Worse than not winning customers, is winning the wrong customers. The wrong customers will waste your time and resources with unnecessary demands. The wrong customer doesn’t recognize success making it impossible for them to be satisfied. The wrong customer broadcasts their dissatisfaction to others.
Applying the NEST-test helps you avoid winning the wrong customers.
The four components: Need, Experience, Success, and Time.
Need
When decision-makers are excited about the results you propose, they become motivated to learn more, and to share with others. They clearly articulate their need and how your offering fulfills it. They’re your internal salespeople – the ultimate confirmation of need.
What to look for – You want new people asking to meet you. When internal salespeople articulate the benefits of your offering, others want to learn more in order to support or disagree. Both are good since it allows you to tune your sales tactics to address both supporters and detractors.
Experience
You benefit greatly when selling to decision-makers who have the expertise necessary to critique you and coach you. In highly innovative industries customers may not have the expertise which means you must introduce SMEs to help decision-makers gain confidence in you.
What to look for – You want one of two things: (1) Customer SMEs who win when you win or (2) Decision-makers who know their limitations and win by hiring you as their SME.
Success
At the personal level you benefit from working with people with a public success history. It’s this group of leaders who best advocate for you. Salespeople must find the leaders who own the budgets and propel decisions. The companies with which you work, also must have a strong success history.
What to look for – You want strong competitors pursuing the same business. It seems counterintuitive but when nobody else wants the business, you should worry. You also want decision-makers who are decisive, who take reasonable risks, and who remain accountable for their results – good or bad.
Time
The most common reason for project failures is not having the time to succeed. You have the capabilities, but you can’t finish. This applies to both buyer and seller but it is incumbent on you, the salesperson, to ensure that you commit to realistic timelines.
What to look for – Know the planning cycle of the company to which you are selling. Your project will be reviewed during each corporate planning period even if your due date is further out. You and your decision-maker must jointly define and communicate KPIs, aligned with the planning cycle, which act as success indicators. Absent this others, including detractors, will define your milestones. You can encounter barriers or cancellations when superiors demand KPIs you can’t meet, even if your due date hasn’t arrived.
Confirm the VIABILITY of opportunities by applying the NEST-test. You will avoid winning the wrong customers.
©2016 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities LLC
