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The Innovative Sale Using Innovation to Develop Better Customer Solutions

www.SalesGlobe.com770 337 9897

March 2014

© 2014 SalesGlobe

Mark Donnolo•Managing Partner‐ SalesGlobe• 20+ Years Sales and Marketing Effectiveness

• Closet “Art School MBA”• Author of: The Innovative Sale and What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation

A Bit About Us

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Overview

• The Sales Innovation Dilemma

• A Growth Context

• Thinking Creatively About Strategy and Solutions‐Defining the Problem‐Finding Parallels‐Horizontal and Vertical Thinking‐Your Team

• Some Principles and Actions

Innovative SaleImperative

Walk Away from the Problem. Leverage the assimilation powers of the mind. Pose a question and let it percolate in the background.

Where were you when you thought of your last great idea?

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Why?Why do we develop programs and solutions that:

•Repeat the same old practices?

•Lack new ideas?

•Leave us vulnerable to the competition?

Some typical questions:

“What’s the accepted practice for … ?”

“How do our competitors… ?”

Q:

The Sales Innovation Dilemma

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High performing organizations plan, operate, and manage around four major competency areas and related disciplines. Programs must align between “upstream” and “downstream” disciplines.

The Revenue RoadmapInsight

Voice of the Customer

Macro Market

EnvironmentCompetitor Performance

Business Performance

Enablement

Sales StrategyProducts & Services

Segmentation & Targeting

Value Proposition

Approach to Market

Customer CoverageSales

ChannelsSales Roles & Structure Sales Process Sales

Deployment

Incentive Compensation

& QuotasRecruiting & Retention

Training & Development

Tools & Technology

Charts an actionable growth plan.

Matches roles, resources, and process to customer needs.

Aligns execution with the growth strategy.

Provides information for planning and strategy.

A Left‐Brained View on Growth

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Artistic creativity which is focused on expression, is usually mis‐targeted and produces little more than initial excitement. Functional creativity, however, is oriented toward solving an issue or meeting an objective.

•Targeted Toward Expression

•Minimal or No Constraints

•Targeted Toward an Issue or Objective

•Numerous Constraints

Artistic Creativity

Functional Creativity

What is Creativity?

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L R

Adding the Creative Process

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Myth: “I have too many constraints to be innovative.”Reality: Constraints Promote Creativity.

Sales Challenge

Differentiated Solution

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Myth: “I don’t work for a creative company.”

Reality: Innovation Can Grow Anywhere.

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Myth: “I’m not a creative person.”

Reality: Most Creative People Have Learned How to Create.

Thinking Creatively AboutProblem Solving

Innovative Sale Imperative

Ask the Right Questions. Questions are more powerful than statements. Use them first.

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Known Approaches

Conditions

Discovery

Application

The Innovative

Sale Principles

The Innovative Sale

Moving Beyond Repeating the Same Ideas

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Known Approaches

Create Initial Approaches3

Combine Parallels

Develop Vertically

5

7

Define Challenge

and Constraints

1

Destroy False Constraints

Explore Horizontally

46

Gather Insight

2

Implement & Communicate

8

The Innovative

Sale Principles

The Innovative Sale

A Process for Sales Innovation

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Known Approaches

The Innovative Sale

Define Challenge

and Constraints

1

The Innovative

Sale Principles

Gather Insight

2

Defining Your Challenge and Gathering Insight

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The Innovative Sale Applied to Value Proposition

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What’s Your Real Problem?A Questioning Model for a Better Starting Point

How can we grow sales in our craft beer category?

How can we grow sales in our craft beer category?

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Customer Challenge Dimensions

Customer Challenge Dimensions‐Asking a Better Question

Financial: Challenges around revenue, profit, cost, share.

The Who‐Market or User: Challenges around who we serve or who uses our solution.

The What‐ Product or Application: Challenges around what we offer or the application for our users.

The How‐ Resources: Challenges around resources that enable us to accomplish our goals.

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How can we strengthen our local market connection with the right expertise in the craft beer category?

