Most people already know they need to sell on outcomes, but hardly anyone does it.
Why?
Because it’s hard!
You have to nail the discovery. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my sales career it’s that all deals are won or lost in the discovery.
So here’s a little trick that’s helped me avoid “Closed_Lost”.
Objective Hierarchy
Not all goals are made equal. Let’s take
Spendesk as an example. We sell corporate cards and expense management software.
Many finance people come to us because they have trouble chasing down their employee’s receipts at month-end.
Tactical goal: Capture over 90% of receipts on time
Chasing down receipts is a surface level problem. What’s important is what this prevents them from being able to achieve. At the team level, missing receipts means finance teams are unable to close the books in a timely fashion.
Team strategic goal: Close month-end in under 5 days
Closing the books quicker isn’t that important either though. What’s really important is WHY they need to close the books in such a short period of time. This is the strategic level objective.
Company strategic goal: Mitigate risk of regulatory fines
Many companies get audited. If regulators audit your company and find a bunch of transactions without receipts they may fine you.
Average salespeople, who sell on features, would highlight how much quicker or accurate their receipt capture functionality was compared to the competition.
Whereas A* Player salespeople would identify the strategic goal is to avoid regulatory fines and therefore craft a demonstration around this theme. Features act as sufficient proof that you can achieve the desired outcome, but it’s the outcome that matters, not the feature.