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To simplify for a
moment, the client has
to go through three
critical stages:
expressing the desire to
change the situation,
expressing the desire to
solve the problem, and
expressing the desire to
implement the solution
you are offering. It is
little use addressing
the last of these, if
you have not addressed
the first. If the client
does not want anything
to change, talking up
the problem will not
work either.
To demonstrate the
case for a solution, you
need to negotiate the
space and time to
explore the real needs
of the business with the
client: to do the work
that the blue chips had
usually done before they
decided to talk to you.
To justify giving you
this space and time,
your client has to
desire a change in their
situation before either
of you know exactly what
you are going to
propose. In these
circumstances, it’s too
early to sell the
sausage because you have
not decided what is
going to go into it. You
are motivating the
client to ‘find out’ if
a solution is possible.
You can only sell the
prospect of a sizzle.
Let’s imagine your
proposition is that the
client’s business is
unlikely to grow because
it has reached the
limits of its current
controls. Problems can
no longer be solved by
recruiting more people,
only by improving the | |
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| | quality and timeliness
of management
information. That is a
highly abstract concept,
particularly when times
are hard and every
single item of
expenditure is called
into question.
You can’t rely on
making a technical case
for your solution. To
the client, that is
often just noise. As an
alternative, you might
think it a good idea to
talk about the outcomes
that you have achieved
with other clients.
That’s a good way to
establish your
credibility but the
client might take refuge
in ‘but our business is
different’, especially
if your reference sites
tend to be organisations
which seem to be an
order of magnitude
bigger.
Focus on the sizzle.
In essence, you are
offering improved
control and the sense of
power and mastery that
goes with it. Such
things resonate with the
managing directors of
medium-sized companies.
But you don’t just want
to talk about it; you
want your client to feel
it. So you need to draw
out of their experience
the memory of having
more control with less
effort and the sense of
ease that comes with it.
The benefits to the
client are not something
you carry in with you in
your briefcase, or
embedded in a
presentation on your
laptop; they are in the
client’s head already.
You are not going to
create desire; you are
going to release and | |
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| | channel it.
It is not for nothing
that many popular
software packages use
the analogy of the
dashboard when they
describe the screen
display that forms the
heart of their human
interface. It taps into
a common experience for
most economically
successful people –
driving a car.
Suppose you asked the
client to think about
the first car they
drove, and to compare it
with the experience of
driving their current
vehicle. What would they
say? Chances are that
they would talk about
ease of handling, things
happening at the touch
of a button, a sense of
comfort and relaxation
in trying circumstances.
Isn’t that what a
good management
information system is
going to deliver to the
managing director of a
medium-sized enterprise?
Doesn’t it encourage
visions of getting to
your destination faster
with less hassle and
improved safety?
Remember, the benefit
is already in the
client’s head. Cut out
the jargon. If the
client wants to know
about your solutions,
the details are on your
website. You have the
reference sites to hand
to lend authority to
your assertion that
solutions exist. But the
feeling you are
promising the client is
already in his or her
mind. That’s the sizzle.
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