Winning business means understanding a prospect’s goals

In particular, how they make or save money or decrease risk in their business. Our proposition (product offer) works in supporting their business operations and meeting their overall goals. Asking intelligent questions about a customer’s business displays empathy & builds credibility. Good sales technique constructs questions to draw out the real value of operational issues to a business. The questioning process should reveal how our proposition can help realise that value.

As you work through this document (and subsequent sales calls), focus on the impact of our proposition in terms of a prospect’s business goals. Specifically:

• What areas of the prospect’s business does our proposition impact?

• How does it impact these areas? What does the it look like “before” and “after”?

• What is the quantified impact, in terms of making or saving money or decreasing risk in their business?

• What information do we need to collect to calculate these quantified benefits?

As part of that process, the prospect should understand What we Sell, Why Us as a vendor/partner and Why Buy Now. An effective qualification strategy is to not only qualify prospects, but also to disqualify them. Disqualifying prospects, whilst seemingly counterintuitive, saves time and energy being spent on the wrong prospects.

This document is designed to act both as an educational piece and an on-going template for sales activities. It will serve as initially as a “question prompter”, documenting quantifiable needs and tracking deal progress for each & every prospect.

Section 1 is for generic questioning and can be used, irrespective of product.

Section 2 is designed to draw out specific functional needs, co-ordinated with the larger functional areas within the Sage CRM product.

Section 3 is designed to help you monitor the status each & every deal as it moves ahead – the “Deal Checker”

Section 4 is designed to help you monitor the status each & every deal as it moves ahead – the “Demonstration Checklist”

Feedback – improvements, additions, errors - is welcome to the author at:

