact percent may vary, but the fact is that though they are the majority of items, they will contribute the least amount of value to the sale. In the sale process, general needs should be identified and addressed but not dwelled upon or emphasized because they are not significant differentiators.

The inevitable question arises about how to develop this level of understanding about the client. In this day and age, it is far easier than ever before. There are internet chat rooms, news websites, investment websites and social networking tools, such as http://www.linkedin.com. On top of this are the tried and true personal contacts in the industry and the novel concept of simply asking the prospect's sponsor, the person who engaged you, what the pains, strategic goals and general needs are. Do you know what the surprise is? All sarcastic humor aside, most of the time the prospect will candidly tell you if you simply ask and sign and non-disclosure agreement! Rather than rely on only one method, a combination of the above is most likely to give you the information needed.

Once the hierarchy of needs is identified, the subsequent demos, presentations and written responses must take due care to stress solutions to their pain points and strategy. General needs must be covered, don't get me wrong – especially when dealing with requests for proposal, all I am saying is that they shouldn’t be the overwhelming emphasis. You want to impress the prospect with the solution to their needs, not show them the power of the system. The better mousetrap only has value to those who need that particular better mousetrap.

In summary, people selling technology must understand the needs of their prospects and tailor their selling techniques towards addressing those needs. Moving beyond that, they must recognize and place the proper level of emphasis on addressing pains, strategic and general needs during the sales cycle because only 20% of the needs will generate 80% of the motivation to buy. In the end, the value the customer perceives and the price they are willing to pay will be based on the ability of the system to provide a solution to their needs and the ability of the salesperson to effectively communicate.