- Simplicity is a combination of both brevity and brilliance.
- The 4-Sentence Soundbite
- Because of [1] a large, unaddressed change in the customer’s world
- Now’s the time to [2] respond with a specific approach you uniquely enable, by a certain date
- If we do, [3] we’ll create good outcomes that align with our priority.
- If we don’t, [4] bad outcomes will continue, and get worse.
- Value = good outcomes (-) bad outcomes
- A priority is something specific an executive is already sold on and actively investing in. Almost always as a result of answering one question: “What’s changing?” in the customer’s operating environment, business model, and company.
- Here’s the single best signal I’ve found: Codenames. When internal projects become named initiatives, they get their own shorthand phrases.
- Big Deals Grow on (Driver) Trees: Before you speak to a specific set of features, confirm everyone’s first aligned on the higher-order questions of: What’s the right driver to focus on? What must be true about how we impact that driver?
- [Use] bullet points, not PowerPoints [when communicating with C-level executives]
- Why is investing in this category an urgent need? How will it impact one of our existing initiatives? Do I know someone who did this successfully?
- Soundbites don’t describe reality. They create it.
- The reality is scoping larger deals often increases your win rate. Because executives know underinvesting in what’s important creates more risk.
- That’s why you can lose to someone with a scope that’s 10 times the size of yours. They’re selling to a priority, while you’re just selling to a problem.
- What you do in the first stages of a deal will completely change its trajectory. So if you haven’t designed your sales process to continually reveal the right next question, you’ll get eaten by a shark.
- Hard work is everything AI can’t do, by definition.
- The 1-Page Business Case
- [Priority-driven, exec-level headline here.]
Developed by:[Champion Name], [Key Deal Players] - Headline:
[Because of this change], we should [follow a recommended approach] by [timeline]. After, we’ll avoid [negative outcomes] while unlocking [positive outcomes]. - The Problem Statement:
What changed in their business or market, which led to an emerging high-cost, high-priority problem? Is it getting worse? Who’s impacted?- Example: Despite trying [failed solution], our team still can’t [achieve desired outcome] because [problem]. Which means [cost of problem].
- Recommended Approach:
Frame the path to solve the problem and unlock the executive priority.- What must be true about the solution’s design?
- How does that criteria align with your own differentiators, that only you can deliver?
- Target Outcomes:
- Required Investment:
Who needs to invest what, by when? List all time and people resources needed, based on each outcome scenario.
- [Priority-driven, exec-level headline here.]
- 60-Second Deal Review Framework
- [Account Name] Deal Review Score:_____________ Close Date:_____________ Contract Value:_____________
- Headlines:
- [Company] is experiencing [significant change in their business / market], which means [negative outcomes].
- [Executive] tasked [high-influence champion] with driving [a named project / strategic initiative] in response, with a target rollout date no later than [critical event].
- Compared to [alternatives, deal threats], [Executive] confirmed [direct quote about our unique / competitive differentiator] will enable [direct quote about positive outcomes].
- Buying Behavior & Deal Evidence
- [X] Written problem statement built with the buying team’s data?
- [X] Direct edits, either confirming or correcting our message?
- [X] At least 3 roles confirming our impact to an exec-level metric?
- [X] Buying exec funds a named project or initiative to do something?
- [X] A specific go-live date that, if missed, means a worse outcome?
- [X] Stopped exploring alternatives, based on a specific differentiator?
- [X] A “backdated” set of milestones running ahead or behind of plan?
- Resources
- [Link to full business case].[Link to full business case scorecard].
- [Link to account plan / action plan].
- When an executive is surprised they’re not paying you yet, a contract is soon to follow. No stalling on the decision, no back-and-forth on scope, no friction with procurement.
- The Future State Press Release
- To build a groundswell behind our deal, we started looping in their marketing team. Getting them excited about the storyline they’d be able to tell,I ghost-wrote a draft with quotes from their CEO and ours,Top sellers start with the customer’s priority and work backward, designing a path to get them there.
- Here’s the framework:
ANNOUNCING [NEW INITIATIVE], TO ENABLE [CUSTOMER SEGMENT] TO [ACTION VERB + OUTCOME].- Subtitle: [Add a compelling line on the outcome enabled.]
- [City, State] – [Go-Live Date] – Overview: [Now, the customer is able to … write 3-4 sentences that expand on the outcome in the headline, with a summary of what’s being launched. Keep the reader reading.]
- Customer Problems: [Lay out the top 3 problems your project / product launch will solve. Talk about how life before you wasn’t going as planned, it had consequences, and was getting worse.]Solution: [Describe how your product / service solves the problem in a way that’s unique and differentiated. Detail how it works, then align it to the problems shared above.]
- Solution: [Describe how your product / service solves the problem in a way that’s unique and differentiated. Detail how it works, then align it to the problems shared above.]
- Executive Quotes: [Create a quote in the tone / language of the prospect’s executive, and ask your own executive to make up a quote that’s all about why your two companies are partnering.]
- Customer’s Job-to-be-Done: [Detail how a customer can get started and how their jobs will be far easier afterward.]
- Customer Quote: [Create a quote by a customer or colleague that describes life before and after the product / project you’re launching together.] To learn more, go to [link to your 1-Page Business Case, or more info on your product / service.]
- What negative emotion is killing your deal momentum? What’s the opposite, positive emotion? And, what message will create that for your buyers?
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