A recent Great Demo! Workshop
graduate asked, “How can we find relevant Critical Business Issues [CBI’s] for
prospects that have job titles that are unfamiliar to us?”
Excellent question!
This can happen frequently, particularly when moving into new markets, new
verticals, or when launching new products.
Try searching online for a
job description for that specific job title and industry – what you find often
provides wonderful information on that job title’s likely top level challenges
(and therefore likely CBI’s) as well as descriptions of the role and
responsibilities (good material for “Problems/Reasons” as well).
For example, you’ve been
asked to present to a “Manager, Financial Analyst” in a large banking
organization. A quick search using “manager financial analyst banking job
description” yields several excellent overviews, including:
“Responsible for financial planning and modeling. Manages the financial
analysis projects and statistical studies. Provides key financial analysis and
management reporting by managing various monthly reporting processes. Provides
guidance on investment and project decisions.“
And
“Financial analysis managers are responsible for managing
financial analysis activities for their organization, collecting information
related to financial performance and consolidating it into complex company
reports. They are in charge of actively contribute to organizational financial
decisions based on their expertise and manage a group of financial analysts to
reach all company goals in a timely manner. Financial analysis managers
interpret raw financial data to recommend changes to business processes, participate
in business meetings to present their progress to the financial analysis
director or supervisor in their department, and use a personal computer with
specialized software to make calculations and run analysis. They also build
financial models to analyze possible business changes.
Financial
Analysis Manager Tasks
- Oversee and contribute to
monthly, quarterly and annual budget preparation and evaluation.
- Supervise and communicate
ad-hoc analyses for special projects and executive requests.
- Review forecasts from other
departments and create bridge plans.
- Create and present financial
plans and overviews.
- Direct forecasting and
goal-setting efforts for financial plans.”
Based on these examples, one good CBI starting point might be
“delivering reports, plans and overviews for specific projects and regular
operations”.
It’s all out there on the web, apparently…!
