Have you ever purchased shoes or clothes that didn’t fit? Most likely they saw more closet time than their colleagues! Poor product or solution fit is a direct result of inadequate discovery (or worse, vendors who ignore what was learned in discovery and still push for the sale!).
Why does it happen? The more complex a prospect’s situation, the more likely it is that confusion takes place about vendor offerings. And the more vendors that a prospect explores, the more confused they can become: “Which vendor had the biframulator function? I can’t remember…!” This is aggravated by inaccurate or (ahem) devious answers to prospect questions and demos that make products look much better than reality.
What happens after the sale? If the fit is poor, the result will be a failed implementation or inability to achieve the desired objectives and ROI. This turns the customer into a Burn Victim, who won’t renew and will never buy from that vendor again!
While compensation drives performance, those of us who are solely compensated for “new name” sales still risk the impact of poor product fit. Each customer who churns because of inadequate fit is a negative reference and people who have suffered bad experiences tend to be vocal about them!
Hospital Analogy: Your insurance, which costs a bundle, didn’t cover your surgery, medications, or post-op care. The insurance company said, “’Life’ is a pre-existing condition, and we don’t cover that!”
Solution? Do detailed discovery, especially with respect to the Specific Capabilities your prospects need and the associated value. Analyze and apply a numeric scale for product fit measurements and back away from any opportunity where fit is below a rational threshold.
This is #12 from The Dirty Dozen of Discovery Don’ts – you can find all twelve here! https://lnkd.in/evUnp8YV
You can find the full set of DO’s and DON’Ts in Doing Discovery:
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