Being entrepreneurial — The 10 secrets of selling disruptive technology to the enterprise

This post is about slaying giants, the secrets of selling new disruptive entrepreneurial products, solutions and services to the enterprise. Salesforce.com went up against the greatest leviathans of the business 2 business enterprise software world. It is a brave company that takes on the likes of Siebel and SAP, but they did, and are winning.

This is not about Salesforce.com, although there are a number of parallels. This is my view on competing with the biggest business brands in the world and winning. Or, if you are a big brand, how to enable innovation internally and sell that innovation externally.

Please note that when I refer to solutions I also mean products or services.

1. Know your competition — Big brands are order takers, their salespeople walk into a meeting with the giant protective blanket of their company’s brand behind them. The discussion is really based around how many the prospect wants and how much they want to pay. This mentality makes them vulnerable.
2. Know your buyer — Buying an innovative solution is about taking a risk, and many buyers just won’t take a risk. Many buyers are motivated by self-protection, otherwise known as “desk defending”. You can spot them a mile off, they are usually cautious (even sceptical) with a Dickensian attitude, they may have been with the same company for 10 years (or more) and have always used the same suppliers. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BUY FROM YOU.
3. Avoid window dressers — Many decision makers include a new technology in their evaluation process to show how forward thinking and innovative they are. This is window dressing, they are never going to innovate but conversely “cover” themselves by saying: “I am insightful enough to look at new technology, but it’s just not there yet — maybe next time.”
4. Understand the motivation of your ideal customer — There are individuals and companies that want to innovate. They understand and embody the idea that there are huge benefits in finding a better way to do something, and they are prepared to evaluate and manage the risk. The decision makers in these companies will have form in this respect, explore when, where, why and how they have innovated before.
5. Challenge the Status Quo — Innovation is risk, but if we don’t risk we will never move on. CALL IT OUT. If you are asked to respond to a tender, submit a proposal or have a meeting, ask why have you been asked? Why wouldn’t the buyer just do what they have always done and buy the brand? How often have innovative proposals been there until the end and lost at the 11th hour? The fact is you were never going to win, you were the token “innovation”. Ask the decision maker on day one, why are they prepared to take the risk? Why are they considering your solution? What is the true differentiator they see in your innovation? What risks do they perceive? If they can’t answer, walk away.
6. It’s all about you — If your solution and/or company does not have a brand then you are the brand. Brand is often about trust, certainty, predictability, safety. If your solution doesn’t have that yet then you have to embody those values. Be hyper-responsive and remember sales is not about telling and talking, it’s about asking and listening. Asking considered, insightful and relevant questions can quickly create a huge amount of trust and understanding.
7. Change the playing field — If you are selling an innovative solution then you should sell it in an innovative way. Too often we fall into the trap of selling the same way as the “bricks and mortar” traditional big brand competitors have sold. STOP IT, they are better at it than you, if you present and sell your solution in the same way that they do you will lose, CHANGE IT.
8. Commit to the enterprise — If you are going to go after the enterprise, then GO AFTER THE ENTERPRISE. Don’t do consumer, don’t do prosumer, focus, focus, focus. Put the enterprise at the core of everything you do, build it into your organisation’s DNA.
9. Consider the channel & alliances — Use other more established, trusted brands to sell your brand. Channel partners and strategic alliances have existing customers who trust them. The right channel partner will also have an understanding of the market and, as such, have a feel for how your solution addresses inefficiencies or solves problems for their customers.
10. Share the risk — The ultimate goal of the whole sales process is to prove that the utility and benefit of taking your company’s solution far outweighs the perceived risk. Once the decision maker has crossed over and decided that the benefit outweighs the risk then the sale will happen, and what’s more, the quality and value of the deal is directly related to how much risk you are prepared to share.

In summary selling innovation to enterprises is about selling risk vs reward and when we innovate we must innovate in all things. Selling an innovative product in a traditional way is doomed to failure. Creating an innovative proposition and selling it in an innovative way just changes the playing field and, done well, allows you to be the leader in a field you just invented, and in so doing slay giants.