Let the prospect tell you in her own words. After all, you aren’t competing against your competition as much as you are against your prospect’s perception of your competition. Identifying current or prior allegiances or loyalties now can save you a load of heartache down the road. Refer to the later section on “Analyzing your competition” for more information.
✔ What is their buying history? Past behavior is the best indication of future behavior, so discovering how your prospect has made similar purchases in the past and what her experience was with them is certainly valuable. Were there any noncommitment or payment issues? Take these factors into consideration as you evaluate the opportunity and if you win the deal.
Who, what, where, and when are basic questions that every vendor will ask, but some finer points you can use to your advantage include the following:
✔ Who can you contact? Like most vendors, you want to find out who will be attending the presentation and what role each individual plays in the organization. Take it a step further and ask for each person’s contact information as well. Your real competitive advantage will come from reaching out to additional influencers and problem owners within the prospect’s organization prior to the presentation to gain insight and build rapport. Check out the section Speaking to decision makers and key influencers” later in this chapter.
✔ What is the format? Is this a high-level overview or a deep dive? Does your prospect expect you to follow a script or a particular agenda? How much time do you have? Although often the time is allotted to you as something like “90 minutes next Tuesday,” you may be surprised to find that you can get additional time if you ask for it. Take a more assertive role in the planning stage and ask first what your prospect’s expectations are and develop an agenda around it so you can recommend the time needed to address all concerns.
✔ Where and when will it take place? In addition to the basic information on location and timing that every vendor will receive, find out ahead of time how the room is laid out, if you can get in early to set up, and if other companies are presenting, what the order is.
If you have to do a presentation without much time to plan – you’re responding to a web lead or referral, or simply a prospect who has an urgent need that can’t wait – you can still use this chapter’s information to quickly get what you need to adapt your presentation on the fly. For example, assume that you’re a real estate agent and you receive a phone call from a homeowner who wants to list her house. She is interviewing two agents that evening and only has a few moments to talk on the phone. Here’s what you would quickly find out in your conversation using the preceding eight points:
Challenge/opportunity: The homeowner and her husband want to sell their condo.
Trigger event: The husband works at home and now the wife’s office is closing so she’ll be working at home as well.
Status quo: They live in a two-bedroom condo, with one room designated the husband’s office. It’s been recently updated and has great views of the city.
Impact: If they don’t sell, the wife will be working out of the living room, they’ll be cramped, and frustrations will grow.
Goals: She would like to get $400,000 for the condo. She recognizes this is above-market price, but they’ve added $50,000 in upgrades.
Decision makers: The wife is the problem owner, problem solver, and co-decision maker with her husband.
Urgency: Her office is shutting down in two months so she would like to be in new place by then so she can set up her office.
Competition: She is also meeting with her co-worker’s cousin who just got his real estate license.
Logistics: Presentation scheduled for 7 p.m. today. You received the address and information necessary to research the property online and prepare a competitive market analysis. The homeowner also agreed to allow you to present first and come 30 minutes early to tour the property.
Now you have enough to adapt your listing presentation to meet your prospect’s needs and gain a competitive advantage. Based on what you uncovered, you know to focus your presentation on the benefits of going with an agent who has a proven track record and the pain of delay that improper pricing and marketing can result in.
Getting the Information You Need
Gathering information is similar to the way you process leads in your sales funnel. Just like every lead doesn’t result in a client, every piece of information you uncover doesn’t necessarily end up in your presentation. Figure 2-1 shows you how a presentation funnel works. You fill your funnel with the information you gather in this section. After you have the information, you use it to develop your value proposition, which you can read about in Chapter 3, and help you build a persuasive case, as I cover in Chapter 4.
Illustration by 24Slides
Figure 2-1: A presentation funnel: how the information you gather helps you construct your presentation.
Fortunately, information is easier to come by than ever before. That also means your competitors can easily access it as well so dig a little deeper to stay in the lead. Here are some places to search and what to look for:
All sorts of information about your prospect and her organization is available to you on a company’s website. The company history, key executives, products or services, and marketing messaging are some of the things you want to check out, but also look for the following:
✔ Company goals and strategic initiatives: Most companies have a vision or a corporate objective that it has set for the coming year. For example, “We want to increase market share by 10 percent this year.”
✔ Community involvement: Look for pet projects or sponsorships. Perhaps the company sponsors a local sports team or runs an annual food drive for the homeless.
✔ White papers or case studies. Often organizations produce publications that address issues within their industry or show how they have helped solve problems for their customers. These can provide valuable insight into topical issues and industry trends.
A company’s website isn’t a full picture of your prospect. Finding out what others are saying about your prospect is equally important. Here are some places to look:
✔ Reports by industry analysts: Identify the trends or developments in your prospect’s industry that affect how she views the problem. Most industries have recognized thought-leaders that provide research and whitepapers, for example, Gartner.com and Techrepublic.com for technology, and Jdpower.com for many other products and brands.
✔ Business data sites. Several companies provide competitive information and statistics. Hoovers.com and Data.com provide you access and reports for a fee, while Owler.com is a free crowd-sourced company sharing site for competitive information.