Buyer Enablement and Transition Vision: Which Vendor Will Get Your Business?

 

“Drive-in banks were established so most of the cars today could see their real owners.”

– E. Joseph Cossman

 

“If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend.”

– Doug Larson

 

“I replaced the headlights in my car with strobe lights, so it looks like I'm the only one moving.“

– Steven Wright

 

 

You are shopping for a new car: you’ve completed all your research, comparisons, and test drives, and have reached your decision. You’ve even determined the specific color, interior, packages and extras you want. You are ready to buy!

 

You drive to a dealership in your old car, walk in, and are greeted by a salesperson. You say, “I’m ready to purchase a new XD-100 sedan, and I saw the specific model with the trim and options package I want on your lot. All I need to do is to trade-in my old Zephyr to use the money to help with the purchase.”

 

The salesperson says, “Terrific! Simply go ahead and sell your old car. Once you have that done, come back and we’ll get you set up with your new car.”

 

You leave, discouraged, because you don’t really want to invest the time and energy to sell your old car. You’ve never done it before and don’t know how. (And you were clearly unaware of the option of completing this all on the web…!)

 

You decide to visit a second dealership…

 

And as with the first dealer, you see the exact car you want on their lot. You walk into this dealership, are met by their salesperson, and repeat that you are ready to purchase. Once again you say, “All I need to do is to trade-in my old Zephyr to use the money to help with the purchase.”

 

This second salesperson says, “Very good. Simply give us the keys and registration papers for your old car. We’ll give you fair value for it, right out of the Kelly Blue Book, and we’ll handle all the documentation and transfer paperwork. We’ll also take care of the taxes and the government vehicle registration process. We’ll apply the trade-in value to your new purchase, and you can leave here in less than an hour in your new XD-100 sedan.”

 

Which dealer will get your business?

 

Clearly, the second dealer made it easy for you to make the transition from your current situation to the vision you have in mind of driving off in your new car. (And also note that the vision of completing all of this on the web, with web-vendor delivering your new XD-100 right to your front door and taking away your old Zephyr is even more compelling!)

 

 

Moral: The vendor that creates a clear Transition Vision establishes a competitive advantage!

 

 

You’ll learn how to establish a Transition Vision starting on page 108 in Doing Discovery: https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

If you missed some of these posts, you’ll find another dozen or more waiting for you at https://greatdemo.com/blog/

 

And you’ll find 35 additional story gems in “Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales, Presales, and Marketing Stories (and Lessons Learned)” here: https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

Buyer Enablement: A Whole New Game

 

Buyer Enablement endeavors to remove as much friction as possible from prospects’ buying processes and anticipate their needs. It is a major, delightful shift from sales process to Buyer Enablement, changing your focus from “we the vendor” to “you the buyers.” It’s not just changing the game; it’s an entirely new way to operate!

 

 

“Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a rowboat and taking the tartar sauce with you.”

– Zig Ziglar

 

 

I’d read a terrific book on Buyer Enablement (“Selling Is Hard. Buying Is Harder: How Buyer Enablement Drives Digital Sales and Shortens the Sales Cycle” by Garin Hess) and realized that I could apply the book’s principles with my prospects. Accordingly, rather than wait to see if they wanted to execute an NDA or MNDA, I would propose it, proactively, along with similar suggestions and questions regarding SOWs and related items.

 

Experienced buyers appreciate this, as it moves their processes forward faster. New buyers also value this approach, as it helps guide them as they learn how their organizations make purchases.

 

Interestingly, after the sale was complete, one customer told me that my simple question and proactivity saved him hours of effort and reduced the transaction time by a full month!

 

Here are a few examples to consider providing or starting before they are requested – and inexperienced buyers may not even know to ask for them!

 

•       Vision Generation Demos / Other Internal Selling Tools

•       NDAs and MNDAs

•       Data/Privacy Surveys

•       Legal Agreements

•       Success Stories / References

•       Anticipating Objections

•       Value Analyses

•       Metrics and KPIs

•       Value Realization Events

 

 

Moral: Apply the principles of Buyer Enablement!