1 - Understanding the Prospect’s Business
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Business background information
/ ·  What is the purpose of your business ? What do you sell, to whom & how ?
·  How is your company’s success measured ? How does this impact you & your colleagues ?
·  Who are your competitors ? How do they operate in your market ?
Your notes:
Supporting notes:
Winning business means understanding a prospect’s business – in particular, how they make or save money or decrease risk. Gathering facts about a prospect’s circumstances allows us to link our proposition with their aims. The end goal is to prove quantifiable benefit greater than the software spend.
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Existing systems implementations
/ ·  Have you had challenges in the past with this type of system? Can you describe what sort of challenges?
·  How ready are your staff for a new system? Are you introducing any process change at the same time?
·  What do you have in place at the moment ? What do you like about the system – what works well?
·  What are the key frustrations with the system people are using now? What impact is that having on the business?
Your notes:
Supporting notes:
Understanding current systems illuminates a prospect’s approach to business & information technology. These can include level of IT spend, past experience in procuring systems, typical user numbers & roles, in-house IT expertise, current systems footprint, current systems in the business and more.
Understanding the Project Requirement
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Timescales and Scope of Project
/ ·  When do you need the solution in place? What is your timetable and key steps for getting to that point?
·  Who wants it in by this time? Why? How many people will need access to the system (initially and long term)?
Your notes:
Supporting notes:
Understanding scope & time helps in assessing the real need. Where a prospect is driven by external challenges (say, a change in regulation), then the commitment to buy something is high. Similarly, a new initiative from a managing director has a large impetus whereas a IT admin person just “checking the market” may be less. Understanding who needs a system & when will help you influence the buying timetable.
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
How real is this project?
/ ·  What key business issues are you facing that have prompted this initiative?
·  What, if anything, might de-rail this project? (other system or business projects)
·  How high a priority is it? What will happen if you do nothing? Is there a compelling reason or date driving this project?
Your notes:
Supporting notes:
Understanding the business issues facing the prospect helps in assessing real need. Where a prospect has key initiative that requires a new system, the need is high. Conversely, other initiatives may delay a project if deemed a low or non-essential priority compared to others. Understand where you are in the order.
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Budget and Sign-off
/ ·  Is this a budgeted project? How much have you budgeted?
·  What is your funding approval process? How do software purchases get signed off?
·  Does it at least have board visibility? Do you need to prepare a business case internally and has this been done?
Your notes:
Supporting notes:
Similar to timescales (above), assessing the buying process helps in qualifiying a prospect. Non-budgeted projects may be delayed until another financial period or, worst case, not even part of the company’s business plan. Understanding the funding signoff ensures you identify the correct people to speak to as the deal moves forward. Should they exist, business cases can be useful in understanding the value-drivers in a company; if they do not, you can increase your credibility & deepen your engagement by offering to contribute to the thinking towards business justification.
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Competitive information
/ ·  What other systems are you considering at this stage? What do you like about their offering?
·  What concerns do you have about their solution? Who else do you plan to see?
·  Which other systems are you familiar with? What do you think about those systems?
Your notes:
Supporting notes:
Understanding competitors is not about “battling over features”. Putting down or selling to a competitors product weakens credibiilty. Understanding who else is involved will give you an indication of seriousness of search, a rough guide to spend levels and an idea of required functionality.
Understanding the People Involved
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Motivation to Buy for each Decision Maker
/ For the people involved and why:
·  What are their top 3 priorities for this system?
·  What specifically will convince them that you have chosen the right solution?
Your notes:
Supporting notes:
Companies rarely have just one buyer – understanding each buyer & what they require of a solution is essential to matching needs. Be sure you build credibility & understand their needs in the same manner in which you have worked with the main contact. Try to make direct contact with as many decision makers as possible.
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Decision Making Unit
/ ·  Who will sponsor and sign off the project?
·  Who else is involved? Project Team? Steering Committee? Defined group of end users?
·  Is there any Group or Head Office involvement? Any third parties? Consultants? What exactly is their role?
Your notes:
Supporting notes:
Similar to the Decision Makers (above), representatives from “non-core” departments can influence the decision & buying process. Be sure these people are all known, talked to & their impact understood.
2 - Understanding the Product Need - CRM
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Functionality - Sales Department
/ ·  What do you sell and what is your target market? Who are your top 5 customers? How do you grade them?
·  Describe your business model? Selling direct or through other channels?
·  How is the sales organisation structured? How are sales people targeted and incentivised?
·  What processes do you need to see improved? Why?
·  How do you report revenues and forecasts?
Your notes:
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Functionality - Marketing Department
/ ·  What is the main function of Marketing in this organisation?
·  How do you do your marketing? Mailers, Seminars, etc.? What works best?
·  How do you measure that? What could be improved? Can you easily profile and target the people you need to?
·  How do you manage lead generation and track follow-up?
Your notes:
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Functionality - Customer Service Department
/ ·  What is the main function of Customer Service - do you have a call centre?
Complaints dept? Field service engineers? Helpdesk?
·  How is the service operation structured?
·  What processes do you need to see improved? Why?
·  Is customer satisfaction and loyalty where it should be? Why?
Your notes:
Questioning Area / Question components / þ
Functionality – Integration
/ ·  Is there a need to deal with your customers or business partners via the Internet or extranet?
·  Is there a need to manage anonymous visitors to the website for trapping enquiries and information requests?
·  Describe your current technical infrastructure
·  What is your preferred platform? Desktop applications, Operating System, Database - SQL, Oracle, Microsoft, Lotus etc?
·  Do you have specific policies regarding these platforms? Describe the technical skill sets that you have here.
·  Is there a requirement to connect any existing systems (eg. finance, bespoke app) within the organisation ?
Your notes:
3 - Prospect “Opportunity Checker” Worksheet
Prospect / Project value / Close Date
Our team
Competitors Involved
Understanding the project - use these grids to update & monitor the lifecycle of the deal
Key element / R or Q / Last update: / Reason for update:
Is there a strong requirement ?
Is the prospect in a strong business position to complete the purchase ?
Is the prospect in a strong financial position to complete the purchase ?
Is there a compelling event for the prospect to complete the purchase ?
Understanding our position - use these grids to update & monitor the lifecycle of the deal
Key element / R or Q / Last update: / Reason for update:
Is there a formal decision criteria in place ?
Are we providing a good solution fit & deliver ing value to the prospect ?
Understanding the process- use these grids to update & monitor the lifecycle of the deal
Key element / R or Q / Last update: / Reason for update:
Are we in discussion with all the right people ?
Have we executive & operational support?
Are we aligned culturally & understand the informal decision process ?
Compellling Event - use these grids to update & monitor the lifecycle of the deal
Key element / R or Q / Last update: / Reason for update:
Have we identiifed & agreed the short term revenue?
Is the future term revenue understood &?
Have we understood the profitabilty of this business ?
Do we understood the degree of risk in this deal ?
Is the strategic value of this deal understood ?
Understanding the Project Need - compelling events & the need for action
Last update: / / / Reason for update:
What is driving the prospect to make a decision ? What is the payback ? What are the consequences (costs) if they do nothing ? Are there any dates that are important ? Note them down, together with action plans, below.
Your notes:
Understanding our Proposition – the business value we bring to the prospect
Last update: / / / Reason for update:
Winning business means understanding a prospect – in particular, how they make or save money or decrease risk. The aim is to prove quantifiable benefit greater than the software spend. Note down value, defining measurable business benefit that the customer has agreed to with you, below.
Your notes:
Understanding the Key Decision Makers – the issues they face & the decisions they need to make
Last update: / / / Reason for update:
Understanding each buyer & their issues is essential to matching the proposition completely. Make contact with as many decision makers as possible & document their key issues below.
Documented Issue / Involved Person(s) / Action(s), if any
Understanding the Project Timeline – the milestones in the buying process
Last update: / / / Reason for update:
Understanding the timeline needs to be assesed in terms of all the steps that need to occur along the way. Be sure to include all activiities that need to occur – evaluation, approval, purchasing, legal & implementation processes all play a part in defining the time to close.
Activity / Involved Person(s) / Date
4 - Prospect “Demonstration” Checklist