"I was told there'd be no math." ~ Ethan Hawke as Troy, "Reality Bites."
Like it or not, there's math. And if you want to make the sale, you're going to have to dust off the calculator.
When I work with teams of sellers in sales strategy workshops, I introduce them to a tactical tool called The Teaching Challenge. Inspired by the great conceptual work of Dixon and Adamson in The Challenger Sale, it's really just a very clear statement - preferably written and shared early in the sales call - that answers the question "So why are we here today?" The answer should challenge the customer's assumptions and summon up and re-frame an urgent business problem. This then creates a meaningful path to your solution.
I've come to discover that the best Teaching Challenges almost always revolve around numbers. When reps take the time to do the math - even if the math is questioned by the customer - it almost always creates the urgency and focus that wouldn't otherwise exist.
But very few sellers do the math. Instead, they throw out meaningless generalities like "we'll help you reach more millennial moms" or "we can help make your media plan more efficient." How many more millennial moms? In what period of time? What's their economic value to my brand? How much more efficient will you help me become? How much money will I save this quarter? If I'm the customer, I may not necessarily expect you to have all the answers. But I at least want to know you asked the right questions.
But isn't impossible to find these answers? If your standard is immutable truth, then perhaps. But that's not where the bar should be set. Each of us can approach our customer with a working hypothesis about the scope and cost of her unsolved problem or unrealized opportunity.
Old, traditional approach: "Young urban men are really important to your brand, and we'll help you reach a lot more of them."
After doing the math: "We're estimating that there will be 2.5 million urban, millennial men actively searching online for a product like yours in the next 6 weeks. Every 5% of that active market you win means $3 million in sales. You've got a window of opportunity to get to these customers with a proactive strategy before your competitor, brand X, does. We have the core capabilities to help you with that strategy. Can I tell you how?"
Many reps avoid specifics because they worry too much about the downside of being wrong. But it's better to be specific and wrong than it is to be accurate and meaningless. Your hypothesis need only be credible, and you need only to be able to show your work.
So take a shot. Do the math. Bring your customer to the whiteboard to work on the problem with you and you're halfway home.