A better challenge question and a differentiated starting point:

Questioning to Redefine the Customer Challenge


What happened when your team hit a roadblock with ideas?

Get Comfortable Feeling Lost. The initial phase of creative development usually leaves us feeling lost. That’s when most turn back.

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Known Approaches

Conditions

Discovery

Application

The Innovative

Sale Principles

The Innovative Sale

The Innovation Roadblock

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Known Approaches


Define Challenge

and Constraints

1


4

Gather Insight

2

TheInnovative

SalePrinciples

The Innovative Sale


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Operating Rules

ProceduralRules

Accepted Truths

Essential for business operations (mission critical).

What Constraints Do We Have?

The processes we follow (possible to break).

Accepted Truths: The way we’ve always done it (easy to break).


Combine Unrelated Ideas. Juxtaposing seemingly disparate situations from unconnected environments can yield new thinking.

Was your last great idea actually new?

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Known Approaches


Combine Parallels

5

Define Challenge

and Constraints

1


Explore Horizontally

46

Gather Insight

2

TheInnovative

SalePrinciples

The Innovative Sale

Combine Parallels and Explore Horizontally

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InnovationGutenberg’s Moveable Type

Printing Press

Some Parallel ExamplesThere are no new ideas, just new combinations… An overstatement?

Wine PressCoin Punch

Combination

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How can WE develop a CUSTOMER LOYALTY program that will INCREASE LICENSE RENEWALS ?

Business Partners?Sales Channels?Credible Sources?

Segments?Industries?Lifecycle?

Relationship?Trust?

Benefits?Penalties? Decrease?

Switching Barriers?Stickiness?

Agreements?Connections?

Related Services?

Drawing Comparisons or Contrasts to Align with the Five Generations of Parallels

Finding Parallels In The Challenge

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Company1st Generation

Industry2nd Generation

Similar Business Models3rd Generation

Dissimilar Business Models4th Generation

Outside of Business5th Generation

Idea Abundance and Divergence

Fifth Generation Parallels

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ConservativeRadical

Financial Incentive for Vulnerable Customers Less Than 3 Years Old

CredibleSource

Messages About

Reliability for Major Accounts

VAR Program

Focused on Financial and HR

Benefits by Sector

BenefitsSegmentsLifecycle

TrustRelationshipSegments

PartnersIndustriesBenefits

Professional Services Allowance Associated with the License

Reverse Rebate for

Not Renewing

Contestswith

Personal and Business

Perks‐ Cars, Software, Services

RelatedServicesStickiness

PenaltiesSwitching Barriers

BenefitsConnections

Horizontal Options

Elements from the Parallels

Combining Parallels into Horizontal Options

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Financial

Financial Incentive for Vulnerable Customers Less Than 3 Years Old

ConservativeRadical

CredibleSource

Messages About

Reliability for Major Accounts

VAR Program

Focused on Financial and HR

Benefits by Sector

Professional Services Allowance Associated with the License

Reverse Rebate for

Not Renewing

Contestswith

Personal and Business

Perks‐ Cars, Software, Services

Horizontal Options

Market

Product

Resources

Rating

C

C

B

C

C

B

B

C

B+

B

C

C

B

A

B

B

C

B

B

B

B+

A

A

B

Develop Solution Vertically



Testing for Vertical Development


Know That Less is More. A simple, elegant answer may be the right outcome. Creativity does not mean complexity.

Who is on a good innovation team?

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Conditions KnownApproaches

Discovery Application

Process Guide“Let’s keep moving folks…”

Insight Specialist“Here’s something we haven’t

seen before…”

Pioneer“We need to go where no one

has gone before…”

Implementer“How can we make this change

work for the customer?”

Creative Financial Officer“Here’s what this can do for the

top line…”

Outsider“Have you thought of…”

The Right RolesInnovation Roles, Not Organizational Roles…

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Putting It Into Creative Muscle Memory

Practice…1. Redefining Your Problem2. Looking for Parallels3. Combining Them with Horizontal Thinking

How was what you developed different?

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the innovative sale - staffing industry analysts...innovative sale imperative walk away from the...

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