If you’ve been following this series of articles, I hope you’ve noticed a theme by now. One way or another, each article has centered on the idea that what you’re selling – even the hottest technology and the sharpest services – matters much less than your customers’ and prospects’ business problems. Those business problems should drive every single discussion you have.
We’ve also talked about a number of tools, techniques, philosophies and mindsets that will help you figure out what your customers’ most pressing business problems are so that you can design the best solution.
But the truth is, it really isn’t all that hard. While a fishbone diagram and a prioritization method and thinking like a consultant are all critical to truly adding value in the continually evolving world of information technology, there are really only three business problems.
That’s right. Three.
No matter what your customers and prospects tell you, odds are that they’re trying to do one or more of three things: improve quality, increase speed and decrease cost.
In other words, they all want to do business better, faster and cheaper. Don’t we all?
And yet, we all want to complicate the conversation. We want to talk about data transfer rates and protocols, megabits and gigabytes. We want to pepper the conversation with six-digit numbers and three-letter acronyms.
Don’t misunderstand me. If you’re not on your game to explain the latest cutting-edge technology, you’ll be the first one eliminated from the dance-a-thon. But if you can’t tell a prospect how that technology is going to help them do things better, faster and/or cheaper, you won’t even get into the dance.
The in-depth, jargon-laden speeds-and-feeds conversations that so many of us techies relish rarely close a sale. In fact, we’re more likely to lose a sale by overwhelming the customer with information that is not only esoteric, but also frequently irrelevant. Our job – your job – is to translate those tech specs into a compelling story about reducing defects, speeding things up and fattening the bottom line. It’s to turn a jumble of product features into tools that run better, faster and cheaper businesses.
Fortunately, you’re not alone in this challenging mission. If you’re reading this, you probably already know that Avnet has a wealth of information, resources and collateral to support that translation process. If you’re blinded by the flashing lights and deafened by the bells and whistles of the latest gear, and can’t boil it down to a simple better/faster/cheaper conversation, pick up the phone and get help. If you don’t, you could be dancing alone.
Eryc Eyl / Freelance Writer and Business Consultant
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