This Is NOT Enough!

The majority of "discovery" calls that I've heard look and sound something like this:

0:00 Intro (generally only about the vendor reps)
0:03 "Rapport building" (generally remarking about something in the background, weather, sports, etc.)
0:06 Discussion of pain (often simply confirming pain and not going much deeper)
0:14 Overview presentation (corporate and/or product overview, interspersed with a few discovery questions)
0:25 Next steps

Sadly, the time actually invested in doing discovery is often less than ten minutes. Outrageous!

 

Imagine going to a doctor because you have a pain in your stomach. You say, “Doctor, I have a pain in my stomach…” The doctor grabs a scalpel and replies, “Great – let’s open you up and take a look.”

 

We’d call this medical malpractice! And how is this different from the “discovery call” above? (It’s not and we should call it “business malpractice!”)

 

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

Four Great Quotes

“Prospects are perishable – handle with care.”

 – Zig Ziglar

 

 

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.”

 – Will Rogers

 

 

“Character wields the greatest authority when it comes to persuasion.”

– Aristotle

 

 

“Here’s a quote for ten million dollars…”

 – Hopeful Salespeople Everywhere!

 

Presales Skills: Five Questions that Need to Be Answered!

-       Why? 

o   Why is this skill important?

-       What? 

o   What is the skill?

-       How?

o   How do you apply it?

-       When?

o   When do you apply it and in what order with other skills?

-       Where?

o   Where should it be applied?

 

Understanding the answers to these five questions is what helps to define methodology!

 

Let’s us two-finger pointing as an example:

 

-       Why is this skill important?

o   Because clear communication in demos, presentations, and whiteboarding is one key to success.

-       What is the skill?

o   Using two fingers to point to screen and whiteboard elements is the clearest, non-rude method of pointing. In some cultures, pointing with your index finger is considered rude. Interestingly, in some cultures, pointing with your middle finger is the typical practice, but other cultures would consider this really rude (or at least humorous!). Note that airline flight attendants use the two-finger pointing method when pointing out exits and exit paths.

-       How do you apply it?

o   Form your hand such that you are pointing with your index and middle fingers held together. Tap or touch the screen or whiteboard if possible for precise pointing; don’t wave vaguely towards the element. Use smooth and deliberate motions.

-       When do you apply it and in what order with other skills?

o   Apply it when you want to direct your audience’s attention to a particular element on the screen or whiteboard. When presenting demo screens, remember to communicate what your audience should be looking at, how it helps them solves their business problems, and the specific value associated with the change for them. Keep pointing as you provide this description.

-       Where should it be applied?

o   In face-to-face demos, presentations, and whiteboarding, where the room and screen are small enough for the audience to see clearly and for you to reach the full extent of the screen or whiteboard. (If either are too large, you’ll want to use a larger pointing tool – and that’s another skillset!).

You’ll find many more skills as well as complete methodologies on our website at https://GreatDemo.com – check out the Resources pages in particular!

Seven Levels of Discovery Skills: What’s YOUR Level of Practice?

 

-       Level 1:  Uncovers statements of pain

-       Level 2:  Uncovers pain and explores more deeply

-       Level 3:  Uncovers pain, explores deeply, broadens the pain and investigates the impact

-       Level 4:  Uncovers pain, explores and broadens, investigates impact and quantifies

-       Level 5:  Uncovers pain, explores and broadens, investigates impact, quantifies and reengineers vision

-       Level 6:  Applies these skills to the broad range of prospects represented across the Technology Adoption Curve, “burn victims”, disruptive and new product categories, transactional sales cycles, and other scenarios

-       Level 7:  Integrates and aligns the skills above into a cohesive discovery methodology.

 

Most folks are at Level 1 or 2 (when honestly assessed). This leaves a lot of room for improvement!

 

Why get better at discovery? Oh, hundreds of reasons, but here’s a compelling one: The vendor perceived by the prospect as doing a superior job of discovery is in a competitively advantageous position (regardless of product strengths)!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

I’m Curious About Curiosity…! What Makes Us Curious and Why?

A certain level of curiosity must be evolutionarily advantageous. It certainly aids in doing discovery!

 

Daniel Berlyne’s research on curiosity might offer some clues: [from Wikipedia] “His work focused on ‘why organisms display curiosity and explore their environment, why they seek knowledge and information.’

 

He believed that objects impact on three levels, psychophysical, environmental, and collative. The last of these was a term coined by Berlyne which attempted to describe the hedonic levels of arousal fluctuation through stimuli such as novelty, complexity, surprisingness, incongruity. Ultimately, he believed that arousal was best and most effective when at a moderate level and influenced by the complexity and novelty of the arousing object.”

 

When I’m doing discovery, I find myself naturally stimulated whenever I hear something new or unusual, and I’m curious to investigate it!

What Does Insufficient Discovery Cause?

Here’s the short list!

 

-       Delayed Decisions

-       No Decisions

-       Unwarranted Discounting 

-       “Buying It Back”

-       Slowed Sales Cycles

-       Wasted Sales Cycles

-       Harbor Tour Demos

-       Stunningly Awful Demos

-       Wasted Demos

-       Poor Proposals

-       Wasted Proposals

-       Inaccurate Forecasts

-       Overly Optimistic Forecasts

-       Living in the “Land of Hope”

-       Inaccurate Pipelines

-       Overly Optimistic Pipelines

-       Opening Doors for Competitors

-       Negative Differentiation

-       Poor Product Recommendations

-       Poor Product Fit

-       Unhappy prospects

-       Burn-Victim prospects

-       Insufficient Value Perceptions

-       Insufficient Business Cases

-       Money Left on the Table

-       Piles of Objections

-       Poor Relationships

-       Distrusted Vendors

 

Any others to add?

