Quotes:
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” - Abraham Lincoln
“I never won a fight in the ring; I always won in preparation.” - Mohammad Ali
“It takes hard work to make sales look easy.” - Peter Thiel
”Amateurs have a goal. Professionals have a system.” - James Clear
“The single most powerful thing you can do in a relationship, whether it’s personal or professional, is to give someone 100% of your attention." - Brad Jacobs
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” - Benjamin Franklin
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” - W.E. Deming
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." - Albert Einstein
“Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.” — Howard Aiken
“No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.” — Daniel Kahneman
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” - Sun Tzu
“The invisible advantage is choosing to do what other people could do, but don't.” - Jeff Olson
Tools:
Summary:
AXE - Alliance and Xchange Engagement - This term encapsulates the idea of building alliances (or partnerships) and engaging in exchanges that are collaborative and beneficial to both parties:
"Alliance" suggests a strong, cooperative relationship,
"Exchange" emphasizes the two-way flow of communication, and
"Engagement" reinforces the idea of active, committed participation.
The AXE diagram summary above presents a systematic approach for Account Planning and Opportunity Development tailored for cybersecurity sales representatives, emphasizing strategic decision-making throughout the sales process.
In the first section, labeled "PIPELINE (<50%)", the focus is on the initial engagement and assessment phase. Here, the sales representative gathers general information about the customer, cultivates relationships, seeks referrals, and leverages insights along with Porter's Value Chain and Five Forces Analysis. This stage is crucial for understanding whether there's a fit between the customer's needs and the representative's solutions, prompting the question, "Should We Be Talking?" It's at this juncture where a decision is made either to proceed with the opportunity or to gracefully exit if there's no alignment.
The second section, "QUALIFY / SOLVE (<80%)", moves into deeper exploration, where the representative and the prospect mutually investigate the prospect's key beliefs, the business value of potential solutions, and any constraints that may affect implementation. Resources are considered, including the time, people, and money involved in moving forward. Decisions are made at each step, keeping in mind the timing and criteria required for progression. The key question here is, "Should We Keep Talking?" indicating the need for continuous validation of the sales opportunity's viability. Qualifying should be continuous with reliance on the asking the prospect the Five Golden Questions:
- How do you measure it?
- What is it now?
- What would you like it to be?
- What is the value of the difference?
- What is the value over time?
The final phase, "FORECAST / COMMIT (>80%)", is about finalizing and closing the deal. The exact cybersecurity solution has been tailored to the prospect's specific needs, and a deal structure is proposed. The closing meetings involve addressing any remaining concerns ("Yellow Lights") and setting the stage for the next steps. This phase culminates in the presentation of the solution, focusing on closing the sale, but importantly, it's structured as the "Customer's Victory Speech," highlighting the benefits and successes the customer will achieve with the solution. The final decision making meeting addresses and leaves the prospect with the following BELIEFS:
SOLUTION BELIEFS:
- The solution will resolve the prospect’s problems and produce the prospect’s desired results.
- The solution can be implemented with the available resources.
- The solution meets the decision criteria of the key stakeholders.
- The economics are compelling.
- This solution exceeds alternatives.
PROVIDER BELIEFS:
- They are competent (they have the right expertise).
- They are credible (they will do what they say they will do).
- They are compatible (we will like working with them).
The entire process is wrapped with the idea that a "Graceful Exit Is Not Failure If Early... Only If Late," underlining the importance of timely and strategic decision-making throughout the sales process. The goal of the process is to shift the focus toward working with the prospect to develop the “exact” solution that meets their unique needs. Trying to sell the prospect a solution that does not “exactly” meet their needs leads in the best case to a bloated and unqualified pipeline, and in the worst case unhappy customers that refuse to be references.
ACCOUNT PLAN:
GENERAL INFORMATION:
- Customer Prospect Profile: This part of the account plan details key information about the customer, including company size, industry, current IT infrastructure, cybersecurity challenges, and business objectives. This comprehensive profile helps in understanding the customer's unique needs and how they align with the offered cybersecurity solutions.
- Game-Changing Insight: This section highlights the unique value proposition of the cybersecurity solution, focusing on how it can transform the customer's security posture. It should articulate specific benefits, such as improved threat detection, compliance with industry regulations, or enhanced data protection, that are directly relevant to the customer's context.
- Supporting Collateral: The plan should list available collateral, such as case studies, whitepapers, product demos, or testimonials, that can be used to support the proposed solution. This material serves to build credibility and demonstrate the effectiveness of the solution in similar scenarios or industries.
