Selling: Help me succeed, not prevent me from failing.

If we want to focus on bad news, we only have to switch on the TV. So why do we insist on using the same approach in selling, especially when we are providing integrated services and have decided to put our money where our mouth is, with risk-based commercial pricing.

It makes sound business sense to look at your risks and have a plan to mitigate the ones that can seriously impact your results. At what point does this become so obsessive that we can’t even contemplate success, let alone plan for it commercially?

All too often, risk-based commercial models are so tightly bound to avoid failure that they also prevent you sharing in success. And guess what, suppliers are often actually quite good at what they do and often deliver great results. The problem is that any risk-based commercial model has a direct correlation between downside protection and sharing in the upside. You can’t have both!

Focusing on disaster is a really hard thing to sell. “Take our services and you won’t fail as badly as you would without us. And if you do, we will share the pain”. I don’t know about you, but this is not an easy message to pass to a customer, and certainly not one likely to fill them with confidence about your competence. However, inadvertently this is the very message we send when we are fixated with protecting our downside.

Focusing on the upside and helping a customer not only meet their targets but exceed them, is a much easier concept to promote. Asking to share in the success that you have been instrumental in making happen, is an equally easy concept to agree to.

So be sensible and identify potential train wrecks, but don’t build this failure into your commercial model. If you really want to succeed, aim to share in the upside value you can help generate. You’ll find customers are much more willing to share in this than protecting them from failure!

Also posted on TOGConseil.com