Episode #274: Our Solution Provision

After having asked the buyer a lot of questions about their current situation and where they want to be, we know if we can help them or not. It isn’t a given that we can. Only we will know if we have the right solution for them. We could provide a wrong or partial solution. The client will not however get the outcomes they need. Yes, we grab the dough in the short term, but our business reputation will get slammed and our trust quotient out in the marketplace will be eclipsed. We must always keep in mind that a deal is a deal, but reputation and trust are permanent assets.

If we cannot provide the right solution, then we should tell the client we cannot help them. There is a cadence for us to follow when presenting the solution for the client’s problem. We go through five phases: we cover the facts, benefits, the application of the benefits, provide concrete evidence and then do a trial close.

1. Facts: Salespeople often never get beyond this first level, explaining the facts, data, features and the spec associated with the solution. They get bogged down in the micro detail. Now these details are important because we have to provide the buyer with confidence that what we are saying will work. These facts have to be provable and we need hard evidence to back them up. Often the buyer will pull us into the morass of the micro detail, because they are analytical personality types and love the numbers. However, we have to remember that the buyer is not buying the process. They are buying the outcome from the process.

2. Benefits: Having explained the details of how the process works and the features of our solution, we need to describe the benefits. What does this feature provide in the way of results for the buyer? What will be different and what will be better as a result of buying our solution? A certain weight, colour, dimension, process etc., are just details. They do not do anything by themselves, until they are linked to the outcomes the buyer is seeking. If the details don’t deliver what the buyer needs, then we are having the wrong discussion. The content of our description of the solution and what it will do for the client, has to line up perfectly with what they require.

3. Applications: We know that knowledge by itself isn’t as important as the application of the knowledge. So it is with applying the benefits of our solution. We need to go into detail of what the solution will mean for the buyer’s company. What things will it help eliminate, what things will it help expand, what will it improve? Again, having an inert benefit is meaningless. What happens inside the buyer’s business when that benefit is applied to their enterprise. This is where the “rubber meets the road”, as we say. What will be different after we have applied our solution? What can they see on a daily basis that will help them to do even better than before? This explanation process is absolutely critical. It works extremely well if we have fully understood their business, the market in which they operate and where they are in relation to their competitors.

4. Evidence: Just because a salesperson says so, doesn’t mean the buyer believes it. This is where we need to be able to refer to where this same solution has benefited a similar company, in a similar situation, in a similar industry. The closer we can get the example we are using to the buyer’s reality, the more convincing the example becomes. This is an important stage, as it will give the buyer more confidence that we know what we are doing, have done this before and have achieved good results. Every company is specific, so there will always be differences with the comparison company. This is where storytelling comes in, as we bring the drama of the solution to life. We tell the tale of what happened in our example, through the people involved.

5. Trial Close: Once we have gone through these stages, we test whether the client has understood what we have said. We try to flush out any hesitations or objections, so that we can deal with them. It isn’t a complex step – we just ask, “how does that sound so far?” and then shut up and wait for their answer. That question is enough to find out where we are in the Sales Cycle and whether we can ask for the order. We should never fear objections or clarifications. We should fear the opposite. If they don’t say anything, then start to worry. It may be that they don’t care, because they have already deleted our solution as a possibility. Objections, questions etc., shows interest. This allows us to add more pinpoint proof to how our solution will help them achieve their desired outcomes.

These steps are all required and required in this order to convince the client to buy. The conversation is unlikely to be this neatly ordered, however we must keep the discussion on track and address each of these points in this cadence to be successful and get the business.