Ideas in the Wild: Kurt Davis On How To Land Lighthouse Deals
Catapulting a startup over the chasm of early adopters and into the land of new opportunities with trillion-dollar companies requires one crucial thing: the ability to land lighthouse deals. In Navigate to the Lighthouse, Kurt Davis explains exactly how to do that, using strategic business development as a competitive advantage.
To make the process of landing lighthouse deals accessible, Kurt breaks the process down into three parts: Chart Your Course, Galvanize Your Crew and Maneuver Strategically, and Land the Deal and Expand. By sharing actionable, clear advice, Kurt makes it easy to land the lighthouses and build an enduring business. I recently caught up with Kurt to learn more about why he wrote the book and the ideas he shares with readers.
Why did you write this book?
Over the years, entrepreneurs have asked me about how to hire a business development (BD) Captain and measure their progress on deals that take a long time to close. Venture capitalists have asked me how to set up a global footprint. Chief Revenue Officers have asked how I moved deals forward and structured them so that they wouldn’t sink the ship once they landed. The VPs of Sales asked, “How do I level up my game?”
In response, I’ve written numerous blog posts about BD, negotiation, international expansion, and more. Thanks to the pandemic lockdown, I decided to go one step further and write this book to connect the dots backward (thanks, Steve Jobs). This book is about strategic BD and sales in business-to-business (B2B) technology. It’s the sought-after advice you’re asking for.
I’ve written this as a guide with three parts. Part 1 covers the basics, charting the course for your ship into stormy seas, and it consists of market analysis, strategy, and initial outreach.
Part 2 is the meat and potatoes: it galvanizes the team for setting sail and shows you how to maneuver your ship. This part touches on the supporting functions you’ll need from your entire team before going full steam ahead, including international expansion, corporate development, marketing and press, team sales, and planning.
Part 3 is the secret sauce, explaining how to land the deal (ship) and expand. To do this, you need to know the five Cs of selling: consulting, collaboration, committing, closing, and customer success. These are the blood, sweat, and tears of BD. Master these, and you’ll be well on your way.
What’s an idea you share that really excites you?
Your product’s story should be simple and persuasive. That’s because how you tell your story sets the tone for the entire relationship with your lighthouse account and the market. So, you need a story of unique value propositions and differentiators. What sets you apart? Why should the lighthouse place stock in you over your competitors? Learn this now because it’s the foundation of more to come.
Here are the steps to create a good story: build out a detailed slide deck with three use cases, transpose it into a natural dialogue, and nail down a defensible position. The one who tells the most believable story wins.
Remember, though: your pitch should never be a “hard sell.” Formulaic stories full of false praise for potential customers are going to get metaphorical doors slammed in your face. The veteran players in the business have sat through the same sales tricks thousands of times, and any particularly harsh tactics just won’t work.
Instead, tell your company’s story, and treat it like a conversation. That way, you’re not imposing but poking around for compatibility between you and your prospect.
To help you, create a presentation that balances your pitch with your customer’s business situation. Your entire pitch shouldn’t be just about your solution, advantages, and future. It should also include slides that bring up potential problems your customer faces and synergistic scenarios between the two companies.
Inevitably, you’ll start out talking the most — ideally about 75 percent. This percentage should shift to 50 percent during the meeting as you discuss your value and the other company’s situation. Formatting your slides like this will help you create a back-and-forth discussion. For example, add these questions after the slides:
- Problem slide: “What challenges are you facing?”
- Solutions: “What solutions have you considered? How are other companies’ products similar/different to ours?”
- Competition: “What’s your take on the market? Where do you see us fitting in?”
- Custom slide(s): “What did you think of our value proposition and suggested synergies?”
- Last slide: “How would you like to continue?” or “What are the next steps?”
In follow-up meetings, the presentation should shift more to solving the company’s specific needs and should focus on solutions. It’s always a good sign if the lighthouse account is doing more talking than you — keep that in mind.
How will following your advice improve your readers’ lives?
When you are staring across the chasm, looking at lighthouse deals and doubting you can reach them, follow the approach I lay out to allay your fears and chart your course. Do it and don’t look back. Like I described doing at the beginning of this book, just go for it.
By following the process I outline in the book — first, chart your course; second, galvanize your crew and maneuver strategically; and third, land and expand — you will succeed with little chance of error. That’s why I wrote the book!
Land that deal and catapult your company across the chasm into a new market with bigger players, bigger opportunities, and bigger revenues on the way to an initial public offering (IPO). I hope the book helps you do all this, or at the very least, that it serves as a compendium of useful information about BD that was worth your time and the few shekels that you spent.