I Thought I Didn't Have to Sell

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From the Field
Fields Of Success Newsletter

May 13, 2009
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Dear From the Field Subscribers,

This is the third edition in a series of three (3) newsletters focused on the seven (7) component technique for obtaining approval of your proposals, ideas and concepts. The seven 7 components are Subject, Need, Idea, Benefits, Evidence, Conclusion and Action. The first edition provided an overview of the components, while the second edition addressed Subject, Need and Idea. This edition addresses Benefits, Evidence, Conclusion and Action.

Benefits: WIIFM Factor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WIIFM is the acronym for What's In It For Me. Acting in one's self-interest is human nature. Acceptance without a sense of self-interest (looking out for #1) dissipates beyond the individual and possibly family and very close friends. We can crack the WIIFM shell by linking the benefits of our proposals, ideas and concepts to the interests of the individuals we target for approval. Key questions that we should ask as we develop our benefits message could include:

How will my proposal, idea or concept help the target advance his/her agenda, enable him/her to accomplish their objectives or get them promoted?
What will approval of the proposal provide to the organization?
How does approval fit into the execution of organizational strategies and goals?
When will the realization of benefits start?
How long will the implementation take?

You should communicate benefits in company/organizational measures of success (metrics) such as return on investment, increased profits, reduced costs, payback, and market share and customer satisfaction.

Evidence: Satisfying the Doubting Thomases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doubting is natural. Doubt can evolve from a number of factors including:

Unpleasant experiences or failures, especially with similar ideas or efforts in a particular area or department in the past. (We have tried this before and it did not work.)

Lack of comfort with a new idea, concept, technology, process or methodology due to a lack of knowledge and experience. (Organizations express that they want innovation. However, innovative ideas are often inhibited by the human tendency to cling to the familiar.)

Lack of control of the results or outcomes.

Lawyers deal with Doubting Thomases every day. Their doubters are judges and juries. Lawyers deal with doubt by presenting their cases through the use of evidence. This includes peppering with or relating their case (proposal) to facts and known givens (things that people all agree are true). There are 2 approaches to influencing others to agree with you, Inductive and Deductive Reasoning. Through Inductive Reasoning, we present information in hope that the listener will reach the same conclusion that we have reached. Deductive Reasoning presents facts or information upon which there is agreement (things known) and leads the listener to our conclusion. Following is a simple example of Deductive Reasoning. The conclusion that we want the listener to reach is that Andre is European.

Andre is a native of France.
France is a part of Europe.
Therefore, Andre is European.

Deductive Reasoning is a much easier approach to agreement than Inductive Reasoning. As you present your evidence, think of things or facts upon which there is no doubt to build the case for agreement, your therefore statement.

Risk can also create doubt. People tend to be risk averse, some more than others. If you are seeking approval from individuals who are known to be on the high side of risk aversion, you will have to present information that reduces the person's risk anxiety. Suggestions for reducing risk anxiety could include references to:

Similar proposals or ideas that were implemented with successful results.
Analogy between your proposal and another successful idea or concept. (An example is the Fred Smith Federal Express story. No company was providing express mail or package services, but people wanted to get information or packages to others within 24 hours. Fred Smith's professor at Yale University told him that his express mail idea would never work. Of course, history proved the professor to be wrong. People will accept things that scratch their itch!)
Statistics (For example, 50% of the companies in our industry have successfully implemented this concept.)
Expert opinions. (John Allen, a well known expert, predicts that this concept will be the industry standard in 3 years.)
Monitoring and reporting. (Project team will provide weekly implementation progress reports.)

Conclusion: What It All Means ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Never leave your audience hanging or assume that they have put everything together that you presented or proposed. Tell your audience in concise statements that answer what (idea), why (benefits and evidence) and how. Make these statements your knockout punch that creates that we have to do this feeling. For example:

The proposed customer self-service claims processing system will reduce costs by $500,000 per year by increasing customer satisfaction and customer claims settlement cycle time by 25%.

This system has been implemented by our leading competitors and will be the industry standard in 3 years.

The implementation risks are minimal given our use of XYZ company, proven experts, as our implementation partners.

Action

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Have you ever reached the point in a meeting when there is silence, the sense that the attendees are wondering, what's next?" That occurs because the meeting leader does not drive the meeting to the end point, achieving the desired result of the meeting or closing the deal. First, ask the approvers to approve the proposal and make sure that you have the document that they need to sign ready for their signature. And, have a pen ready for use.

Remember the difference between approvers and reviewers. Follow the culture of your organization, the characteristics of the approver or the standard approval process. The culture or protocol in some organizations calls for the approver to let the reviewers sign first and then the approver signs, while the reverse is true in other organizations. Some leaders will sign before the reviewers to send the message of his/her endorsement and strong support for the proposal.

Unless there are unusual circumstances, get approval at the meeting. Do not wait until after the meeting. One of the most frequent occurrences is running out of time in the meeting. Schedule sufficient time for your meeting to ensure that adequate time is provided for the 7 components. If time is limited, consider reviewing components prior to the meeting with key influencers or persons that you know will be challenges during the meeting.

Summary

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The 7 components should be conducted in sequence: Subject, Need, Idea, Benefits, Evidence, Conclusion and Action. Each component builds the foundation for the succeeding component. You will know that you are doing well if the completion of each component builds a sense of momentum for the next component. But, always start with establishing the conclusion upon which you want to agree with your target and the resulting action. Then plan the meeting forward starting with the Subject.

I close with an observation from the Barack Obama presidential campaign. An interviewer was questioning the way Obama was conducting his campaign. Barack calmly informed the interviewer that he had established his end point and that his campaign activities and tactics were designed to create a crescendo or groundswell that would generate the end result. The result of the campaign speaks to the importance of building momentum.

Substance should follow form.

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Linwood Bailey