 

 

Doing Discovery is ALL about Buyer Enablement! https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

And you can find Garin Hess’ excellent book here: https://www.amazon.com/Selling-Hard-Buying-Harder-Enablement/dp/1632992949/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DFDWRKYNIY1F&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.byZuPVJSANY3o-bmmEO79VHdpbIOcajUGaH7-tv9p1DFdkf-g5gpjQ6ZoEpranRThqFQaB0QXnXETMX9EvUJk3fklHJlEQImpjh_9Nn_Kc4.RdLmFkI4Nu_zWpRxpk8F4kDKVo3R2bGPgpjnYna1F4E&dib_tag=se&keywords=garin+hess&qid=1751299555&sprefix=garin+he%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-1 

Discovery: The Surprising Importance of Environment

 

Experience is knowing what questions to ask.

 

 

“If at first you don’t succeed, that’s about average for a construction project.”

— Sam “The Sledgehammer” Stevens

 

 

A colleague was remodeling her kitchen and had engaged a contractor to do the work. She had explored appliances, cabinets, fixtures, flooring, and paint colors, and felt she was ready to start construction.

 

The contractor, who had many years of experience, suggested a few additional meetings: the first in the morning on a bright sunny day, another at lunchtime, a third meeting at sunset, and one additional conference after dark.

 

During these meetings, the contractor explored factors outside the house, ranging from the arc of the sun and its impact on window size and placement, to exploring whether there were outside noise or light sources to be considered.

 

Good plan! There were, in fact, several important concerns. There was a fire station around the corner and an annoyingly bright streetlight across the street. The contractor also asked about the prevailing wind and weather (both fair and foul).

 

These discussions drove significant positive changes to the remodel plan which, if ignored, may have resulted in substantial levels of buyers’ regret, “Oh, if I had thought about that streetlight, I wouldn’t have put that window there…!”

 

Fortunately, this contractor’s experience enabled a very happy outcome.

 

Similarly, understanding your prospects’ environment when doing discovery in software sales can have major impact, including the determining the desired features and requirements, choosing a deployment strategy, achieving adoption and use, and securing renewals and expansion. 

 

The size, location, and organization of physical premises, whether staff are on site, remote, or hybrid, single site vs multiple international, pure office or manufacturing, and even whether the facilities are high-rise vs single story can all deeply influence selection of a solution. 

 

I’ve seen sites where the hallways were so long and distances between buildings so great that nobody wanted face-to-face meetings; everyone preferred using Zoom even though the prospect described their facility as a “single, compact campus.” Another organization covered their walls and even their cafeteria tables with white boards, markers, and erasers to encourage ad hoc diagramming and discussions.

 

Make a list of environment topics to discuss with your prospects in discovery. You’ll be glad you did, and your resulting customers will be even happier!

 

 

Moral: Discovery has many dimensions, both seen and heard!

 

 

You’ll find more on discovery of your prospects’ physical environment starting on page 71 in Doing Discovery: https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

If you missed some of these posts, you’ll find another dozen or more waiting for you at https://greatdemo.com/blog/

 

And you’ll find 35 additional story gems in “Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales, Presales, and Marketing Stories (and Lessons Learned)” here: https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

Illustrations Article: Doing the Last Thing First!

 

Illustrations: Doing the Last Thing First!

 

An Advanced Never Stop Learning! Article

 

 

“Wow!” exclaimed the CRO, “You really nailed it. That’s exactly what I’m looking for!”

 

That’s what often happens when you Do the Last Thing First in a Great Demo! and present a compelling Illustration, but selecting and presenting persuasive Illustrations requires some (*gasp*) thinking and skills development. This article is for:

 

-       Great Demo! training graduates who are looking to refresh and extend their skills.

-       Great Demo! book readers, similarly.

