Discovery Effectiveness and Product “Fit”

 

 

Discovery is a simultaneous exploration of prospect “fit” on the part of the vendor and solution “fit” on the part of the prospect. Good fit for both parties results in less friction for all subsequent steps in their relationship. Discovery should measure fit, accordingly, and is an enormous point of leverage for everything downstream!

 

Prospects know this, intuitively, and often express it when they terminate a sales cycle. They’ll (literally!) say, “Your product isn’t a good fit for us.”

 

Sadly, many salespeople ignore fit and instead live in the “Land of Hope.” Poor fit can result in enormous waste and inefficiencies. In cases where the prospect moves forward with a purchase, poor fit can cause that customer to churn and become an outspoken negative reference.

 

Presales must determine and measure the quality of fit. Most organizations do this qualitatively today, if at all! You’ll hear evidence of this at QBRs, when presales folks are asked, “How good is this opportunity…?” Sadly, many answers are ignored partly due to the lack of metrics and partly in the pursuit of “making the numbers” for that quarter!

 

How can we measure fit? 

 

Great Demo! Situation Slides offer one simple and effective method (see Chapter 6 in Great Demo!). For each important Specific Capability desired by your prospect, assess your ability to deliver satisfaction on a scale or percent:

 

-       Workflow Number 1: 80%

-       Workflow Number 2: 90%

-       Report Number 1: 100%

-       Dashboard Number 1: 80%

-       Root Cause Identification: 60%

-       Etc.

 

This can be represented, ultimately, as an overall score, either as a simple average or (better) as a weighted average based on relative importance each capability to the prospect:

 

-       Workflow Number 1: 80% fit; Relative Importance 100

-       Workflow Number 2: 90% fit; Relative Importance 80

-       Report Number 1: 100% fit; Relative Importance 100

-       Dashboard Number 1: 80% fit, Relative Importance 70

-       Root Cause Identification: 60% fit; Relative Importance 100

-       Etc.

 

Incorporating the opportunity size enables you to compare opportunities to determine where to invest your resources. It also solves the challenge of the rep’s traditional claim “It’s a huge opportunity…!” when analyzed in comparison to others.

 

For example, a $1M opportunity with a 20% fit metric gives a normalized score of $200K, but a $600K opportunity with 80% fit yields a score of $480K. I know where I’d invest my time!