- Key Contacts and Relationship Mapping: This crucial section identifies the primary decision-makers and influencers within the customer’s organization. It should include a strategy for engaging with these contacts, understanding their concerns and priorities, and building strong, trust-based relationships.
- Linkage to Digital Transformation Initiatives: This section focuses on aligning cybersecurity solutions with the customer's key digital transformation initiatives, highlighting the critical link between the two. It outlines a space to list the primary digital transformation efforts the customer is undertaking, which will then be matched with specific cybersecurity opportunities that can support these initiatives. Additionally, the plan acknowledges common challenges faced during digital transformation by identifying four main hurdles: resources, motivation, politics, and cognition. These hurdles represent typical reasons for failure in transformation efforts, such as shifting priorities, demotivation of staff, resistance to change, and risk aversion. Recognizing these obstacles is essential for developing a tailored approach that not only supports the customer's digital transformation goals but also addresses the underlying factors that could impede successful implementation.
RESEARCH SECTION:
The RESEARCH section of the account planning tool incorporates two of Michael Porter's well-known frameworks: the Value Chain Analysis and the Five Forces Analysis. The goal of this approach is to conduct a thorough examination of the potential client's business operations and industry dynamics before meeting with them. By understanding where the company adds value and faces competitive pressure, the sales representative can craft a cybersecurity solution pitch that is closely aligned with the client's specific needs and strategic objectives.
- The first framework, Porter’s Value Chain Analysis, is employed to dissect the primary and support activities through which the enterprise creates products or services. These include inbound and outbound logistics, operations, marketing and sales, and service for the primary activities, along with infrastructure, human resources management, technology development, and procurement for support activities. This analysis is aimed at pinpointing areas where the enterprise generates margins and differentiates itself in the market. The sales rep can identify potential vulnerabilities or areas that could benefit from enhanced cybersecurity measures.
- The second framework, Porter's Five Forces Analysis, is utilized to assess the competitive intensity and market dynamics that could impact the prospect's profit potential. This includes evaluating the level of industry rivalry, bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, threats from new entrants, and substitution threats. The form prompts the sales rep to link these analyses to specific cybersecurity opportunities, thereby tailoring the solution to address the unique pressures and risks faced by the prospect in its competitive landscape. By matching the insights gained from these analyses with the cybersecurity solutions available, the sales rep aims to present a compelling, value-added proposition to the prospect that speaks directly to their strategic and operational priorities.
OPPORTUNITY CHECKLIST SECTION:
- Qualifying the Opportunity: This section of the checklist ensures that the opportunity aligns with the criteria outlined in "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play" and “The Challenger Sale.” It includes evaluating the customer's recognition of their cybersecurity needs, their willingness to change, and the potential fit of your product within their existing infrastructure. This approach stresses the need to work collaboratively with the customer to find the exact solution even if it isn’t the solution our company provides. It also introduces the concept that an opportunity should be gracefully abandoned early in the qualifying process if a customer is not working with us jointly to share information toward finding the exact solution. Losing an opportunity before months or years of pursuit are invested is much less expensive than losing one in a later stage.
- Understanding Customer's Pain Points: The checklist focuses on comprehensively understanding the customer’s specific cybersecurity challenges and working with the customer to find the “exact solution” even if it’s not our solution. This involves gathering information on their current security posture, previous security incidents, and identifying gaps in their current architecture that our solution can potentially address.
- Solution Alignment and Value Proposition: This part assesses how well the proposed cybersecurity solution aligns with the customer’s needs. It involves articulating the unique value proposition of the solution, how it addresses the customer’s pain points, and the potential return on investment (ROI) for the customer.
- Decision-Making Process and Key Stakeholders: The checklist includes identifying key decision-makers and influencers in the customer’s organization, understanding the internal decision-making process, and planning strategies to engage effectively with each stakeholder, taking into account their concerns and motivations.
- Development and Advancement Plan: This final section outlines a strategic plan to advance the opportunity through the sales pipeline. It involves setting clear objectives for each stage of the sales process, planning for effective communication and follow-ups, handling objections, and strategies for closing the deal, ensuring each step adheres to the best practices in "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play" and “The Challenger Sales.”
Sources:
The Challenger Sale - Matthew Dixon & Brent Adamson
Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play - Mahan Khalsa & Randy Illig
The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande
Building a Second Brain - Tiago Forte