-       Those who have been exposed to Great Demo! concepts (but didn’t read the book or take training) and who are looking for clarification.

 

This article addresses:

 

-       What’s an Illustration

-       Selecting Your Illustrations

-       Presenting Your Illustrations

 

You can find it here – enjoy!

https://greatdemo.com/illustrations-doing-the-last-thing-first/ 

What Did You Say? What Did You Mean?

 

Word choice can be critical!

 

 

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."

– George Bernard Shaw

 

 

Years ago, a colleague named Steve Young (no, not the Steve Young of American football fame) taught me about “controlled vocabulary.” He pointed out that when two parties use the same word or phrase to describe two different things, they are out of alignment and confusion will result: this is a case of “uncontrolled vocabulary.” And, of course,  uncontrolled vocabulary also results when one person uses terms or phrases that are unknown to the other person.

 

Both parties need to have the same definition for key words or phrases: that’s “controlled vocabulary.” I love that term (and now we have a shared understanding)!

 

 

Moral: Identify and rectify uncontrolled vocabulary.

Discovery Tip and Story: Tour the Facilities!

An intriguing discovery dimension is learning about your prospects’ physical environment, and it can be differentiating.

 

 

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

– Marcel Proust

 

 

Years ago, I sold software for a company that supported pharmaceutical pre-clinical research, and many of our users were chemists. While our software never saw a test-tube, it was extremely helpful for me to see the chemists’ laboratories.

 

I would schedule a face-to-face visit that spanned a few hours with the bulk of the time spent in a conference room discussing the chemists’ situations and needs, followed by demonstrations of our software.

 

Towards the close of these meetings I would say, “Hey, can you show me around your labs?”

 

The chemists were delighted that I was interested, and they would typically go into animated detail about their equipment and their lab facilities (“Here’s our new NMR – ain’t it a beauty?”).

 

In return, I gained wonderful insights into their processes and environment: the breadth and relative age of their instrumentation, how their labs were laid out, how modern (or not) they were, whether their offices were immediately adjacent to the labs or far away, and a range of other factors.

 

Additionally, I often had good views of their offices, desks and office walls (many of which were glass, with diagrams of the chemical structures and reactions being researched), the journals they read, output examples on their desktops, and more.

 

This all contributed to a much richer understanding of why they needed our software, what kinds of problems they were seeking to solve, and how they were going about their current workflows and processes.

 

Furthermore, the chemists felt I gained a deeper understanding of their situation, certainly much more than I could have gleaned from the inside of a conference room or Zoom session. In fact, after one such visit, the prospect told me that he preferred to purchase software from me, rather than my competitor (whose software was, frankly, a bit slicker), specifically because I had asked to see the labs…!

 

 

Moral: Discovery has many dimensions, both seen and unseen!

 

You’ll find more on discovery of your prospects’ physical environment starting on page 71 in Doing Discovery: https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

 

 

If you missed some of these posts, you’ll find another dozen waiting for you at https://greatdemo.com/blog/

 

And NONE of these posts are in “Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales, Presales, and Marketing Stories (and Lessons Learned).” These public posts are teasers! You can find this gem here: https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

“I Want This to Be Interactive…!”

 

“Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.”

– Robert Frost

 

How many online and virtual demos start like this?

Have you ever been in a situation where you or a colleague said, “I’d like this to be interactive, so please stop me if you have any questions along the way…” but what you or your colleague were really thinking was, “Please don’t stop me with questions because, if you do, I won’t have time to show everything I want to show…!”?

 

 

Moral: Apply Inverted Pyramid to truly encourage and drive interactivity.

 

 

The incredibly useful Inverted Pyramid concept is introduced on page 15 in Great Demo!: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

 

 

If you missed some of these posts, you’ll find another dozen waiting for you at https://greatdemo.com/blog/

 

And NONE of these posts are in “Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales, Presales, and Marketing Stories (and Lessons Learned)” These public posts are teasers! You can find this gem here: https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy