Motive – A Compelling need

Customers don’t buy unless they have a need. You can either create it for them or they may perceive one on their own. The issue is whether this need is compelling enough to justify spending money and resources. Marketers can help sales teams by:

• Lead generation campaigns that emphasize smaller, more focused customer events such as “lunch & learn” seminars where only a dozen or so prospects are invited to hear an expert talk about best practices. Such events tend to help prospects crystallize their needs far better than trade shows, whitepapers, and webinars.
• Arm sales reps with qualifying questions such as: what is the business imperative (must-have versus nice-to-have) for this project/purchase? Why buy now? Why not wait? Who cares about the successful deployment of this solution? How would you quantify the benefits?
• Excellent value proposition. Take time and even hire messaging/positioning experts to hone your product value proposition. Taking the form of an elevator pitch, this tool can even help the prospect sell the project internally.

Means -- Money and resources

Besides motive, customers will obviously have to be willing to spend money and apply resources to deploy the solution. Help your sales team help the customer’s project sponsor line up the necessary bucks and headcount.

• Killer ROI – using the customer’s own data, help them see how your solution can help them make money and save money. But beyond typical ROI analyses, explore creative ways to help the customer match revenue gains with expected cash flows, capital outlays, and expenses.
• Budget pools – sometimes a $250K deal can be put together by getting funds from 3 different organizations. Yes it presents a more challenging sales cycle but the deployment may involve multiple departments anyway and you might as well get their buy-in and skin in the game upfront. Help reps by mapping out the org chart and focusing them on the budget line items they should pursue.
• Resources—technology customers, especially, the middle management, will appreciate your proactively showing them how much, if any, resource it will take them to reap the full benefits of the solution. If you have a services team, show how your organization can reduce or shoulder the customer’s burden.

Belief – Trust that the solution will work

So you have a prospect that has a burning need and money to burn. That doesn’t mean you’ll get the business. Now you show them that your solution is the right one for them. Marketers can shape beliefs by:

• Customer references – nothing builds credibility and reassures better than a satisfied customer. Deliver strong references that will accept phone calls from prospects.
• Product reviews – independent auditors, magazines, and industry organizations can play a key role in validating the performance/value of your product. We had one client that generated 10 qualified leads/day as a result of one glowing product review.
• Proof-of-concepts – do them only if product usage really helps speed the sale. Too often sales teams waste time feeding customers’ RFP and evaluation processes rather than picking the right games to play and win. Give your reps the recommended success criteria for a proof-of-concept and when to best use this tool and when to run.

In conclusion, a technology sale usually occurs when there’s an intersection of motive, means, and belief. Marketing can assist sales reps very directly by delivering tools, programs, and expertise for each of these three success factors.