Enterprise software solutions have many benefits. They allow groups with disparate expertise to collaborate, leverage legacy data across programs for cost-effective re-use, enable process automation and workflow traceability, extend operational visibility to executive management, and much more- there's a long list.
But the broad applicability of enterprise software is also its Achilles heel. It increases the length of the sales cycle, the scope of the implementation, and the complexity of user interaction with the product. Most importantly, this breadth raises the likelihood that the sales initiative will meet impassable resistance somewhere in the organization.
So what can you do to keep the pursuit on track for a successful sale and deployment? Communicate driving forces that will help the customer start and sustain an organizational change.
The purchase and implementation of enterprise software is, at its core, an organizational change problem. This is especially true in manufacturing companies, the largest of whom must:
- Manage lifecycles of several product lines
- Plan for long lead times of key components and production equipment
- Distribute engineering and production centers
- Administer and validate multiple, interconnected IT systems
- Store and access historical product and process data
- Track unique customer configurations
A change to this environment, software or otherwise, impacts many stakeholders over a long period of time- it is bound to create a storm of passionate debate. But the energy of that storm can be harnessed if you know how to direct it. To increase your chances of sales success, recognize and counteract the two main reasons for resistance to change by employing driving forces for change that will turn the wind in your favor and build momentum across the organization.
Reason for Resistance #1: Too Expensive to Make Change
We've all run into clients who claim: "There is nothing wrong with the way we've always done it." or "It's just too expensive to try something new." Many would-be change-agents have seen their good intentions broken on these rocks. Address these objections directly by helping the client see the status-quo in a new light.
Driving Force for Change: Recognize Cost of Not Changing
If there truly are improvements that can be made, then you've got to make the costs and pains of the present AS-IS business process better understood, acknowledged, and accepted by all stakeholders.
- Identify what is wrong with the current way of doing business. Educate the client about current impediments to their goals- how do they get in their own way? Indicate areas where they are less mature than others in the industry- where are they at a competitive disadvantage?
- Show that it's too expensive not to change. Quantify the costs of delays, mistakes, and rework- how much are they really wasting? Ask about business goals and operational targets- what additional resources will be needed to reach them?
In my experience, most vendor sales and marketing teams do not spend enough time on this. Because it requires both deep knowledge of an industry or business process as well as the commitment and resources to instruct the client, it's more difficult to execute. If you can do it well, however, you can develop a trusted advisor relationship and lock out the competition. Check out SPIN Selling for help.
Reason for Resistance #2: Too Uncertain about Future Success
Now clients will ask "How do we know this will be successful?" or "What kind of payback period and ROI can we expect?". They realize that they are incurring wasteful, non value-added costs in their business operations, but they don't know where they should go from here (or how to get there). Address these concerns by making the future more tangible.
Driving Force for Change: Understand Benefits of Making Change
The future is unfocused and unlimited; bring it down-to-earth. Make the benefits and improvements of the future TO-BE business process better appreciated, believed, and desired by all stakeholders.
- Paint a clear vision of the optimal future. Describe how the daily lives of stakeholders will improve- how will they do their work better with the new solution? Talk about how the solution will enable goals across the organization- what will people at every level and in different functional areas get from the solution?
- Help people believe the expected benefits. Employ a repeatable methodology that make the benefits real- how much benefit will they realize? Work with the client- this is crucial- to develop the metrics and measurements of what success means to them- how will they know they are realizing benefits? Provide documented cases of other companies that have solved similar problems with the technology- what proof can you offer that other industry peers have succeeded with the solution?
Most vendors do focus on "future vision" in client messaging, but they often lack a strong, quantifiable value. This leaves the sales force on their own to reproduce the business case again and again- usually in ad-hoc ways that draw on many resources. Instead, build an integrative approach to conveying software business value that arms the sales force to be part consultant .
When you build your approach around both of these driving forces for change, you help the client understand why they should change and in what direction they should go. As an enterprise sales professional, you will increase your success by developing and communicating both of these points equally well so that the customer can internalize them for the long haul.
Comments