 

(And here’s how to fill your discovery glass! https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/)

 

How Can You Avoid Discovery Becoming an Interrogation?

 

“…And where were you the night of November 15, 2024…?!”

 

In discovery, too many one-way questions can feel like an interrogation or inquisition. And working through a list of questions without offering anything in return will feel like an inquisition to your prospect.

 

Solution? While we need to complete gathering the information we require in our discovery processes, we must also offer information, guidance, and insights in return. Discovery needs to be perceived as a two-way conversation, where both parties each learn something new. In doing discovery, we accomplish this by offering quid pro quo comments, observations, and success stories.

 

These can range from insights into how other customers have addressed similar challenges, or even simple comments such as, “You are not alone…!” See the section on “Empathy and Quid Pro Quo” in Doing Discovery for more guidelines on this important practice.

 

Your prospect should feel that they also took away new and useful information from the discovery conversation. Think win-win.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

How Is Doing Discovery Like the Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant?

 

Here’s that story:

 

A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: "We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable". So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, "This being is like a thick snake". For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, "is a wall". Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.

 

So how is doing discovery related to this parable? Differences in perspective and in exploring other dimensions!

 

For example, 

A salesperson’s discovery perspective tends to focus on “business” issues;

Presales tend to examine technical and environmental parameters;

Implementation people look at timelines and rollout factors;

Customer success folks view the customer in terms of renewal and expansion requirements.

 

Going back to our blind men, they only examined the elephant’s tangible physical form. This leaves numerous additional dimensions to explore, including above the elephant and below it. And that’s only (literally!) scratching the surface! What about its habits, range, emotions, and interactions with other elephants and its environment?

 

Broaden your discovery perspective!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

Ten Levels of Demo Skills: What’s Your Level of Practice?

 

Level 1:    Follows the standard demo script

Level 2:    Customizes based on the prospect’s market/industry

Level 3:    Customizes based on the discovery information uncovered

Level 4:    Communicates tangible business value

Level 5:    Applies both Vision Generation and Technical Proof demos

Level 6:    Manages and explores prospect questions

Level 7:    Uses Biased Questions to outflank competition and reengineer vision

Level 8:    Applies storytelling techniques to reinforce key ideas

Level 9:    Applies these skills to the broad range of demo scenarios required, including demos for prospects occupying different portions of the Technology Adoption Curve, presenting new products, Executive Briefing Centers, transactional sales cycles, expansion opportunities, lunch and learn sessions, tradeshows, demos for analysts and third parties, channel partners, internal demos, and other scenarios

Level 10:  Captures and reuses demo success scenarios, and integrates, aligns, and leverages the skills above into a cohesive demonstration methodology

 

Most folks are at Level 1, 2, or 3 (when honestly assessed). This leaves a lot of room for improvement!

 

Why get better at demos? Oh, hundreds of reasons, but here’s a compelling one: It is often the best demo that wins the business, not the best product!

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

SKO Swipes: Sales Leaders LOVE These!

“Now this is different…!” I thought.

 

I was sitting in the back of the room at my customer’s sales kickoff meeting and noted that their team was frequently writing down key ideas from the presentations, capturing much more than at a typical SKO. I could see several folks who had already jotted down a dozen or more ideas.

 

What was going on? Rick, their head of sales was using “Swipes.”

 

The idea is very simple and tremendously effective! At the end of the day, Rick goes around the room (or virtual room) and has each person state something that he or she took away from the sessions. That’s seemingly easy, but he adds a twist: Each idea can only be used once!

 

If someone else verbalizes your take-away, you’d better have a backup. Or two. Or many more… Now you can guess where the name “Swipes” comes from!

 

Participants know, ahead of time, that they need to recall and retell at least one idea at the end of the day that hasn’t already been presented by someone else. To be safe, each person tends to write down a list of take-aways. 

 

Additionally, I noted that participants tend to pay better attention during the sessions, since they need to listen to collect Swipes candidates.

 

Works wonderfully!

 

What a terrific way to ensure that your SKO participants remember the key take-aways! Swipes was first introduced to me during a SKO meeting at McLeod Software by Rick Halbrooks, McLeod’s then head of sales (and long-time Great Demo! senior leader).

 

Pragmatic Note: Swipes are wonderful for groups of fifty or so but could be challenging for larger teams. An elegant solution for larger groups is to do Swipes in breakout sessions or similar smaller subgroups.

The Gruesome Anatomy of a Typical One-Hour Web Overview Demonstration

A True Story

 

“What’s he doing?”

 – Whispered my colleague in my ear

 

I was a third party joining a demo presented by a partner vendor to a large pharma prospect in Basel, Switzerland. The lead prospect player was the Head of Research IT, and he had assembled his team of a dozen folks for the demo, held in one of the prospect’s large conference rooms.

 

It was billed as an overview demo and was scheduled for two hours. My organization was present as we had a significant part to play, and we had the last twenty minutes in the meeting for our segment.

 

The vendor salesperson started the meeting by introducing their team and then began a corporate overview presentation. After ten minutes of slides, the Head of Research IT stood up, walked a few paces to the wall of the room, and methodically began to bang his head against the wall…!

 

Everyone in the room gasped as they watched this taking place. My colleague whispered, “What’s he doing?”

 

I responded, “I think he’s suffered through so many of these that he’s giving our partner a clear message: ‘Stop!’”

 

I asked the head-banger, in my limited Swiss German, “Would you like them to get to the software?”

 

He answered, “Ja, bitte…!”

 

The meeting went forward reasonably smoothly from there, but we all certainly learned a lesson! And here, for your inspection and amusement, are more…

 

https://greatdemo.com/the-anatomy-of-a-typical-web-overview-demonstration/