Are you presenting a useful change or a risky scheme? A few months ago, I read an article by Seth Godin, “The Challenge of a Risky Scheme.” This got me thinking: in business when presenting what we feel is a valuable and needed option, do those we approach perceive it to be a useful change or a risky scheme?
Value is in the eyes of the beholder, and how someone values something can completely differ from how you value it.
You see a product or service that you are presenting as the obvious choice. Something that will make lives better and allow for economic growth, but that is perceiving this option through your lens and not theirs. Those who you present to may look at the option entirely differently.
They may ask themselves:
- If this fails, will I be fired?
- Do the costs associated with implementation outweigh the financial gains?
- What are the associated training costs and downtime, and how steep is the learning curve?
- Will this new option cause unwanted turnover by those unwilling to change?
- Will this make my boss look good or silly when they green-light this?
- Does this truly serve our teams and clients and enable us to achieve our goals?
Any or all of these questions, which you may never get the chance to address, could sink your proposal and slide you into the position of being seen as a risky scheme to be ignored or dismissed.
So, how do you change this?
The simple answer is not to be in love with your solution but instead with how it can benefit your clients and get them from where they are to where they desire to be.
Or, better put, be a solutions provider and not just a purveyor of goods or services. You need to understand your client’s needs, wants, and desires, as well as their fears, aspirations, and goals. You must understand corporate dynamics, buying cycles, budgets, decision-makers and corporate realities.
As Stephen Covey so aptly said, “You must seek first to understand and then to be understood.” This requires the average vendor to slow down, be willing to take the long road to success, listen and understand. You need to understand who makes decisions, when, how and why and until you have this information, it is impossible to become a trusted and worthy partner.
It is not about your success but how you can make your client or prospect succeed on their terms. This means understanding their terminology, being able to speak in analogies that they embrace, and referencing points that matter to them. Doing this requires research and conversations with multiple people in various departments throughout the organisation, listening for positive information and red flags that could scuttle the program.
It is important to comprehend that your solution may solve an issue for a specific department, but cause havoc for others. If you are unaware of this, you are out of the race before it begins.
Here is a helpful hint. Executive assistants are power brokers. They understand and know far more than the title on their business card suggests. They know all the players, the politics, budgets and priorities because their role is to keep senior people organized and informed. Making friends and asking intelligent questions that do not get them to break their confidence usually provides insights you will not get elsewhere. These people can also introduce you to the right people in various departments to find more information.
Ultimately, it is your job to be curious, dig deeper, and understand more than your competition. They may have a better solution than you do, but if your clients and prospects perceive you as someone who cares about their success and understands their goals and aspirations, your chances of succeeding improve significantly.
Editor’s footnote
Ben Baker is a Featured Columnist for the Maverick Paradox Magazine. You can read his articles by clicking on the image.
