Selling: Don’t run away from risk

Risk!…just hearing it can send shivers down your back. Risk is an integral part of everything we do, and our brain does a pretty good job of assessing it continually, and proposing ways to minimize the impact of an uncertainty..ie the risk..to you.

Business is no different to our personal lives. There are uncertainties everywhere, and these in turn represent an impact on you..or simply put are a risk. In the same way we will try to lower the likelihood of something bad happening, or the impact if it does, we mitigate business risk when we can. This is why we wear hi-visibility vests, and/or where a helmet when cycling on the road. The first lowers the risk of an accident with a car because the driver didnt see you, and the second lowers the impact if it does happen.

So its clear, Risk is inherently bad. Well yes and NO. In the commercial well however, one mans problem, can be another person’s opportunity. If I sell Hi-Vis vests or safety helmets, the cycling risk mitigation is a commercial opportunity.

When sales people engage with a B2B customer how often do they try to understand their customers risks?, and just as importantly, how important it is to them to mitigate the risks to an acceptable level? This translates into “how much am i ready to spend in order to mitigate this risk”..and by extension can be regarded as a compelling need.

A complex project will have multiple risks and potential ways to mitigate them. Being ready to talk about risks and demonstrate how you can offer mitigation options is a great early-stage conversation with a potential customer. It allows you to show that you on their side and looking to resolve their challenges, instead of trying to convince of the merits of your products. Risk is therefore a tremendous common ground to develop constructive relationships.

Later in the buying cycle, an offer based upon mitigating your customer’s key risks is a great demonstration of understanding and alignment.

As with so many commercial concepts there are very few useful tools to help a sales team develop a risk-based offer. This is why we are developing our own Mbrace Commercial Risk tool to plug the gap. Contact us if you interested in learning more. Watch this space!